Eric Alterman is considered a leftist in the US

I friend of mine from Sweden once told me that she was a conservative. But she hastened to add: but a conservative in Sweden is to the left of an American leftist. Eric Alterman is considered a leftist in the US, and his love affair with Israel is a typical story of American liberals. I am no fan of Robert Novak (although his autobiography was amusingly petty, angry, and biting) but look what Alterman says: "...hated Israel with a ferocity extremely rare in American public life." So people should just follow the general sentiment about Israel in the US? What if a majority agree in error on a matter? This is like criticizing somebody in Nazi Germany for being critical of anti-Semitism (which was rare--i.e. criticizing anti-Semitism) at the time. Of course, he can disagree with Novak's criticisms of Israel but to make the matter a question of not following the general trend of support for Israel is an indication of an illiberal mind.