Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, and Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, had this to say in his honor*
Over the years, many pro-Israel people have quoted a letter purportedly from Martin Luther King, in which he says:
…You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely ‘anti-Zionist.’ And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God’s green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews — this is God’s own truth.
Antisemitism … has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so….
The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just ‘anti-Zionist’!
My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism… But I know you have been misled — as others have been — into thinking you can be ‘anti-Zionist’ and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles that you and I share. Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews — make no mistake about it.
(From M.L. King, Jr., “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend,” Saturday Review XLVII Aug. 1967, p. 76)[no such article or issue] Reprinted in “Shared Dreams,” by Rabbi Marc Shneier, preface by Martin Luther King III
While it seems as though this letter is a hoax, one can assume that King was a supporter of Israel.
* although the Israeli Embassy seems to have flubbed the date
