A New York Times report on 127 American Jews going to serve in the Israeli army often reads like a promotion of the idea of dual loyalty. The word “love” is used 8 times in the piece, including in the headline, “Enlisting From Afar for the Love of Israel.” And the piece features this frankly-Israelist statement:

“Their motivation is often way higher than the average Israeli,” said Col. Shuli Ayal, who oversees the lone-soldier program. “They want to make their service as meaningful as possible.”

Did any of these people consider enlisting in the U.S. army? the Times doesn’t ask. Of 22-year-old Josh Warhit, an American Jew who is the focus of the piece, Marsha Cohen tells me: “If he were a Muslim and going anywhere else in the world, he’d be labeled a brainwashed jihadi.”

Here are the love references:

Enlisting From Afar for the Love of Israel Josh Warhit: “I love the Jewish people. Love involves commitment.” “I hope to spend my time in Israel protecting those I love, not torturing those who hate me,” Mr. Rechenbach, also 22, said in an e-mail interview ahead of the flight “You want to teach your kids to love Israel, but you don’t want them necessarily to take you so literally,” his mother, Ilissa Warhit, said “I love my family, I love my friends and I love the Jewish people.” [Warhit]

Do Americans who go serve in a foreign army lose their citizenship? Good question. Apparently that was once true, no longer. Note the rules from the State Dept. here, and an interpretation of dual citizenship here. Why didn’t the Times raise this issue? Is the occupation in American interests?