No need for column

As an annual attendee of the Jerusalem Post Conference, it is disheartening on several levels that editor in chief Yaakov Katz is forced to defend the appearance of Dr. Sebastian Gorka at the upcoming conference (“Why we are hosting Sebastian Gorka,” Editor’s Notes, April 28).

First and foremost, Dr. Gorka, in his many media appearances, is a harsh critic of radical Islam and is always supportive of Israel as a liberal, western democracy. He has been one of the most effective and articulate advocates of a strong and aggressive posture against Islamic State and other assorted Islamic terrorist entities, and a critic of the Iranian regime and the nuclear deal.

This is why he has raised the ire of the anti-Israel Left in America and beyond. And this is precisely why the liberal-Democratic Left has engaged in an unfounded smear campaign against Dr. Gorka. I was somewhat annoyed that Mr. Katz’s column did not raise this.

I will excuse the editor for not fully comprehending what is happening in the US, specifically that the Left is engaging in baseless and false smear campaigns against any and all effective media commentators who do not agree with their leftist and, yes, anti-Israel agenda. The charge that Dr. Gorka’s past affiliations have been extreme are bogus, to say the least.

I predict you will find that Dr. Gorka will present full-throated advocacy on behalf of Israel and will be warmly received as a genuine friend. It is a sad statement that such a column had to be written, and a shame that Mr. Katz could not see through the anti-Trump hysterics.

DONALD CHIERT Roslyn, New York