Israel Matzav

Oren: At a time when support for Israel in the US is at an all-time high, Jews are increasingly divided

Here's a small excerpt. I was shocked, then, that on the very day that I spoke with my kids about their concerns in Israel, some American Jews were discussing a call to boycott products made by Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

I followed that debate closely, as is my duty as ambassador. I was curious to know whether anybody seriously thought such a boycott could be implemented—whether a distinction could be made between the computer chip made in a settlement and the computer itself. I was curious to know how, in the absence of Palestinian peacepartners, such a boycott might contribute to a two-state solution. I wondered whether those calling for the boycott realized how much they strengthened the case for boycotting all Israeli products and delegitimizing the Jewish state.

But what most struck me—not as an ambassador but as an Israeli and as an Israeli father, was the fact that, on the same day that my son was worrying about his raw recruits and my daughter about rockets in Beersheva, a portion of the American Jewish community was debating whether or not to buy Ahava hand products.
Something is wrong here. Terribly wrong.

When I grew up in this country, the slogan of the United Jewish Appeal was “We are One.” Today, that same logo is more likely to raise eyebrows than funds.
No doubt, a majority of American Jews care deeply about the security of Israel and oppose those seeking to undermine it. And even some of those calling for boycotts do so out of a sense of caring—I’d say misplaced sense of caring—about Israel.
And yet, sometimes it seems that we, Israelis and American Jews, not only inhabit different countries but different universes, different realities.

As recent research by Prof. Steven Cohen has indicated, American Jews care most about women’s and minority rights in Israel, and equality among the major streams of Judaism. Those issues are also important to Israelis, but weare also interested in making a living and gaining social benefits. We are interested in protecting our families so that they can have the luxury of worrying about jobs and benefits.

Ironically, at a time when support for Israel in this country is at a near all-time high—indeed it's one of the few truly bipartisan issues—we Jews seem increasingly divided.

Let me be clear: at stake is not merely Israel’s policies or rights of American Jews to criticize them. At stake is nothing less than the unity of a Jewish people.

Labels: Jewish unity, Michael Oren

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:49 PM