Will another Netanyahu win sever Israel’s ties with US Jews?

At the heart of the breach between Israel and American Jewry is a declining sense of Jewish peoplehood among the latter, as assimilation and widespread intermarriage have created a community that is no longer that interested in Israel or, frankly, the person leading it.

by  Jonathan Tobin, JNS

Knesset poised to vote on early election as coalition talks unravel

The stage is set for next month’s election, but considering it was only four months ago that voters last went to the polls, their lack of enthusiasm is understandable.

Since April 9, when parties that had pledged to support Benjamin Netanyahu in his continued role as prime minister won 65 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset, a lot has happened. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, which won five seats while ostensibly running to be part of the next Likud party-led coalition, decided to insist on the passage of a draft bill that the ultra-Orthodox parties, who also made up part of the last government, wouldn’t accept. The result was a political standoff that led to new elections. Polls indicate that there will be some changes from the April results when the next Knesset is elected on Sept. 17. However, the end result is likely to create another stalemate with the Yisrael Beytenu leader seeking to play kingmaker in what might be the beginning of the post-Netanyahu era in Israeli politics.

 

But while Israel’s left-wing parties are hoping that the second vote in five months will somehow produce a different result, their great fear is that somehow Netanyahu, who has been counted out many times in the past, will pull an electoral rabbit out of his hat and confound the pundits by somehow emerging with an electoral majority.

Those worrying about the possibility are now trotting out the same doleful arguments about the consequences of continued rule by Netanyahu.

According to his critics, another Netanyahu government will a) further doom the peace process, b) destroy Israeli democracy, and c) sever the last ties between Israel and the Diaspora as liberal American Jews recoil in disgust at Netanyahu’s intransigence and corruption.

Are they right?

The notion that Israel somehow has within its power the ability to magically make peace with the Palestinians lies at the core of the belief system of Israel’s marginalized left-wing parties. The vast majority of Israelis believe that no Palestinian peace partner exists, and understand that both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are neither willing nor ready to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders are drawn.

Moreover, as long as Hamas supports Israel’s extinction and the PA rewards terrorists with salaries and pensions, the percentage of Israelis who believe in a two-state solution will continue to decline. The murder of Dvir Sorek, a 19-year-old Israeli yeshiva student, in the West Bank this week, and Palestinians’ support for this crime is just one more reason why Israelis think that a peace partner remains elusive. And it’s also why Netanyahu’s primary rivals in the Blue and White party are careful to try to sound even more hawkish than the prime minister.

Nor would another Netanyahu government spell the end of Israeli democracy. While there are good reasons to think that 10 years is an invitation to the sort of problems that afflict all American administrations that last more than one term, most of those who speak of Netanyahu as a threat to democracy are mainly upset at the outcome of Israel’s democratic elections. Even if the next Netanyahu-led government would grant him immunity from prosecution while he was in office – something that is routine in most democracies for any head of government, the idea that any of the offenses of which he is accused represent a threat to democratic rule is risible.

Still, Netanyahu’s critics are not wrong when they say that the prime minister turns off most American Jews and that their opposition to him undermines Israel-Diaspora relations.

There’s no doubt that liberal US Jewry has little understanding of the security situation that has sidelined the Israeli parties and leaders they see as more attractive options. Many also buy into the misleading arguments put forward to brand the Israeli Right as undemocratic, even if they have equally little grasp of topics like reform of Israel’s Supreme Court, which are at the heart of that issue.

It’s also true that the majority of American Jews who are loyal Democrats resent Netanyahu’s close ties with US President Donald Trump. There is a stark contrast between the Israeli affection for the man who has been the most pro-Israel president to date, and the angry contempt for Trump on the part of most of the American Diaspora.

So in that sense, another Netanyahu-led government wouldn’t heal the growing breach between Israel and the Diaspora.

And yet, another prime minister would not make that much of a difference on any of these issues.

Liberal Jews who think Netanyahu is the obstacle to peace are not likely to be any happier with the policies of former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz should he somehow cobble together a coalition this fall. Nor is he likely to try the sort of massive concessions to the Palestinians that resulted in bloodshed and political grief for Netanyahu’s predecessors. The wheeling and dealing that he would have to do in order to get to 61 votes wouldn’t strike liberal Zionist critics as any more democratic than anything Netanyahu has done.

Furthermore, Gantz would have to be just as friendly to Trump as Netanyahu has been since it is a primary obligation of every Israeli prime minister to stay as close to the US government as possible. Gantz is no more inclined to aid the “resistance” to Trump than Netanyahu.

And even more importantly, at the heart of the breach between Israel and American Jewry is a declining sense of Jewish peoplehood among the latter as assimilation and widespread intermarriage have created a community that is no longer that interested in Israel or, frankly, the person leading it.

Even if Netanyahu’s time in power is coming to an end, the gap between Israel and the Diaspora isn’t likely to shrink, no matter who wins on Sept. 17.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

August 16, 2019 | 9 Comments »
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  1. The Jerusalem Post wants the United Arab List in the New Government! Says Ayman Odeh’s Program is good! Critises Yaalon and Ashkenazi, Kikud for say the won’t serve with Arab List! All this although Arab List is openly anti-Zionist! Seehttps://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Coalition-integration-599655.

    By the way, Ted–why don’t you cover the Israeli election developments? Of far more relevance to Israel’s futuree than this crank Climate change denial b___t.

  2. Ayman Odeh to help Benny Gantz form Leftist government
    9:31 AM

    Supreme Court discusses disqualification of Otzma Yehudit
    9:23 AM

    9:33 AM
    Ayman Odeh to help Benny Gantz form Leftist government

    Supreme Court discusses disqualification of Otzma Yehudit
    9:23 AM

    Odeh (Flash 90)
    ?? 21, 5779, 8/22/2019
    Ayman Odeh to help Benny Gantz form Leftist government
    Joint Arab List Chair MK Ayman Odeh does not rule out possibility of recommending Gantz as PM – and joining coalition headed by him.

    From today’s Arutz Sheva

  3. American Liberal Jews: Strong Concern about Anti-Semitism, Strong Support of Israel but Less for under 60s

    Summary of major findings:

    American liberal Jews in general are strongly supportive of Israel.
    They support the legitimacy of Zionism and the concept of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
    They reject notions of Israel as a racist or apartheid state.
    They express very strong concerns over anti-Semitism.
    This concern appears to be limited to threats from the “Right,” as the sample rejected associations between Democrats or the party and anti-Semitism.
    Younger (below 60) liberal Jews also show strong concerns over anti-Semitism.
    Younger liberal Jews show less support for the legitimacy of Zionism or the need for Israel as a safe refuge for Jews.
    Liberal Jews in general attach little importance to themselves or their children choosing life mates from their own ethnic group.
    As attitudes of liberal Jews begin to mirror attitudes of the general liberal population, Jews, as a distinct “bloc” may become indistinguishable and less significant.

    The study in detail can be found at
    http://jcpa.org/pdf/American_Jewish_Liberals-s1r.pdf

  4. A study discussed below differs with the assumptions of Tobin about Liberal Jews and what right-wing Jews generally think about Liberal Jews.

    Irwin J. Mansdorf

    Over the past number of years, there has been much
    about a “divide” between Israel and the United States, particularly as it applies to distancing of Jews in America from what is perceived and described as a right-wing government in Israel. Since most American Jews are considered “liberal” to one degree or another, and since the current government in Israel is perceived as “right-wing,” identification with and support for Israel among the American Jewish population is said to be suffering.

    While conventional wisdom may support such a conclusion, a series of inquiries into the question of the identification with Israel among American Jewish liberals shows a more nuanced picture, different from what many may think.

    At the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, we chose to address the question of how American Jews, and American liberal Jews in particular, relate to Israel. We looked at any number of variables and tested the assumptions by posing the issues to different samples of American liberal Jews. Our research showed that, contrary to some opinions we heard, liberal Jews do in fact show distinct identification with and support for Israel, although things are not all that simple or clear-cut.

    Overall, Jewish liberals see the importance of keeping Israel a “Jewish” state, they reject the notion of Israel as an “apartheid” state, they see Palestinian violence as an illegitimate means of protest and most see “Zionism” as a legitimate national liberation movement.

    That is what the data showed. But when we spoke separately to individual Jews, including Jewish community leaders, both liberal and not-so-liberal, many were surprised. Jews on the right painted liberal Jews with a broad brush of being antagonistic towards Israel, supportive of Palestinian rights, minimizing Israeli security needs and being more concerned with global social issues than with anything Israeli or Jewish. On the left, we found people who adopted the conventional “distancing” narrative and described Israel as a country they see drifting towards authoritarian and anti-democratic rule. In short, the impressions were different from the data.

    So, is the data wrong?

    Possibly, but what is more likely is that people chose to bend the data according to their ideology and personal views. For example, about half of our respondents said that it was true that Zionism is a “legitimate national liberation movement,” certainly not an overwhelming statistic. But by the same token, around 70 percent felt that Israel represents the need for a “safe refuge” for Jews. Taken together, we can point to the less than enthusiastic endorsement for “Zionism,” but we can also say that in practice, Jews support Zionism’s goal, namely the need for a Jewish state.

    Other issues were much clearer. Let’s take the matter of which social issue is most important to liberal Jews. It was not black lives matter or Islamophobia, which, by the way, general liberals do see as more important. The top “most important” issue for Jewish liberals (we tested three separate groups) was “anti-Semitism.” But again, these results only tell part of the story. A further look at the data raises some questions about who and what is “anti-Semitic.”

    On the right, there appears to be a clear impression that the left, including the Democrats, are moving towards a less sympathetic and supportive view of Israel, and, by extension, of Jews. Our data showed that liberal Jews did not share those feelings.

    Full Article at https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/the-complicated-views-of-liberal-jews/

  5. How come the media keeps ignoring one of the greatest accomplishments of Netanyahu, one which no others to date have come close to? I’m talking of the recent friend-making Netanyahu has accomplished with many Arab states. He has galvanized Arab states to join with Israel to counteract Iran and the caliph-building attempts of the Iranians. This has been a brilliant move, as it neutralizes some of the rancor of the Arabs against Israel. Israel has much to offer its friends, and the Arabs have realized this. Gantz et al would lose this advantage, and Netanyahu needs to emphasize this is the campaign. And Liberman? He is far from a diplomat. No, we have one choice and only one choice in Israel, and that’s Bibi. Who cares what the exiles in US think? They are not living among millions of Muslim former enemies and they reject Israel as their spiritual home. They’re irrelevant, and my family is included in this population.

  6. Same kind of superficial blah-blah in Ynetnews.com which publishes Isaac Herzog ” analysis ” yesterday ( a crucial moment for the future of the jewish people ) . Now the J.A chairman wants to heal the ” rift ” between USA jews ( = the whole Diaspora ) and Israel . Quite pathetic to read his project is to empty the Atlantic ocean with his silver spoon . He should take actions in western Europe , where Jews are under assault of Muslim attacks and leftist propaganda . But he has a bigger task ” to heal the rift ” ….To laugh or to ignore ? At the end of his job he will be judged by Aliya numbers , not by the depth of the ” rift ” .

  8. Parochial pseudo-analysis ;
    Diaspora : for J.Tobin the Diaspora is american jews ; stop .
    Who cares about the so-called ” rift ” an overall vocable for distracted readers ? Since the end of the soviet oppression , the US jews are very remote from Israel except when some armchair bended wrist liberal expert ( Thomas Friedman Tony Judt ) raises his finger on some ” illiberal ” Israeli behavior .
    Diaspora is also in europe , western and eastern .
    US jews making aliya are 0,003 % ( 2200/year out of 6 million )
    Russian jews making aliya are 4% (7,000/year out of 170,000)
    Ukrainian Jews making aliya are 14% (7,000/year out of 50,000)
    French jews making aliya are 1,5% ( 2500/year out of 400,000 )
    So who should be more vocal ?
    The liberal US jews or the rest of the world diaspora ?
    Israel:
    about Bibi , and his opponents ; J.Tobin again focuses on how another prime minister than Bibi ( Gantz ) wouldd also need to be friend with Trump .
    If Trump is in power it’s thanks to US voters, and not the responsibility of anyone else . If Trump is reelected ( which I do hope ) then , Mr Tobin , please do blame your own nation .
    If Bibi or some NON-Liberal politician is the next prime minister of Israel ( Liberman ) ,do blame your uneasiness Mr Tobin , on your own liberal background , not on Israel no-nonsense , hard-nose voters .
    The liberal have lost it big in the USA, they have lost it big in Israel and they are going to loose it big in Europe too ( UK-Italy ) . Guess why Mr Tobin ?
    Your are out of touch with reality .

  9. The chaos between Diaspora Jews in the U.S. and their Israeli counterparts has nothing to do with Netanyahu. American Jewry – virtually 75% Liberal Democrat – now constitutes the new Ten Lost Tribes, a status worn with pride by those who now worship their new god of Leftism. .