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| Results of the Israeli Elections (Jerusalem Post) |
The fear is that Israel could lose the support of American Jewry because of this election. I think there is merit to such fears. But not because of how this election turned out. But because – as things stand now - most of American Jewry does not care all that much about Israel in the first place. To the extent they do care is at best at the very bottom of their list of priorities. Very few of which have little if anything to do with Judaism. The election just exacerbated that - and perhaps enhanced their indifference to the Jewish State - if not causing outright animus toward her.
By now it is rather well known that the vast majority of Jews in America are secular and so assimilated, that they hardly know or care much that they are Jewish. The high rate of intermarriage testifies to that.
Secular American Jews tend to be politically liberal. Which fits in very nicely with their lifestyle and values. If your values are not sourced in the Torah, than the default position is humanism- a liberal construct. This is why for example most American Jews are pro-choice and favor gay marriage. They see no harm in people living the way they choose. They see a woman’s right to abort her fetus for any reason she chooses as a fundamental human right that overrides the life that would result if she carried her fetus full term.
Furthermore, my guess is that for many secular Jews - especially younger Jews - the very idea of a Jewish State might be considered racist. So that the more Israel moves in that direction the less likely American Jewry will support her.
I realize of course that there are many exceptions to this. There are plenty of secular American Jews that do care about a Jewish state and support it. But I believe their numbers are declining. The current election may accelerate that decline - seeing Netanyahu and his new governing coalition as unethical, racist, and undemocratic.
Those who somehow still have feelings for the Jewish state probably pine for the good old days - the era of the early secular Zionists who were idealistic socialists determined to build a country that was culturally Jewish but indifferent - if not hostile to Halacha. They loved seeing the ‘desert bloom’ by dint of its pioneers strong idealism. But perhaps more importantly they loved Israel's new found democratic freedoms - resenting any religious interference that would limit those freedoms.
The Israel of today is nothing like that. It has pretty much moved to the right religiously and even to the extreme right politically as the last election clearly indicates. However, the vast majority of American Jewry are not observant and lean decidedly to the left. Thus have absolutely no respect for the Israel of today.
Thankfully there is a small but significant and growing segment of American Jewry that does not see Israel in those terms: Orthodox Jews. While the perspectives of Orthodox Jews span the entirety of the left/right political spectrum, most still strongly support the Jewish state regardless of the election results. In fact I believe that a majority of American Orthodox Jews - who tend to be politically conservative - are more or less pleased with the results.
For Orthodox Jews, a Jewish state means more than being culturally Jewish. It means respecting the idea that it is Halacha that defines Judaism - even though Israel is not currently a Halachic state nor do religious Jews necessarily push for one. Many of us see religious coercion as counterproductive. Myself included
American Orthodox Jews see Israel as a country filled with their brethren. There are more Jews in Israel than there are in the US. We may not all agree with their politics. But Israel is about Jews, not about politics. The Torah teaches that all Jews are responsible for one another. There is no way an Orthodox Jew – whether liberal or conservative - could ever abandon a fellow Jew no matter what his politics are or how observant they are.
To the extent that America’s secular Jews don’t do that is to the extent that they have long ago abandoned those principles – even though it is not their fault since most have been raised without any significant Jewish education.
The problem with all this is that American politicians on the left will see this and may reduce their support for Israel - unless Israel’s politics return to the left of their past. Reduced American support can endanger Israel’s very existence
My hope is that I am wrong. That America’s secular Jews actually do care more about their fellow Jews than they do about their politics. Israel needs all the support they can get. That Israelis have chosen to move to the right may be disappointing to them. But they should remember that these are their brothers whose Holocaust surviving parents and grandparents found a home in their ancestral Jewish homeland. And that Israelis have chosen to move to the right for their own reasons. Reasons that cannot be fully comprehended by those of us living 7000 miles away.
The idea that Israel must shift its politics to the left as a condition of American support is abhorrent to me. Israel needs our full support. And we need to leave Israeli politics to Israelis.
Postscript
It amazing how utterly predictable the comments to this post are. Especially from left.
It also substantiates my fears that American Jews will abandon Israel because of its political choices. In essence it paints the majority of Israeli voters as racists for voting for right wing parties that they must have known would surely include 'racists' like Ben Gvir as part of any coalition.
In fact, if the liberals in congress would happen upon the commentary in the post, it would surely give them cover for abandoning their support for Israel. If the majority of Jews in America don’t support the Jewish state - and see their voters as racist, how can they support it? Why should they?
I am disappointed but not surprised by all this. The government hasn’t even been formed yet. But even if it has ministers from the Otzma, I doubt that they will implement as policy much of their rhetoric.
I think we ought to support the decisions of the voters in a democratic country. And then wait and see how the new government actually governs before condemning them. I support the Israeli people, regardless of their politics – left or right. And I pray that God protects from all the evil that surrounds them.
