By Thomas L. Friedman
Opinion Columnist
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Ever since Israel’s founding in 1948, supporting the country’s security and its economic development and cementing its diplomatic ties to the U.S. have been the “religion” of many nonobservant American Jews — rather than studying Torah or keeping kosher. That mission drove fund-raising and forged solidarity among Jewish communities across America.
Now, a lot of American Jews are going to need to find a new focus for their passion.
Because if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds with his judicial putsch to crush the independence of the country’s judiciary, the subject of Israel could fracture every synagogue and Jewish communal organization in America. To put it simply: Israel is facing its biggest internal clash since its founding, and for every rabbi and every Jewish leader in America, to stay silent about this fight is to become irrelevant.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency just ran an article that offered a revealing glimpse into this reality. It quoted Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous as beginning her sermon on Israel last month with a content warning to her congregants: “I have to say some things today that I know will upset some of you.”
Every American rabbi knew what she meant: Israel has become such a hot-button issue that it cannot be discussed without taking sides for or against Netanyahu’s policies.
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As Rabbi Brous told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “You have a wonderful community, and you love them and they love you, until the moment you stand up and you give your Israel sermon.” She said the phenomenon has an informal name: “Death-by-Israel sermon.”
Death-by-Israel sermon. Never heard that before.
What makes the situation even more incendiary is that the fault line on Israel — pro- or anti-Netanyahu — often overlaps with the fault line between Democrats and Republicans, and we know how explosive that divide is.
The reality, though, is that the interests of American Jews and Israel have been diverging for many years, but it’s been papered over. Up until the early 2000s — as Israel was focused on absorbing Jews from Russia and Ethiopia with the help of American Jewry, pursuing the Oslo peace process with the help of American presidents and launching start-ups with the help of American investors — the interests between the two communities seemed to be generally aligned.
But roughly since 2009, Netanyahu — he is currently leading his sixth government as prime minister — has increasingly partnered with more and more ultranationalist and ultrareligious parties and has come to embrace the Trumpist playbook. He has increasingly sought to win elections by radicalizing his base, attacking Israel’s legal, media and academic institutions and inciting his loyalists against centrist and left-wing Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. In the last election, in November, Netanyahu abandoned any attempt to build a broad centrist coalition.
Under Netanyahu, Israel’s governments sought every way possible to avoid the peace process with the Palestinians and used every opportunity possible to demonize Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, even though Netanyahu knew that for years Abbas’s Palestinian Authority was providing essential security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank.
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Continue reading the main story
Netanyahu and his team also dismissed liberal American Jews, viewing them as a dying breed, intermarrying their way to irrelevance. Netanyahu and his allies have instead focused their energies on building support for Israel with Republicans and their evangelical base.
Still, the leaders of the major American Jewish institutions worked hard to deny the implicit contempt that Netanyahu manifested toward them, putting out pablum statements about the need to respect Israel’s democratic process and judge Israel’s government “on actions” — as if Netanyahu’s appointment of two ex-convicts and nationalist, messianic zealots to key cabinet posts was not worthy of condemnation.
But as Netanyahu’s latest government has pressed ahead with its attempt to crush the independence of the Israeli judiciary, splitting Israeli society, American Jewish leaders now have no choice but to choose sides.
Because what began in Israel as a protest against Netanyahu’s judicial putsch is expanding into a much broader revolt by the most productive elements of Israel’s society, who also carry the security burden and fight its wars. That sector is now looking at Netanyahu’s cabinet — many of its members have never served in combat (none of the ultra-Orthodox and only some of the ultranationalists) and many pay little or no taxes but devour huge budgets for their religious institutions — and saying: “Enough! We are not taking this from you anymore.”https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/opinion/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-protests.html
Opinion Columnist
Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.
Ever since Israel’s founding in 1948, supporting the country’s security and its economic development and cementing its diplomatic ties to the U.S. have been the “religion” of many nonobservant American Jews — rather than studying Torah or keeping kosher. That mission drove fund-raising and forged solidarity among Jewish communities across America.
Now, a lot of American Jews are going to need to find a new focus for their passion.
Because if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds with his judicial putsch to crush the independence of the country’s judiciary, the subject of Israel could fracture every synagogue and Jewish communal organization in America. To put it simply: Israel is facing its biggest internal clash since its founding, and for every rabbi and every Jewish leader in America, to stay silent about this fight is to become irrelevant.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency just ran an article that offered a revealing glimpse into this reality. It quoted Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous as beginning her sermon on Israel last month with a content warning to her congregants: “I have to say some things today that I know will upset some of you.”
Every American rabbi knew what she meant: Israel has become such a hot-button issue that it cannot be discussed without taking sides for or against Netanyahu’s policies.
Story continues below advertisement
Continue reading the main story
As Rabbi Brous told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “You have a wonderful community, and you love them and they love you, until the moment you stand up and you give your Israel sermon.” She said the phenomenon has an informal name: “Death-by-Israel sermon.”
Death-by-Israel sermon. Never heard that before.
What makes the situation even more incendiary is that the fault line on Israel — pro- or anti-Netanyahu — often overlaps with the fault line between Democrats and Republicans, and we know how explosive that divide is.
The reality, though, is that the interests of American Jews and Israel have been diverging for many years, but it’s been papered over. Up until the early 2000s — as Israel was focused on absorbing Jews from Russia and Ethiopia with the help of American Jewry, pursuing the Oslo peace process with the help of American presidents and launching start-ups with the help of American investors — the interests between the two communities seemed to be generally aligned.
But roughly since 2009, Netanyahu — he is currently leading his sixth government as prime minister — has increasingly partnered with more and more ultranationalist and ultrareligious parties and has come to embrace the Trumpist playbook. He has increasingly sought to win elections by radicalizing his base, attacking Israel’s legal, media and academic institutions and inciting his loyalists against centrist and left-wing Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. In the last election, in November, Netanyahu abandoned any attempt to build a broad centrist coalition.
Under Netanyahu, Israel’s governments sought every way possible to avoid the peace process with the Palestinians and used every opportunity possible to demonize Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, even though Netanyahu knew that for years Abbas’s Palestinian Authority was providing essential security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank.
Story continues below advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Netanyahu and his team also dismissed liberal American Jews, viewing them as a dying breed, intermarrying their way to irrelevance. Netanyahu and his allies have instead focused their energies on building support for Israel with Republicans and their evangelical base.
Still, the leaders of the major American Jewish institutions worked hard to deny the implicit contempt that Netanyahu manifested toward them, putting out pablum statements about the need to respect Israel’s democratic process and judge Israel’s government “on actions” — as if Netanyahu’s appointment of two ex-convicts and nationalist, messianic zealots to key cabinet posts was not worthy of condemnation.
But as Netanyahu’s latest government has pressed ahead with its attempt to crush the independence of the Israeli judiciary, splitting Israeli society, American Jewish leaders now have no choice but to choose sides.
Because what began in Israel as a protest against Netanyahu’s judicial putsch is expanding into a much broader revolt by the most productive elements of Israel’s society, who also carry the security burden and fight its wars. That sector is now looking at Netanyahu’s cabinet — many of its members have never served in combat (none of the ultra-Orthodox and only some of the ultranationalists) and many pay little or no taxes but devour huge budgets for their religious institutions — and saying: “Enough! We are not taking this from you anymore.”https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/opinion/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-protests.html