CTlawyer, would you have disliked Lou Gehrig? Babe Ruth was a also likable guy albeit an unfaithful husband and a bit of a glutton. I once knew an American-born Catholic of German extraction who went ballistic whenever he heard about anti-Semitism as relatives of his were murdered for hiding Jews.
Dbrim, we have a universal message as well. Rav Kook says that we will achieve this when we are all here in EY and have a Torah state. However, if someone must live in Chutz laAretz temporarily he should consider himself an emissary of Torah as a light unto the nations. This includes prioritizing EY as the gentiles are judged by how they treat us. Not to mention the strategic value of Israel and the shared values (which is why the conservatives support us and the liberals are at best lukewarm – the former want an America based on traditional values and the latter want an Obamanation).