That’s the internal dialogue many of the 7,500 pro-Israel advocates were having in recent days as the two-week crisis in U.S.-Israel ties seemed to end with this week’s triumphal American Israel Public Affairs annual conference.
That is despite a seemingly chilly end to a private, two-hour meeting last night between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. At its conclusion, there was no customary meeting with the media. Still, in recognition of the inevitable close bond between the two countries, their leaders are talking tachlis, which is much more important than the usual public praise and platitude.
Back to AIPAC. During the event, activists flexed political muscle and gained national headlines. But they should be wary of gloating, which never helps. That’s because the American-Israeli relationship won due to the candor both sides expressed in talking about what ails them while respecting their deep bonds. Washington and Jerusalem still have real priority differences on East Jerusalem, ones exacerbated amidst Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the Jewish state because of Israel’s ill-timed announcement of new construction.
Still, one hopes that the Obama White House learned deeper lessons these recent weeks. And that is that when you pick a fight with Israel, do it fairly. The administration failed to do so in this case. Indeed, after Mr. Netanyahu had apologized to Vice President Joe Biden regarding the building plan, the White House kept pushing the issue. That included an extended telephone berating of the Israeli by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And that left the administration managing a self-imposed political mess.
So Mr. Netanyahu came to town with his many American friends angry, AIPAC had refocused clout and Obama officials welcomed a refocusing on crippling sanctions against a nuclear-aspiring Iran. Meanwhile, the half of the Palestinian leadership that will even speak to Israel dug in against negotiating with the Jewish state without preconditions. If President Barack Obama had intended all that, he is in the wrong business.
None of this is new. Back in 1991 then-President George H.W. Bush seemed to challenge the right of Americans to lobby against his delay of a $10 billion loan guarantee to Israel. By the end of that poorly managed fight, he had lost credibility with many Jews.
Mr. Obama should recall that struggle and that it’s not about power; it’s about fairness. That’s why polls keep showing the American public overwhelmingly backs the State of Israel. The White House must recognize that as it now presses the Palestinians as hard as it seemed to eagerly push the Israelis.
This week U.S.-Israeli relations seems painted into the proverbial corner from which there is no clean escape. The question now is how to help everyone emerge cleanly from that tight spot.
Some background: Last week, Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem to reassure the Jewish state about its unbreakable bond with Washington. But an Israeli government office announced plans to build 1,600 homes in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood on the city’s eastern side, a territory the Palestinians claim as their future capitol.
Mr. Biden was embarrassed and claimed it highly provocative. Mr. Netanyahu apologized, as did the minister who runs the office that offered the decree; both Israelis were apparently not aware of the pending declaration.
Still, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly berated Mr. Netanyahu on an extended telephone call, demanding more concessions. Even Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, a respected historian, said ties between the governments had plunged to a 35-year low. Mr. Netanyahu did not help on Monday when he told his Likud Party that Israel would never stop building in East Jerusalem. (Note to Bibi: Just because you can do something, and have every right to do it, doesn’t mean it’s a smart thing to do.)
And more fireworks could be coming. Next week Mr. Netanyahu arrives in Washington for the highly watched annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Yet, by mid-week some U.S. officials seemed to recognize how badly they had stalled the elusive Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton was talking up a “close, unshakeable bond” and “an absolute commitment to Israel’s security.”
Now it is up to Mr. Biden – widely seen as the administration’s most pro-Israel voice – to tactfully point out to colleagues how much they have miscalculated by pressing Mr. Netanyahu in this way. After all, the Israeli leader emerges strengthened amongst his right-wing base – the country’s most potent political force—and centrist Israelis feel isolated from American allies.
Likewise, much of American Jewry is angered as group after group publicly and privately pushes Washington to cool the barbs. (Some on the left are cautiously holding back, hoping Mr. Netanyahu is forced to expand his historic settlement moratorium to include Jerusalem’s eastern half.)
Meanwhile, reality marches on.
• The Iranian drive toward nuclear weapons has not slowed while much needed punishing trade sanctions against Tehran’s mullahs move like turtles plodding through molasses.
• The Syrians keep hosting Islamic terrorist groups that target both U.S. and Israeli citizens.
• The Palestinians happily watch Mr. Netanyahu squirm, refusing to come to the negotiating table, where they actually might get something – and give up unrealistic dreams.
What can be done? For starters, the White House must work harder to dial down the rhetoric. Then it needs to invigorate the quest to halt a nuclear Iran, which remains a multi-layered U.S. policy concern. Just ask the Saudis, said to be incredibly nervous about how an atomized Iran could threaten and blackmail their oil supply deliveries.
In addition, more attention must be given toward outrageous Palestinian behavior. Two stark examples:
• This week the Palestinians dedicated a public square in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who murdered 36 Israelis and a U.S. photographer in 1978. The ceremony was delayed from its original scheduling – during the Biden visit.
• Now Palestinians are threatening a third intifada, or violent uprising. That’s because Israelis dedicated a renovated 300-year-old synagogue in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter, a building the Jordanians had destroyed during their 1949-1967 occupation of the area. (The synagogue sits on a plot that under the wildest of scenarios would not be part of a Palestinian state.)
Protest of such events—other than that of U.S. Jewish groups – seemed scarce this week. One need not imagine the condemnation of Israel were its government to honor Baruch Goldstein, the murderer of Palestinians at prayer in Hebron in 1994.
Still, U.S.-Israeli ties in fact are deep and unshakeable. That’s why a February 2010 Gallup Poll found that 63 percent of Americans favored Israelis in the conflict over 15 percent for the Palestinians. There are strong social, political and religious reasons for that more than four to one margin. So U.S. policy needs to get back to reflecting what the U.S. public believes. In doing so, it will find an Israeli public willing to take calculated risks for peace – just as has always been the case.
What are we to make of VP Joe Biden’s trip to Israel this week, which just created unexpected controversial headlines, and what are American Jews – who are getting as fed up with this intractable mess as anyone – to do about it?
First the facts, Biden, long praised as a stalwart pro-Israel ally on the Democratic Party front (where there are real problems with the hard Left), nearly had a “broh-affair” with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu upon arrival in Jerusalem. He warmly noted their 30-year friendship and joked that one of them was getting older. Netanyahu, as charismatic in front of American TV cameras as one could imagine, was equally warm in his praise.
Not much later came an announcement by an office of the Israeli government – apparently not pre-approved by Netanyahu – about the building of 1,600 residences for Orthodox Jews in East Jerusalem. Biden wasted no time in bluntly condemning Israel’s move as jeopardizing a peace process whose progress is currently akin to a sparrow flying against a wind tunnel’s directional current. Palestinian leaders – as they are wont to do with such ease – followed their script of being expectedly apoplectic.
(Note: This was a marked contrast to how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently avoided criticizing Israeli moves from Jerusalem but did not hesitate to do so during her next step, in Cairo. Call Biden many things if you want, but he is no political coward).
U.S. Orthodox Jewish groups slammed the VP for lashing out against an Israeli action in Jerusalem, the Jewish state’s undivided capital. Liberal U.S. Jewish groups applauded.
What should the rest of us do other than shake our heads and remember the food we have to buy at the supermarket tonight (meaning zone out from Israel’s always complex, nuanced reality)?
• First, be pleased that this U.S. administration – which isn’t exactly prancing in the meadows with free time – is keeping the Israeli-Palestinian on the front burner.
• Second, get used to the fact that the Obama administration means it when it says that it values Israel AND isn’t afraid to criticize its specific policies. (I believe that Netanyahu understands that quite well, which is why he seemed genuinely embarrassed.)
• Third, continue to adjust to the fact that Israel is a raucous democracy whose many parts – and an incredibly aggressive press—can act independently of the prime minister’s desires.
• Fourth, we American Jewish groups must continually – both publicly and privately – press Israeli officials here (and when we’re in Israel) on these matters. American Jewish pressure – as Bibi knows well from his 1997 attempt to muck with conversion laws – can matter in Israel under the right conditions.
• Finally, we American Jews must step up our internal dialogue over what this all means. Rather than keep issuing press releases and reports (how many trees can a Jewish organization kill in a year?), we must have vigorous, DECENT ongoing conversation in our own communities amongst Israel activists, which can in turn spawn broader pro-Israel activities instead of the piecemeal approach we currently adore.
Back in the 1990s, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan seemed to make headlines left and right for choice comments such as Judaism being a “gutter religion,” his praise of Adolf Hitler as a great leader and his chastising Pope John Paul II for wearing a dress.
I have some interesting memories from attending one of his speeches in Atlanta back in 1996 in the Georgia Dome. The Nation of Islam gave me a “guide” to make sure I’d stay in the press box. I got up and walked around anyway – to the displeasure of my friend. I felt the need to stretch out since Farrakhan is notoriously late for talks (this time 2.5 hours!). My guard insisted on walking close to me as I spoke with some of the 30,000 or so African Americans at the event. Farrakhan, by the way, spoke for three hours. No joke. I left after 90 minutes as it had already been four hours plus for me in the building. (By the way, I bought a bean pie for $5 since it was 100 percent vegetarian. I told my black nationalist pal that it tasted like Bubby’s sweet tzimmes pie. He didn’t seem to catch the reference.)
The black nationalist has not been heard from of late, particularly since a health scare a few years ago in which he was said to be near death. But it appears that his hatred has taken no rest.
Indeed, he used his annual address on Sunday, Feb. 28, to tell followers in Chicago that “Zionist” control Congress and the “white right” was attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has long monitored the hate mongers rhetoric.
This time he spoke for 3 and ½ hours. His speech included choice nuggets such as “the Zionists want Barack to bomb Iran” and “And guess who made Goldman Sachs rich? Guess who made Lehman brothers rich? Did you know Lehman Brothers was a slave baron in Alabama? … Goldman Sachs was backed by Rothschild, that’s Rockefeller and the boys.” (Note to Farrakhan: Rockefeller “and the boys” don’t know from kippered herring.)
Why do such clearly delusional rants matter? Would it not be better to ignore them and not give the Rev. Farrakhan and his ilk publicity? The problem is that often tens of thousands of people gather to hear his annual talk, which these days are easier to hear than ever thanks to the World Wide Web.
Rev. Farrakhkan—who for all of his radicalism ironically on many social issues has a lot in common with hardcore conservatives, preaches anti-government self-reliance, premarital abstinence, and drug/alcohol independence—still remains a powerful symbol for some in the African-American community. While one should not run in fear, he does need to be monitored. Most importantly, the hard work of Jewish community relations in nurturing the always fragile black-Jewish dialogue needs to go on so that responsible leadership in both communities can work together on the issues that truly do matter.
I’ve written in the past about the poor choice of the Simon Wiesenthal Center – known globally for promoting racial, religious and ethnic harmony – in wanting to build a new museum on disputed Jerusalem land. But I just can’t get over how they are continuing this fight.
To quickly recap, the Center purchased some land in the center of the city that is part of an old parking lot adjacent to a Muslim cemetery, part of whose graves were long ago moved and reburied elsewhere. Muslim challenges to the construction of the new building eventually went to the Israeli Supreme Court, which just ruled in the Wiesenthal Center’s favor. But this can only be seen this as a pyrrhic victory. That’s because the way the Center has gone about this has only given more ammunition to the haters of Israel – whose bitter cup seems overflowing these days.
Now the Wiesenthal Center has released information about how the original Arab owners of the Mamilla Muslim Cemetery wanted to sell the property to make room for a business center 65 years ago, according to a July 22, 1945 article from the Palestine Post. As Wiesenthal Center founder and director Rabbi Marvin Heir wrote this week in the New York Post, “While we would never build on the cemetery… the Supreme Muslim Council, before there was a State of Israel, did, in fact, have such plans.”
He goes on to explain that his organization’s museum will be built in part on a three-acre site that for half a century has seen “hundreds of people of all faiths have parked in a three-level underground structure without any protest.” So now we’re checking the religion of people who use a parking lot?
What a different story this would have been had the Wiesenthal Center worked with opponents instead of continually fighting them. What a difference it might have been had Rabbi Heir at least informed us that he offered a few compromises to his opponents. Were such efforts even made? More to the point, is the construction of a “tolerance center” on contested land worthy of the fight? We all know that everything in Israel is political, but isn’t the art of politics compromise? How suicidal for the Jewish people would it be for Israel and the Wiesenthal to at least attempt to gain a sense of cooperation here? Yes, prime land in the center of Jerusalem is rare indeed, but this just seems to be a fight in which there will be no winners.
There are times when might does not make right – even when the law is on your side.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/03/10 at 02:49 PM
First the good news: For all the talk about how anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment in Europe and the Middle East is on the rise – and it is – out on Main Street America, Israel is now ranked fifth among countries viewed most favorably by Americans. That’s according to an update of Gallup’s annual World Affairs survey, conducted between Feb. 1-3.
In fact, a near-record 63 percent of U.S. citizens gave Israel a “favorable” (the highest mark since 1991) and 25 percent chose “unfavorable”. Meanwhile, only 20 percent viewed the Palestinian Authority favorably, actually an increase over last year’s 15 percent. Still, that’s fourth from the bottom – a position not surprisingly held by the Republic of Iran, which came in with a 10 percent favorable rating. (That proves it: One in 10 Americans are mentally unstable, which also attests to the popularity of reality TV.)
Then there’s the interesting political breakdown. Some 80 percent of Republicans as compared to 53 percent of Democrats view Israel favorably. Now this has long been pointed out by Jewish GOPers as to why their co-religionists should wean themselves from nearly a century of seemingly addictive support for Democratic presidential candidates.
Democratic Jewish stalwarts often respond that they must stay in their party to fight the anti-Israel far left, that the GOP is distorting the record and that Republican Party’s social agenda has been hijacked by the ultimately anti-Jewish conservative right-wing.
Mind you, one cannot doubt that the Republican base – a large chunk of it being the nation’s 60 million or so Evangelical Christians – are the most pro-Israel slice of non-Jewish America. For them (and in part other GOPers) it’s about theology and ideology.
• The theology could be about end-time scenarios (although not for all) when Jesus returns and the Jews either go along with the program or go away.
• The ideology is about favoring any democracy over fundamentalist/totalitarian regimes, something that worked well in the days of the Soviet Union and again in this era of radical Islam.
Interestingly, we Jews are the ones who heavily push that last argument to the non-Jews when lobbying on Capitol Hill. (Not surprisingly, we’d rather leave the theology to a latter conversation. In other words, when the Messiah shows up in Jerusalem, goes the joke, we’ll ask: “So, have you been here before? If not, let me show you around.”)
So is the GOP better for the State of Israel than the Democratic Party? The numbers say yes. Is that the only issue for most American Jews? Obviously not. And is that good for the Jews? The debate goes on. I invite your thoughts via the comments button here:
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