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| Benny Gantz Can’t Heal the Rift Between U.S. Jews and Israel | Benny Gantz Can’t Heal the Rift Between U.S. Jews and Israel |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| It is still too early to know who will be Israel’s next prime minister, or what Israel’s governing coalition might look like. But it is clear that Benjamin Netanyahu’s long spell over Israeli politics — the longest of any prime minister in Israeli’s history — has finally broken. | It is still too early to know who will be Israel’s next prime minister, or what Israel’s governing coalition might look like. But it is clear that Benjamin Netanyahu’s long spell over Israeli politics — the longest of any prime minister in Israeli’s history — has finally broken. |
| Last week’s election results have led American Jews to speak about Benny Gantz as if he were the long-awaited Messiah. The mere possibility that he may end up as the prime minister has reassured American Jews that Israel’s commitment to being a liberal democracy has not eroded and that the chauvinism that they associate with Mr. Netanyahu has not swallowed this still-young country. | Last week’s election results have led American Jews to speak about Benny Gantz as if he were the long-awaited Messiah. The mere possibility that he may end up as the prime minister has reassured American Jews that Israel’s commitment to being a liberal democracy has not eroded and that the chauvinism that they associate with Mr. Netanyahu has not swallowed this still-young country. |
| Indeed, should Mr. Gantz, the former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who heads the newly created Blue and White party, become prime minister, American Jews will have some cause to celebrate. The Trump-Netanyahu romance will fade. The vile race-baiting of Israeli Arabs, who represent 20 percent of Israel’s population, will diminish. The Israeli government will be less dismissive of American Jews, and perhaps less derisive of non-Orthodox Judaism. On the surface, matters will improve, perhaps even quickly. | Indeed, should Mr. Gantz, the former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who heads the newly created Blue and White party, become prime minister, American Jews will have some cause to celebrate. The Trump-Netanyahu romance will fade. The vile race-baiting of Israeli Arabs, who represent 20 percent of Israel’s population, will diminish. The Israeli government will be less dismissive of American Jews, and perhaps less derisive of non-Orthodox Judaism. On the surface, matters will improve, perhaps even quickly. |
| But contrary to conventional wisdom, I believe that any new Israeli prime minister might ultimately make matters worse between Israel and American Jews. That’s because American Jews will discover that some of the policies they detested and associated with Netanyahu are actually supported by a wide spectrum of Israelis. What they thought they disliked about Netanyahu they may find that they dislike about Israel itself. | But contrary to conventional wisdom, I believe that any new Israeli prime minister might ultimately make matters worse between Israel and American Jews. That’s because American Jews will discover that some of the policies they detested and associated with Netanyahu are actually supported by a wide spectrum of Israelis. What they thought they disliked about Netanyahu they may find that they dislike about Israel itself. |
| What most American Jews have never fully understood is that Israel is not a miniature America in a bad neighborhood; it is an entirely different project, with a different purpose. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” reads Emma Lazarus’ poem at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. America would be open to everyone, privileging — at least in principle — no ethnicity, no religion, no race. | What most American Jews have never fully understood is that Israel is not a miniature America in a bad neighborhood; it is an entirely different project, with a different purpose. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” reads Emma Lazarus’ poem at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. America would be open to everyone, privileging — at least in principle — no ethnicity, no religion, no race. |
| But that was never Israel’s purpose. Israel was to be, as the 1917 Balfour Declaration put it, a “national home for the Jewish people.” Thomas Jefferson’s opening words in the Declaration of Independence are, “When in the course of human events.” Israel’s Declaration of Independence opens, “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.” | But that was never Israel’s purpose. Israel was to be, as the 1917 Balfour Declaration put it, a “national home for the Jewish people.” Thomas Jefferson’s opening words in the Declaration of Independence are, “When in the course of human events.” Israel’s Declaration of Independence opens, “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.” |
| It was American universalism that made the United States such a welcoming haven for Jews, while in Israel, it was particularism that gave the country its purpose: to save and protect Jewish lives. While it failed to save most of Europe’s Jews from Hitler, it succeeded in saving the Jews of the Arab world, who now constitute more than 50 percent of the population and who, given their relatively recent history, harbor no warm feelings toward their Arab neighbors. | It was American universalism that made the United States such a welcoming haven for Jews, while in Israel, it was particularism that gave the country its purpose: to save and protect Jewish lives. While it failed to save most of Europe’s Jews from Hitler, it succeeded in saving the Jews of the Arab world, who now constitute more than 50 percent of the population and who, given their relatively recent history, harbor no warm feelings toward their Arab neighbors. |
| Seeking the support of world opinion and American Jews, Israeli leaders have always stressed the similarities between the two countries, but it is increasingly clear that Israel has done itself a grave disservice by papering over the purposes and natures of the countries. America has become synonymous with liberal democracy, while Israel has always been an ethnic democracy. | Seeking the support of world opinion and American Jews, Israeli leaders have always stressed the similarities between the two countries, but it is increasingly clear that Israel has done itself a grave disservice by papering over the purposes and natures of the countries. America has become synonymous with liberal democracy, while Israel has always been an ethnic democracy. |
| In 1880, only 3 percent of all the world’s Jews lived in the United States and Palestine combined. Today those communities include more than 85 percent of the world’s Jews. The vast majority of the world’s Jews, therefore, live in communities that, in Jewish terms, are brand-new. Both are radical experiments in Jewish renewal. And both have been extraordinarily successful — but they are far more dissimilar than either side has been willing to acknowledge. | In 1880, only 3 percent of all the world’s Jews lived in the United States and Palestine combined. Today those communities include more than 85 percent of the world’s Jews. The vast majority of the world’s Jews, therefore, live in communities that, in Jewish terms, are brand-new. Both are radical experiments in Jewish renewal. And both have been extraordinarily successful — but they are far more dissimilar than either side has been willing to acknowledge. |
| In America, Judaism, which had always been a peoplehood, became a religion like Protestantism and Catholicism (and later, Islam). In Israel, countless Israelis have literally never set foot in a synagogue, but instead, express their belonging to their people through their expressions of peoplehood, not least by their choice to live in a Jewish state. | |
| Israelis right and left, religious and secular, still overwhelmingly believe in the importance and legitimacy of Israel as a distinctly Jewish state, in which the national narrative is Jewish history, the holidays that define the calendar year are Jewish, public religious symbols are overwhelmingly Jewish and the spoken language is the language of the Hebrew Bible. | Israelis right and left, religious and secular, still overwhelmingly believe in the importance and legitimacy of Israel as a distinctly Jewish state, in which the national narrative is Jewish history, the holidays that define the calendar year are Jewish, public religious symbols are overwhelmingly Jewish and the spoken language is the language of the Hebrew Bible. |
| Israeli Arabs voted in greater numbers in this election, and now, at long last, represent a formidable parliamentary bloc. They appear ready to become more involved in the political process than they have in decades. But the subject they avoid is whether or not they are willing to accept the notion that Israel is not only democratic, but Jewish. | Israeli Arabs voted in greater numbers in this election, and now, at long last, represent a formidable parliamentary bloc. They appear ready to become more involved in the political process than they have in decades. But the subject they avoid is whether or not they are willing to accept the notion that Israel is not only democratic, but Jewish. |
| This, too, could complicate American Jews’ view of Israel. If and when even seemingly moderate Jewish Israeli voices object publicly to including Israel’s Arab Parliament members in the coalition, American Jews — imbued with America’s commitment to universalism — will most likely see a blemish in a democracy’s obligation to be ethnically blind. Meantime, Israelis will see themselves seeking to perpetuate the purpose for which their state was created. | This, too, could complicate American Jews’ view of Israel. If and when even seemingly moderate Jewish Israeli voices object publicly to including Israel’s Arab Parliament members in the coalition, American Jews — imbued with America’s commitment to universalism — will most likely see a blemish in a democracy’s obligation to be ethnically blind. Meantime, Israelis will see themselves seeking to perpetuate the purpose for which their state was created. |
| America granted the Jews who came to its shores a chance to sidestep history. History was a “nightmare,” says von Humboldt in Saul Bellow’s “Humboldt’s Gift.” He had come to America to get “a good night’s rest.” Zionism sought no such rest. Jews who chose Zionism sought a re-entry into history, with all the complexity and even ugliness that history and power invariably entail. | |
| American Jews are repulsed by the interminable conflict with the Palestinians, and chant “End the Occupation,” often without regard for the risks Israelis might have to assume to make that happen. Most Israelis would like the conflict to be over, too, but if perpetuating the unique project that is the Jewish state means that the conflict will continue until the Palestinians demonstrate (not just declare) an end to their drive to destroy the Jewish state, Israelis will unhappily bear that, too. | American Jews are repulsed by the interminable conflict with the Palestinians, and chant “End the Occupation,” often without regard for the risks Israelis might have to assume to make that happen. Most Israelis would like the conflict to be over, too, but if perpetuating the unique project that is the Jewish state means that the conflict will continue until the Palestinians demonstrate (not just declare) an end to their drive to destroy the Jewish state, Israelis will unhappily bear that, too. |
| If the rift between American Jews and Israel is to be healed, salvation will come not in the form of Benny Gantz or any other prime minister, but in beginning an overdue conversation between the world’s two largest Jewish communities, to deepen our understanding of each other’s differences, successes and vulnerabilities, in the hopes that we can learn from the best that each has to offer. In a world that is darkening for the Jews once again, we need each other now more than ever. | If the rift between American Jews and Israel is to be healed, salvation will come not in the form of Benny Gantz or any other prime minister, but in beginning an overdue conversation between the world’s two largest Jewish communities, to deepen our understanding of each other’s differences, successes and vulnerabilities, in the hopes that we can learn from the best that each has to offer. In a world that is darkening for the Jews once again, we need each other now more than ever. |
| Daniel Gordis (@danielgordis) is Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem. His latest book is “We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel.” | Daniel Gordis (@danielgordis) is Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem. His latest book is “We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel.” |
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