Reactions to Sarah Palin's Star of David Necklace

The Daily Beast, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 2:27pm (PDT)

By Dani Gorin

Sarah Palin's trip to Israel has not only yielded a new stamp on her passport, but it has also given the Mama Grizz a reason to rock some major statement jewelry. Palin has been photographed in Jerusalem sporting a highly visible Star of David necklace, and while members of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party seem to be all for Palin's "personal connection" to the Jewish state, others aren't exactly thrilled by Sarah's new religious bling.

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Some American Jews, like Rabbi Jeffrey Falick of TheAtheistRabbi.com, feel that Palin is merely in Israel "for her own gain, unrelated to the best interests of Jews, Palestinians or anyone else in the region." Falick, for one, wishes that Palin would "take off" the star.

The Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan posted a response from a reader echoing Falick's sentiments: "I don't know if there [are] rules about this, but as a Jew, I find it offensive that Sarah Palin is out wearing a Star of David."

BLTWY user Veronica Zamarron agrees, saying, "Notice how you don't see Jewish people wear crosses. I would never presume to wear a religious article of faith unless I practiced that faith."

Still, news outlets such as the UK's Daily Mail maintain that Palin is sporting the Jewish symbol merely as a show of solidarity with Israel.

Israeli politicians like the Likud Party's Danny Danon have been charmed by Palin's apparent support of Israel, saying, "She really connected to the story of the Jewish nation… I know she loves Israel." Even the liberal leaning Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the country's most influential daily paper, considers Palin's trip to the Jewish homeland to be, "a vital stop for potential Republican U.S. presidential candidates."

While there's no real consensus on the reason behind Sarah's Israeli visit or the appropriateness of her Star of David necklace, one thing's certain: Palin's appropriation of Israeli iconography for her own personal use is nothing new. Ryan Jones of Israel Today notes that during a 2008 televised interview with the then-governor of Alaska "revealed a small Israeli flag sitting on her window sill."

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