I’m not a Jew. I didn’t even play one on TV. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a more full-throated defender and supporter of the Jewish state than me. My love for Israel is not a recently acquired taste, due to politics. It happened 42 years ago, when I first visited there as a 17-year-old. In my dozens of subsequent visits, including three last year, I’ve seen the dry bones come to life and the desert bloom — even as this tiny, New Jersey-sized piece of real estate remains the most contested land on earth.

When I first visited in 1973, Israel was a proud, but struggling, 25 year-old nation. Many of its people lived in kibbutzim out of necessity. To support their economy, they largely grew oranges, cultivated vegetables, and hosted tourists who came to walk in in the footsteps of Jesus and the prophets. It’s fair to say that Israel has not spent the last 40 years simply wandering around the desert.