One of the observations that unites the Middle East commentariat–right, left, and center–is that the Obama administration’s obsession with Israeli settlements has been counterproductive to peacemaking efforts. That doesn’t mean everyone approves of settlement building, just that there is wide agreement on one of the enduring truisms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: settlements are not the main obstacle to peace.
But according to Rabbi Eric Yoffie, they are the main obstacle preventing American Jews from staying connected to Israel. Yoffie writes in Haaretz:
I spoke a few weeks ago with someone who works with American Jewish organizations in planning programs for their meetings and conventions. “Israel is out,” he told me. The demand for speakers about Israel or from Israel has dropped dramatically over the last decade. American Jews are simply interested in other things.
This was a man who understands the U.S. Jewish zeitgeist, and I was initially stunned by his statement. After all, he was not referring to the assimilated minority of Jews who are distancing themselves from all things Jewish; neither was he talking about the anti-Israel Left. He was describing the mainstream, organized Jewish community, which—sadly, tragically—is drifting away from its deep connection to the State of Israel.
There are two important problems with what Yoffie says here, though they are not the main problem with his article. The first is that the American Jewish drift away from Israel is a widely debunked myth. Second, a fading interest in speakers from Israel is not at all representative of American Jews’ connection to Israel.
But the biggest problem with the article is Yoffie’s stated reason for the mythical Jewish detachment from Israel that isn’t happening:
The settlement enterprise, long the central issue of Israel’s internal politics, has become the constant, harping theme of political discussion about the Jewish State, causing concern, dismay, and confusion among even the most committed American Jews.
While some Jewish leaders (full disclosure: I have done this myself) attribute the focus on settlement to unfriendly press coverage in America, in reality the opposite is true. Many American Jews read Israel’s daily press, now widely available in English, and see that the obsession with settlement comes from the Israeli side and not the American side.
Yoffie also calls the settlement movement the “NRA of Israel.” I’m not sure if he’s trying to insult gun owners or Israelis–or both.
Additionally, the settlement-related news today is positive–Israel’s government evacuated a settlement and moved the village’s inhabitants without incident. Even the New York Times was forced to admit, through gritted teeth no doubt, that this was “the first peaceful evacuation of a Jewish settlement from the occupied territories in memory.” (Related question: Whose memory? The reporter’s? Is it now journalistically acceptable to say that you can’t remember the last time something happened and didn’t have any interest in trying to find out?)
But that good news was in the American press, which Yoffie says is no longer influencing Americans. We must look to the Israeli press, then, to see what could be causing American Jews to stop being interested in listening to presentations by Israeli convention speakers. And sure enough, there was some bad news about violent Israelis. From Haaretz:
On Saturday, Israel’s social protest turned violent as thousands of Israelis clashed with police, blocked roads, and smashed bank windows.
“What we saw was not a popular protest but a planned web of events including law infractions and violence,” [Police Commissioner Yohanan] Danino said.
So Israel’s leftist protesters are violent rioters? That is troubling indeed. Perhaps Yoffie will address that in a future column. In the meantime, Israeli leftists should learn how to comport themselves within the bounds of respectability–like the Ulpana settlers. American Jews are watching, you know.
Seth, you can cite all the 'myth debunkings' you like, but the fact is that with the important exception of the Orthodox, Israel is simply far down the list of priorities for most American Jews. When the majority can keep supporting Obama, and even deny his treatment and attitude towards Israel, so as to ensure continued support for the Obama social agenda, how can you say that Israel is more important than those social agenda items for most Jews? n nThe social agenda has replaced Judaism as the central feature of Jewish religious life, in an out of most non orthodox synagogues. n nThe Democratic Party has tabled an agenda item to seek discontinuation of American support for Israel. No doubt, they want to push it past the coming election. But it will be back. n nNo worries, however: It is the Evangelicals and their allies who will continue to support Israel, and be less fickle than the bagel munching, NYTIMES reading fair weather Jews for whom Israel is a tsk tsk embarrassment. Israel knows this. n n
it's not American Jews who are uninterested in Israel–it's LIBERAL American Jews. and more and more, former Democrats like me are asking themselves "Why do I support this anti-Semitic party again?" n nIsrael is, truly, "out," because it doesn't have even its usual support of the US. (hopefully that will change in January 2013, when President Romney takes over.) the Jews in general are out, unpopular, and it's completely ok to dislike them. n ncircumcision was just banned in Germany. can the yellow armbands be far behind?
and indeed, why ANY jews can continue to support the democrats-is beyond my comprehension. The premise of rabbi Yoffie is false. The planes going to israel continue ot be filled- with orthodox jew of all colors, evangelical christians and republicans…but no Obama….
considering the treatment that the Israelis gave our Vice-President, I would advise President Obama to hold off visiting until his second term. When it's nearly time for Israel's next election, THEN it'll be time for him to visit
You mean the treatment that our Vice President gave the Israelis, and our Secretary of State, too, around a mid-level zoning bureaucrat's decision on a well planned development that was nowhere near planning completion. You had it backwards, Mikey.
did that bureaucrat get transferred to the North Korean trade initiative annex? n nblow it out your tuba.
thank the good Lord that Israel is still a democracy. That bureaucrat is not under the thumb of the Prime minister or even the Foreign ministry. The administration seized that small incident to dump on Israel- by Biden, the ma who has been attacking israel for decades- research how he he treated Begin and how Begin put hin in his place!
I'll save my thanks for being a citizen of the US. I judge from your comment that you've not had that good fortune or you might re-think that gratuitous insult from a minor official of one of the US's minor allies offered to the US would not be something for you to shrug off. n n
OOH! Joe Biden! Victim! Slapped in the face by wicked Netanyahu! OOO! Jooo! nHa'Aretz, Yoffie, one anonymous opinion…Say no more! Please please say no more!
the circumcision ban was part of the anti-Islam deal in Europe, not that many mohels in Germany these days.
Quite right. Settlements are not the MAIN obstacle to peace. They're lousy, but there are far worse problems.
takes a louse to make a lousy!
Yes, how dare Jews buy land to live where they aren't wanted, on land that they have a better claim to than any of the other possible claimants.
not at all, to me, a question of living where they're not wanted, but a question of ownership and whether the settlers will be willing to live in Palestine and obey the laws of that nation. As I suspect that most will not be so willing and as i suspect that they're going to have to be forcible persuaded to obey or move, I see the settlements as something that costs Israel dearly and returns little. n nIf the settlers would be willing to stay and take out Palestinian citizenship, THAT would make the project interesting and force the Palestinians to confront their hypocrisy, but otherwise the settlers are just an example of a wartime tactic that went wrong and far outlived its utility.
Obey the laws of Palestine? Like the law against Jews setting foot there, let alone living or owning land there? Or the law making it a capital offense to sell land to a Jew? Given the laws of the PA and the PA's demand for a state free of Jews, it's a bit hard for me to take your concerns at face value. As to ownership, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that if Jews claim to have bought the land, they must be lying, and even if they are not lying it does not matter. n nThe part about forcing the Palestinians to confront their hypocrisy is amusing. Can you say Gaza? The rest of the world (including much of the Israeli government) is unwilling to call the PA on hypocrisy; the idea that the Palestinians would do so is mind boggling. n npart 1
PART 3 of 3 nFinally, don't be so quick to assume that the Palestinians have superior claims to the land outside the Green Line. There are strong legal arguments that Israel's legal claim to sovereignty over those lands is at least as strong as theirs, and probably stronger. But I will grant you that much of the world frankly does not care about the legality and simply assumes that Israel's mere presence in ( let alone potential sovereignty over) those lands, even if necessary to prevent genocide, is the defining atrocity of the 20th and 21st centuries. n n
part I is a decent rant , but by pointing out how lousy the Palestinian laws are and are likely to remain, you're supporting the thesis that the settlers aren't going to want to stay and obey….. n nas far as Jews are to being assumed to be lying, that's simply not responsive to anything at all. some claims of ownership rest on a decent claim, some not and all are subject to examination rather than outright dismissal.
"by pointing out how lousy the Palestinian laws are and are likely to remain, you're supporting the thesis that the settlers aren't going to want to stay and obey" or supporting the theory that your Palestinian friends won't give them the option, which makes it academic. If and when there is credible evidence that Palestinains are willing to have Jews live as equals in the umpteenth Arab state and the numpty umpth Muslim state, and that there will be ironclad guarantees that the willingness will not be reversed, and the rights will not be abridged, we may have something to talk about. I'm not holding my breath, given the history of the region, the leadership of the Palestinians, their oft demonstrated preference for killing themselves and their own famlies, the absence of a single Arab state and a single Muslim state where Jews have had equal rights either de facto or de jure, and the willingness of the world's self-appointed guardians of peace, equlaity and human rights to find excuses for people who want to murder, expel, oppress or exterminate Jews. Present company included.
PART 2 "just an example of a wartime tactic that went wrong and far outlived its utility." Please explain how, other than a lapse of Israeli will, this tactic has outlived its utility. Israel suddenly got wider so as to be less vulnerable to rocket and artillery attack? The land flattened out, so that cars can no longer be ambushed by rocks, gunfire and firebombs from the surrounding hills? The Judean Hills and the Golan Heights, after being handed back to the Arabs would no longer enjoy a commanding view over Israel's essential cities and facilities so as to furnish an ideal platform (as they once did) for sniper and artillery attacks on Israeli civilians? Whiskey tango, foxtrot
the width of Israel mattered when there was likelihood of military invasion with armor and massed infantry. that's no longer likely and the width of the place matters less and less as missiles with greater and greater range replace mortars.
So if it's getting easier for someone to kill you with high tech weapons, you need to make it easier for them to kil you with low tech and stone age weapons? Nice try. Real estate and strategic depth still matter, and in the end it is still infantry and armor that win wars.
which country is going to war with israel that makes strategic depth in the West Bank necessary? n nIs it Jordan? or is Syrian armor going to roll through Jordan? n nDude, you're peddling a bunch of rotten fish.
Have you been paying attention, wtf, to what is going on in the region? Egypt just replaced a regime that maintained a cold peace with a regime that says their goal is to obliterate Israel. You're saying it can't happen in Jordan? The PA wants a state, with a military. You're saying they'd never attack? Apart from Judah and Shomron (or as they started calling it after those lands were liberated in 1967, the "West Bank"), there is also the Golan, which Syria keeps demanding. When they had it, it was one big sniper's nest and artillery platform, replete with minefields and tank traps. You think there are any guaranties of peace from Syriam whether Assad stays or goes? n nYou are demanding that Jews gamble their lives on your wishful thinking. They are no more obligated to do that than anyone else. Yes, rotten fish are being peddled, but they are the ones between your ears.
I pay quite a bit of attention, aha…….and the settlements in the West Bank don't provide anything but expense and aggravation and the devotion of the attentions of a fair amount of the IDF…….. n n nyou're pushing a phantom point…..the settlements provide approximately ZERO military benefit (while eating resources) and you continue to pretend that there is some benefit,,,,,,,,instead of taking that point for granted, please do us all the favor of showing the benefit…… n nwe can certainly posit that Israel's neighbors might become more hostile than at present (and again the most likely threat is from Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon) but that still doesn't change the underlying NATURE of possible military threats to the country…… n n nThere simply isn't any army in the universe that's going to invade Israel on the ground across the Jordan………Israel's air force has that covered….. n nPlease, I understand what was and how perilous things were. Syria's tanks twice came close to doing serious damage. But that threat is now gone and simply isn't coming back. n nThreats now are aerial or via small-group tactics. There are no threats that the settlements prevent or will slow that I can understand. n n nIf I'm incorrect, please point to the threat so that my blindness can be corrected.
Like Israel Derangement Syndrome and the false hopes American &European Leftists give to the rejectionists
mike foxtrot & an army of anti-Jewish racist bigots advocate apartheid against Jews in the heart of the ancient Jewish homeland, Judea & Samaria. Evacuating the Ulpana is an injustice caused by Fifth Columnists in Israel's state attorney's office
don't be a jackass and employ terms such as "anti-Jewish racist bigot" in regard to myself, ya dumb putz.
Yes, we don't have enough information to know whether whiskeytangofoxtrot is an anti-Jeiwish bigot. He may be only spectacularly misinformed and uninformed, and his willingness to see Jews slaughtered or expelled by the hypothetical peaceful Arabs may be simply the product of ignorance and wishful thinking.
nice try, but I'm as willing to see Jews expelled from land they've settled in a place that they hold under belligerent occupation as you're willing to see Arabs expelled from Jerusalem,
The Arabs took the Jewish Quarter of the Old City while defending a war that had been launched to exterminate them? Who new! And they bought that land from the rightful owners? Again, who knew!
ahad, you continually point to the failures, illegalities and general ugliness as an excuse for any and all Israeli transgressions. n nI pretty much despise Israel's enemies, and wish Israel to thrive, but it's only in times of dire emergency that Israel must act as low and dirty as her enemies. Other than that, at a time when the enemy is is relatively powerless, Israel doesn't get an ethical or legal get-out-of-jail -free pass. nIsrael either has to be better and act better and fight better or it fails. n nand it's for sure untrue that the Palestinians in Jerusalem aren't all squatters
Clearly the Leftist Jews of the US had been facing a dilemma – garner suspicion among their peers for their support of Israel or distance themselves from Israel. Consistent with Leftist decision making – they made the wrong one, and are distancing themselves from Israel. n nWikipedia tells me that this "Rabbi" Yoffie: nWas the past president of the Union for Reform Judaism (a platform he used to advance gun control) nHe refused to meet with Israeli President Katsav who refused to call him "Rabbi" nHe thinks we American Jews are too ignorant of Islam perhaps, in part, because we don't share his support of the 9/11 Mosque in NY. n nIt's not surprising that he's incapable of a larger perspective, he appears to retain the obsolete notion of Jewish superiority (embodied by himself) as currently manifested in Leftist ideology, while abandoning Jewish wisdom in understanding socio-political issues.
Most importantly, the anti Israeli rag called Haaretz has practically no Israeli readership to speak of and is the smallest paper in Israel. It runs at a loss and if it weren't for the fact that it's English edition is sold along with the International Herald Tribune, another anti Israel rag, Haaretz would have no circulation at all. nI am a Jewish Israeli "settler" and most of my friends are no more wildly radical or fundamentalist than any other Israelis. n"rabbi" Yoffie has never tried to hide his antagonism towards Israel, and his hostility has never been restricted to the Israeli nationalists,settlers, or the religious. Yoffie despises Israel because in his eyes, Israel has failed to be the perfect embodiement of his Reform ideals of assimilation, ultra Left wing multiculturalism, gay rights, and all the other silly and dangerous left wing social policies.
According to my sources Yoffie is a liar. and the leftists should be severely punished. They behave like the fanatic communists of the beginning of USSR. They behave like the fanatic Muslims. Yofffie and the left adopt deception like the Muslims.