While the Israeli electorate has spoken, and re-elected Prime Minister Netanyahu with overwhelming numbers, there is a crisis in the fact that Israel cannot count on American Jewish organizations to support them. American Jewish leaders of establishment organizations simply do not support an Israel led by a right-wing Prime Minister – the reality is that their loyalty to liberalism is more important than the Jewish homeland for many of these organizations. The reality is that even on fundamentally vital issues including Iran, American Jewry cannot be relied upon. As American Jews are intermarrying & assimilating at tremendously high-numbers, they are not a force that Israel can rely upon.
As author Norman Podhoretz wrote in “Why Are Jews Liberal” “To most American Jews, then, liberalism is not, as has often been said, merely a necessary component of Jewishness: it is the very essence of being a Jew. Nor is it a ‘substitute for religion’: it is a religion in its own right, complete with its own catechism and its own dogmas and, Tertullian-like, obdurately resistant to facts that undermine its claims and promises.” He adds “where the Torah of contemporary liberalism conflicts with the Torah of Judaism, it is the Torah of liberalism that prevails and the Torah of Judaism that must give way.”
Similarly, when it comes to choosing between liberalism and Israel, the reality is that liberal Jewish organizations do not choose Israel.
Take some of the most well-known American Jewish organizations. The American Jewish Committee (AJC), the self-proclaimed “premier global Jewish advocacy organization” supports a failed peace process. Their President has said that, “If the line were closer to the Clinton-Barak lines, the U.S. would have less concerns and the fence could be politically defensible.” (Those parameters would have placed nearly 97 percent of Judea and Samaria in Palestinian hands.) Last year, the AJC published a Huffington Post op-ed entitled “Give The Peace Process A Chance”, after condemning those who oppose a Palestinian State. In the most recent elections, at least 60% of Israeli Jews voted for parties that oppose a Palestinian State.
The President of the UJA-Federation, Alisa Doctoroff supports the extreme, radical New Israel Fund which supports boycotts of Israel, and perpetually opposes the Israel Defense Forces. Surely, they are not kvelling to support Israel when more than 60% of Israeli Jews recently voted against a Palestinian State.
The reality is that the masses of involved American Jews are Zionists support a strong Israel, and stand with Israel. Unfortunately, few establishment organizations can be relied upon by the State of Israel during a time of need.
Benjamin Netanyahu once said, “The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.” While that is true, it may not be a part of the ideology of the American Jewish liberal rule book.
In 1928, Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky said “Peace with the Arabs is, of course, to be desired. There is no need for a discussion on this matter among the Jews. All of us, one hundred percent of us, want peace.” The problem is that peace for Israelis meant electing a strong leader in Benjamin Netanyahu, for American Jewish leaders it means continuing to pray at the altar of liberalism.