Absolutely.

Plus, I understand Israel's raw nerves much more than I do America's post 9/11 paranoia. Not that it excuses their willingness to go overboard with their violence, but some in the USA seem to believe that the relative pinprick that was the Twin Tower attacks is just as much justification for going apeshit as the Holocaust is for Israel.
There really is no contest. The Jews were targeted for extinction by the Germans, and NOBODY CARED. Antisemitism was almost as rife in the 'good' countries of WW2, everyone forgets this. But the Israelis don't. They know that they're more or less alone in the world. Of course, the USA would defend her, but every Israeli knows that if it came down to the worst, they'd very likely suffer the vast brunt of the carnage that most of their neighbors would love to inflict on them.

It is destructive, there is no doubt. To most of the world, there is no distinction between being a Jew and being an Israeli soldier. Millions of people around the globe would just as soon see every Jew die (and they still would even without the Israeli-Palestine conflict). Every Israeli carries this knowledge around with them, and it cannot but help only serve to bolster nationalism, 'manifest destiny', and disproportionate attacks.

That there even exists a leftist Israeli contingent at all, that seeks reconciliation and peace, is somewhat remarkable under these circumstances.

It's a bit weird to talk about how the Jewish spirit is maimed by all of this though, in the light of 'Christian' nations long, dark record of violence. I fear that many people exert an undue amount of attention on Israel's war crimes while ignoring their own nation's ugliness.