What is 'Chutzpah'?

Dictionary
chutz·pah: Utter nerve; effrontery: “has the chutzpah to claim a lock on God and morality” (New York Times).

Example
In the article Supreme Court Rejects Pollard´s Plea to be Prisoner of Zion we read that Jonathan Pollard applied to be accorded Prisoner of Zion status. In the article his wife states:

"It would have stopped the torturous conditions that he has been undergoing for 20 years, and it would have led to much better chances for his release. The prison authorities in the U.S. would not dare to harass someone who has been recognized in this way by the Israeli government... It also would have helped smooth the way for diplomatic pressures in both Israel and the U.S., which would have helped secure his release."

She honestly believes that US authorities would be subservient to this recognition by Israel and that this recognition would somehow expedite the release of a traitor to the US. Jonathan Pollard seems to have quite a few politician fans in the US that just happen to have also coincidentally received pro-Israel funding. Here's a list of three of the usual suspects with their career total(up to 2004) of pro-israeli funds donated.

• Senator Arlen Specter(R-PA) $434,223


• Senator Frank Lautenberg(D-NJ) $433,806


• Senator Harry Reid $301,801

* Figures are from the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs.

A much longer list of Pollard supporters is at johnathanpollard.org

Reports have it that amongst the secret data given to Israel was a list of over one hundred US agents in the Middle East that were subsequently turned into Israeli clandestine assets (apart from those that were executed). It is also said that US secrets were traded to the Soviet Union in return for jewish emigration from the USSR to Israel.

Tags: Israel, Pollard, US, politics, Zion