Published in the Jewish World, January 19-25, 2018
By Howard Teich
Just over a year ago, I wrote an article, “A Most Optimistic Time for Israel: The Trump Era Bodes Well for the Jewish State.” It’s a good time to look back, and look forward. Nothing like seeing where you are on the path, and who is there with you, and who, and what, are the obstacles in the way. It means really avoiding the clatter, and seeing the reality. That’s one of the reasons I have always separated my politics from my positions on Israel.
Oprah Winfrey said at the Golden Globe Awards the other night, “what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” And she said it in the context of our trying to “navigate these complicated times.” So, here’s my truth.
The Trump Administration has created an atmosphere for Israel that has not been seen in a United States Administration for many years. It starts at the top, and that is President Donald Trump, and he has kept his word. Statements of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have been nothing short of extraordinary, and most noteworthy. Certainly it was expected that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and son-in-law Jared Kushner would be supportive, and they have been.
And I have only seen Vice President Michael Pence once in person, and it was at the CUFI Conference a few months ago in Washington DC. So, here’s how I described the experience to myself right after the Conference, “When the Vice-President attended and gave a keynote speech at this Conference, speaking out on the Administration’s support and friendship to Israel, on their commitment to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, not if but when, and the alignment and understanding of key issues was apparent, you know this Administration really does have Israel’s back.”.
Let’s start at the top.
President Trump made a stop at the Western Wall during his visit to Israel in late May, 2017, his first foreign trip abroad, and just a few months into his Presidency. No other sitting President had visited this holy site of our Jewish people, as it is considered controversial by some as still seen as part of the so-called “occupied territory”. However, he clearly recognized its spiritual significance to the Jewish people, respected that Jewish connection, and by his visit, trampled on those who do not consider the Western Wall, The Temple Mount and Jerusalem as part of our Jewish history, and as part of Israel. A most memorable, and meaningful event for the Jewish people.
Then, in December, 2017, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the process for moving the United States Embassy to Jerusalem has begun. In 1995, Congress enacted legislation with strong bipartisan support that would have had the United States Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by 1999. At the time, it was strongly opposed by the White House, and so, it was constructed in such a way that the President would have the power to suspend the move for six months indefinitely. Each President since then had used the waiver to avoid the move, and that has now changed.
It is interesting to note that the reaction to this action worldwide was less severe than expected, and yet not a surprise that the majority of countries in the world would vote against the United States recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a United Nations vote. Some disappointments came in surprising places and applause to Togo, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Micronesia, Palau, Honduras and Guatemala for standing with the United States and Israel. Without naming them, it is noteworthy reviewing the 35 countries that abstained from the vote, a positive sign.
The Palestinian reaction was relatively minimal, notwithstanding that they went to the United Nations for the vote, had minor skirmishes against Israel, and made a statement that the United States could no longer be involved in the so-called peace negotiation. In fact, there has not been a peace process for years. And that’s the truth, the Palestinians walked away from it. President Trump did emphasize, though, that this pronouncement would not affect any decision made between the parties in a final peace agreement.
Some organizations and political figures voiced their opposition to the move, criticizing the timing among other things. Let’s be clear, though, they would never find the right timing. And it is most interesting that some of those who spoke against President Trump’s move had actually voted for the act in Congress that he now signed, and they now condemn him for acting upon it. Jerusalem is the heartbeat of the Jewish people, and has been for the past thousands of years. The saying goes, from Psalms 137:5, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget its skills.” And it is nearly unforgivable that some so-called Jewish leaders spoke against this recognition.
So, let’s continue.
President Trump has taken a harder line towards the Palestinians expecting them to step up to the plate for peace if they have any interest in it. His most recent action threatened action is to cut funding to the Palestinians in an amount over $300 million, as he sees no interest on the part of the Palestinians in moving the peace process ahead, and therefore does not see the money now spent on UNRWA as essential.
President Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing on December 31, 2017 from UNESCO after their continued anti-Israel bias in their decision-making, the latest in July, 2017 when UNESCO passed an outrageous resolution to consider Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as endangered Heritage sites of the Palestinian State. That followed a resolution the year earlier in which UNESCO adopted a resolution which questioned Israel’s ties to the Western Wall, and, in essence nullified the Jewish people’s ties to the Temple Mount, saying that it is sacred to the Muslims and calling it only by its Muslim name, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Harim al-Sharif.
President Trump has recognized that the enemies of Israel are making a world-wide effort to delegitimize Israel, and in the process strip our Jewish people’s history. So, he has spoken out against it. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) Movement has had limited impact, yet wide visibility which is harmful to Israel. As an example, when entertainers go to Israel and perform under a cloud of threats, we must let them know our appreciation, and when others fold, and cancel their tours, they should also hear from us, our disappointment and anger. Boycotting Israel has been around for a long time, and this is no time to cave.
So, here are some truths as I see them.
In this multicultural world, Israel is seen by many as a pariah country, formed by the colonial powers out of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the Balfour Declaration and the enactment by the League of Nations. Some say it was guilt after the Holocaust that created the atmosphere for the United Nations vote that gave Israel its independence. I say it was the spirit of the Jewish people, from 2,000 years ago through Herzl and so many others, and the willingness to put their lives on the line for this Jewish State that resulted in today’s Israel.
I can easily understand the antipathy of many of the Arabs towards Israel, though I may not like it. The religions are different, perhaps conflicting in part, and the Jewish people in some strange way remain a threat to the ongoing vision of Islam, and the Muslim people, though for many years we lived together in friendship. Fortunately, better understanding is growing once again, and I would certainly welcome the day when we are all looking out at the world through a common vision of respect, and peace. Jordan and Egypt did that decades ago, peace was declared, and they are models for the future.
Although we have built bridges with many people, only recently am I recognizing the inherent threat of the last remaining issues in a peaceful future for Israel. I am thrilled that in Judea and Samaria we have our land in our possession again, and that as time continues, and archeological digs move forward, and the land is studied, there is more and more proof that this is the Biblical land of the Jewish people. I am excited that Jewish pioneers have settled on that land, as the original pioneers did in Israel, and made deserts bloom, and we see today in Judea and Samaria, wines of the olden days, flourishing on the same land, and in some cases through extraordinary technology, with the same grapes as 2,000 years ago.
Yet, for some, that is perhaps the threat. For many in the European Union who oppose Israel’s settlements in Judea and Samaria, it is this new dynamism that may well be the threat to their thinking. As secularists, they looked to a secular Israel. They do not want to see the land of the Bible flourishing again. They do not want to see proof that the Biblical history has truth. So, as the development of the historic land of Israel and Judea and Samaria continues, there is more fear of holding onto their positions, which become weaker as the truth of the land becomes more self-evident.
And I remember the days when the early pioneers went into Judea and Samaria, and many were Ultra-Orthodox Jews from New York, from Brooklyn, and you could see, and feel the invectives of many secularist and non-Orthodox Jews who wanted Israel to give that land away rather than it attract a more Orthodox population who would flourish on the land and become an increasingly significant part of the population of Israel. That’s a truth of my memory.
And today, we face something that is almost odd, it has become cool, and the in-thing to stand up for the Palestinian people, and stand against the Israelis, particularly among the more so-called liberal and youth crowd in America, particularly on its campuses. And we have not countered it well, notwithstanding that Israel has fought to have a Homeland for its Jewish people in the center of these vast Arab lands. Israel is an enlightened, modern society that more and more is carrying out the vision of our Jewish people, being a light unto the world.
I can no longer understand how members of the American Jewish community are willing to put Israel in a situation where its security and future is totally at risk. That’s what the 1967 borders, the Green Line would do, and there is just no question about it any longer. The two-state solution as we knew it is history. So, I would call on all of those well-meaning people to take a new look, and stop being so oppositional. Israel can be Jewish and democratic, just look at the facts today.
So, let this be a time of common understanding for the Jewish community. There’s a window right now in terms of the opportunity for the future of Israel, and the Jewish community need be unified. I remember during the early days of the Clinton-Gore Administration, when the opportunity seemed so large for movement in directions that many of us wanted, we had the sense that the President can make it happen on his own. It’s not true. The popular support makes the difference.
Those who may differ on issues of significant importance to us, such as the right of women and men to pray together at a certain location of the Western Wall, let’s agree to put that on public hold for now, and enter into internal discussions on that within the family. Yes, stand your ground on issues that are important to so many of us in America, and yet stand with Israel. Jewish organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, B’Tselem, New Israel Fund, Breaking the Silence, J Street and others are problematic, for they sell themselves as pro-Israel, and yet they undercut world support for Israel. There is no place for them at the table.
Additionally, it is a sad commentary that today’s American Jewish community has a decreasing importance to Israel. Israel is part of the world community, and although the American Jewish community has become one the greatest civilizations in the history of the Jewish people, and we are fully flourishing, we no longer have the leadership under a consensus concept of leadership that makes a world-changing difference to Israel. Fortunately, we have many who have been outspoken for Israel over the years, and yet we are no longer unified for Israel, and we are not one voice in support of Israel
Israeli’s Naftali Bennett gave us some insight to Israeli thinking at the 2014 Sabin Forum in Washington, DC, saying, “Modern Zionism was all about creating a shelter for the Jews… it was a secular approach that had the audacity to change history. But one hundred years on…the reason we are in Israel is not because it is a shelter. It’s our Homeland. I want every Israeli child to know our history.”
And let me add this most important paragraph. I want every American Jewish child to know the history of our American Jewish community, as well, as it is extraordinary what we have accomplished in freedom. We have stood up for social justice, we have stood together with people of all backgrounds and colors, and shouted out for their rights, and we have created some of the most significant leaders in this country in government, in the arts, in science and industry far surpassing our wildest dreams. And we have been an enlightened, committed people.
We are different than Israel, like any members of a family, and we all come from one common thread, with a common history, and celebrating our holidays together, with an interest in business, and in leading interpretations of our Torah and Midrashim. And Israel should pay more attention to us, and learn from us. Together, we will be able to shine that light out on to the world, and we will well be able to face the dangers of people and countries in this world who still find reason to hold on to hatred of the Jewish people.
The message is out, though, the American Administration is no longer leading from behind. We need not look through the eyes of other nations to understand why our perceptions and interests may be different than theirs. We do not need their agreement. We need to be standing tall and telling the truth. This Administration is doing that with Israel.
And this is the time for we American Jews, whatever our differences, to stand together in an unbreakable bond with Israel as it negotiates its future status. It’s a tough world, and it’s so significant to have America with Israel. Notwithstanding other policy differences, we must let President Trump know we appreciate his support for Israel.
Howard Teich is a practicing attorney, Jewish communal leader, civic activist, and an author.
