" "They do not understand that Israel means nothing to us. We consider it an enemy country as do all the Lebanese," he said. After 1982, very few Jews went to Israel, and those who did go didn't stay long. They felt deeply Lebanese," said Efraim." The article then said: "It's not easy being Jewish in Beirut where the synagogue is crumbling, the rabbis have left, the community is dwindling and where Jews are commonly branded "Israelis"." I agree that it is not easy being Jewish in Beirut, just as it is not easy being Arab in Tel Aviv. Also, the Lebanese state officially (from Ottoman times) refers to Jews of Lebanon as "Israelites" not in reference to Israel--o well-informed correspondent--but from the biblical term that was borrowed in Ottoman law long before the creation of the state of Israel atop Palestine. (thanks Olivia)