What follows is a review of a book that may be as relevant today as when I wrote it in September of 2011:
A wonderful book that should be read by anyone who cares about and wants to understand Israel’s past, present and future
Jeremy Ben-Ami is a gifted leader with great attention to detail, who has surrounded himself with exceptional people at J Street. His excellent book, “A New Voice For Israel,” reflects the man, the organization, the values of both, very touching personal remembrances, and lots of ideas. Hopefully these ideas will take root and help shape the debate concerning the direction of peace in the Middle East—between Israel, the Palestinians, and other states that are changing their directions as a result of the “Arab Spring” and the “Scent of Jasmine,” which have been sweeping the region.
Ben-Ami attacks the “sacred cows” of American Jewry and its “traditional pro-Israel lobbying groups,” as well as “the acceptable parameters of the Israel conversation,” the “guardians of the pro-Israel brand,” the “us-versus-them worldview” and the right-of-center “official American Jewish establishment”—such as the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). His views are considered by many as heresy and treasonous; however, as he points out, the establishment might have saved more Jews from their horrendous fate in World War II, instead of being impediments. The same thing was true of the crushing of Irgun, the patriotic Jewish underground militia with which Ben-Ami’s father served.
A fundamental issue raised by the book is why Ben-Ami seeks to shape the views of a likely one-term president, Barack Obama, American Jews and members of Congress, when it is the reactionary elements in Israel—led and epitomized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, possibly the most dangerous and irresponsible leader that Israel has ever had—which must be changed. Why work the American side of the Atlantic when it is Israelis who must want a lasting peace in the Middle East, or perish. As Ben-Ami points out, more and more Jewish-American students are looking for ways to express concern and anger over the plight of the Palestinian people; and responses grounded in denial or worse simply deepen this anger.
Netanyahu was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient. Nothing has changed since Leah Rabin’s death, except Netanyahu is once again Israel’s Prime Minister. He is fully capable of igniting a conflagration in the Middle East that might end Israel’s existence, and become the first “Holocaust” of the 21st Century.
In a sense, Ben-Ami’s book is similar to Obama’s “Dreams from My Father,” except Obama concluded that his father—whom he only knew for one month of his life, at the age of 10—was a “bitter drunk,” an “abusive husband,” and a “defeated, lonely bureaucrat,” and that “[w]hatever I do, it seems, I won’t do much worse than he did.” Ben-Ami is continuing his father’s dreams; and there is reason to believe that his father would be very proud of him, albeit they might not agree completely.
In some ways, Ben-Ami and I are polar opposites. I am not Jewish; he is. His “unwritten family rule” and his own leanings were against voting for Republicans. I grew up in a devoutly Republican family, which revered Dwight Eisenhower—a German-American hero who destroyed the Third Reich—Richard Nixon and Douglas MacArthur, and thought Harry Truman was a traitor. However, when given the chance to vote, I registered as a Democrat, and never voted for Nixon. I left the party because of Lyndon Johnson and his Vietnam War; and I left the Republican Party after that, because it was too conservative and dogmatic. I voted for Reagan and the Bushes, and would do so again today, although I have been an Independent for 20 years.
Like Ben-Ami and his views of the “mainstream Jewish leadership,” I too have rebelled against the leadership of both American political parties, and look forward to the day when an Independent occupies the White House, and other major officeholders are Independents as well. My parents were not anti-Semitic; and in fact, I do not recall them mentioning Israel at all. Yet, I grew up believing it was David against Goliath; and that Israel could do no wrong. My Israeli hero was Yitzhak Rabin; and I even came to admire Sharon before his stroke, inter alia, because he recognized that Israeli settlements had become impediments to peace, and must be removed by force if necessary. I admire Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak as well.
Today, Israel is no longer viewed as “a shining city upon a hill” or the “light unto the nations”—which it once was—but as an oppressor. This perception will only grow as long as Netanyahu remains in power. He is hated, and he personifies a country that is hated; and his critics, Jews and non-Jews alike, are falsely labeled as “Israel haters,” “self-hating Jews” or anti-Semites. His removal will provide a breath of fresh air for Israel, which is long overdue, and a chance for peace between Israelis and their neighbors. In a very real sense, despite what he says publicly, there is reason to believe that Obama views Israel as the oppressor too, just as he hated Apartheid in South Africa and British colonial rule.
What is fascinating—and represents a challenge to Jewish orthodoxy—is that the Republicans, with George W. Bush being an outstanding example, have been much stronger supporters and champions of Israel than the Democrats. Yet, a failure or refusal to recognize this fact has led American Jews including Ben-Ami to embrace Democrats. What Ben-Ami has spelled out in his thoughtful and well-written book is his mission and that of J Street to complete Yitzhak Rabin’s work of achieving lasting peace, and to dedicate their efforts to ending the violence, and to “rewrite the rules” of political discourse with respect to Israel, so that moderate voices are heard—worthy goals that I support completely.
To achieve this, Ben-Ami and J Street will have to reach out to Jews and non-Jews, Republicans and Independents, members of the Tea Party movement and “disenchanted” Democrats, because far-Left and Leftist Democrats are not the solution to anything. Indeed, it is a grave mistake to tie one’s star to them, or to be exclusionary. Bush family confidant, former Reagan chief of staff and Secretary of State James Baker was correct when he observed that Jews do not vote for Republicans—and they “constitute only 2 percent of the entire American population” anyway, according to Ben-Ami—so why should Republicans help Israel or support Jewish causes at all?
Yes, right-wing evangelical Christians are rabid supporters of Israel and a force within the GOP, but their views do not reflect those of mainstream Christians. Like David Ben-Gurion and other Israelis who crushed the Jews of Irgun, the Democrats must not be permitted to dominate and skew J Street or Israel’s future; and the GOP must not be viewed as monolithic or in lock step with evangelical Christian fringe groups, such as “Christian Zionists.”
My paternal grandfather believed it was a mistake for the United States to be in the Middle East; and there is wisdom in his views. According to his logic, we would not have fought the Gulf War, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and we would remain neutral with respect to Israel and the Palestinians, and the other countries of the Middle East as well. Any notion that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a fundamental national interest of America is nonsense. Like the views of many in the United States prior to World War II, Americans might remain neutral and let the chips fall where they may, rather than engage in any more unpopular military incursions.
Israel and the United States are not “joined at the hip,” and they have vastly different and divergent national self-interests. Presumably Ben-Ami does not agree, although he does say: “We should not ask people, organizations, or even countries to pick sides—either with us or against us.” One wonders at times, however, whether he is not attempting to push at one end of a string, regardless of how well intentioned, moralistic and idealistic he is. One wonders too whether he and the Jews with whom I grew up in Los Angeles are polar opposites. They were integrated and assimilated; and neither their parents nor they were victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Another example comes to mind of a Jewish lawyer from the Midwest with whom I was working on a lawsuit. He came to Washington, D.C. and had never seen the Holocaust Museum, so I took him there. His family came to the United States in the 1800s, and he told me that none of his relatives were victims of the Holocaust, nor did he know anyone who was affected by it. In many ways, he did not relate to it, although he was moved emotionally after we toured the museum. He and the Jews with whom I grew up may not relate to Ben-Ami, inter alia, because neither they nor their parents are immigrant Jews. To them, Israel may be as distant and foreign as the Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England of my ancestors are to me.
I had visited Dachau during a summer in Europe when I was in law school at Berkeley, so I had seen the Nazi horrors firsthand, but my lawyer-friend had not. I had tried to understand how Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany—the country of my father’s ancestors, who came to America in 1849. What I learned was that anti-Semitism is alive in Germany; and that “the campaign to silence dissent”—as Ben-Ami describes intimidation, fear, invective, division and discrimination in the Jewish community—is what allowed Nazism to flourish. Dissenters were viewed as traitors, hated and killed.
Contrariwise, dissent and healthy debate must be welcomed and encouraged; and they are the very essence of America’s democracy and our freedoms. Far too often, criticism—for example, of our institutions such as law enforcement or the judiciary—is equated with disloyalty toward either the United States or Israel, which it is not. “Witch hunts” and “thought police” (Ben-Ami’s terms) have no place in democratic societies.
Next, will any of Ben-Ami’s fine analysis, nuanced discussions, and logical and sober reasoning make a tinker’s dam worth of difference if Israel does not survive? I am forever reminded of what a prominent American—who is a Jew, and a strong supporter of Israel, with impeccable credentials—told me a number of years ago:
“I have long thought that Israel will not make it, if only because of what are cavalierly called WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and its very tight geographical compression. All else is immaterial, including the Palestinians, or us, or the nature of Israel’s [government].”
I was stunned by this person’s words, and I have reflected on them many times since.
This and the uprisings sweeping the region, which may be co-opted by Islamic fascists and engulf Israel ultimately, undergird a sense of urgency concerning the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; not peace at any price, but something different than the approach being taken by Netanyahu. Indeed, action by the UN General Assembly on the issue of Palestinian statehood may be the only means of moving the peace process forward, because neither Obama—in the waning days of his failed presidency—nor Netanyahu, are likely to make a positive difference.
Does Ben-Ami have the answers? His heart is in the right place; and his is a legitimate, persuasive voice. He certainly rings the alarm bells, inter alia, by soberly raising the issue of whether Israel and his great-grandparents’ Tel Aviv will be there for his offspring in 2109 at the city’s bicentennial—and implicitly, well before then. He is frank, forthright and courageous in his assessments, concerns and the stark choices ahead for Israel. While I do not agree with all of his views, one cannot discount his honesty, sincerity and integrity, which shine through in his essentially-flawless writings and hard-hitting, thought-provoking book.
Lastly, Simon Wiesenthal was a hero of mine, ever since I read his book many years ago, “The Murderers Among Us.” Later I read an article about him, in which the famous Nazi hunter spoke about the duty owed by survivors of the Nazi Holocaust to Jews and non-Jews alike to insure that other holocausts do not occur again, and of course he was correct. In many ways, Ben-Ami evokes the wisdom of Wiesenthal and the heritage of their forefathers, in asking about the treatment of Palestinians: “Is this how I wanted to be treated when I was a minority in another people’s country?”[2]
© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele
By Timothy D. Naegele[1]
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