,Dear Sister
I’m writing to you out of a sense of urgency. I would like to ask you to listen to me for a moment, without trying to think of a response. It’s becoming a universal that Israel is losing Diaspora Jewry. Today, I say to you: You are losing us and it’s happening very quickly. A dangerous process is taking shape and it’s going in both directions. s
You can't imagine how similar we are. We’re both around 30 years old, we’re both mothers, we like the same music, wear similar clothes and like our coffee just the way we like it. We both care a great deal for life around us, we love freedom and liberty and believe in human rights. We were both born into the Jewish people and care about its continuity and future. I see my future here in Israel; you apparently see yours in America. We are sisters. s
A few months ago, I wrote an article aimed at waking up the national camp in Israel, which represents the majority, in regard to US Jewry and our relationship with the Diaspora. I explained that we must not give up, that it’s okay to disagree but we don’t need to get divorced, that we need to understand the challenges they’re facing over there. I received a lot of encouraging responses, but also some that prove just how deep the gap is. I’d like to tell you what’s behind some of those responses, because our relationship is a shared project and if we start drifting apart, we’ll be moving in both directions. The Israeli public is aware of the critical tendencies among some US Jews towards Israel, critical to the point of alienation, and cannot remain indifferent. t
Can you understand how an Israeli Jew feels when J Street, the lobby that defines itself as pro-Israeli, launches a campaign in favor of the nuclear deal with Iran? That’s the same terrible agreement that put the color back in the cheeks of the oppressive and bullying Iranian regime. Are you aware that right in the middle of Teheran, there’s a clock that counts down the days until Israel’s complete destruction in 2040? The Iranian regime advocates daily in favor of Israel’s annihilation and is taking actual steps to make it happen. That’s the same regime with which Obama signed the nuclear agreement, for which J Street gave its stamp of approval. Iran is a danger not just to Israel, but Israel – us, me and my children – is at the forefront. t
Jewish Voices for Peace rally in Chicago Photograph: AP
We pay the price
Let’s talk about the conflict. Let’s introduce a little order into the ocean of lies: We all want peace. The Israelis want peace. They send their children to the army and are willing to fight wars only in order to preserve peace and life. That’s how it is in the Middle East. We build a flourishing country while across our borders, the enemy is rattling its missiles aimed in our direction. We’ve been living under the shadow of terror for decades now, and it’s not because of the “occupation.” We lived under threat of terror before 1967 too. What we learned in the case of the Palestinians is that when they promised peace, we got even more terror, when we signed photogenic peace accords, my family and I were forced to find more and more layers of protection. n
The people of Israel are sick and tired of the “two-state solution,” a fact becoming increasingly evident in surveys and polls. When you exert pressure on Israel, you need to understand that ultimately, we are the ones who end up paying the price, for better or worse. We live the dilemmas, the tension and mainly the results of those decisions. The position taken by the largest Jewish lobby in the United States, AIPAC, is to stand at the side of Israel’s democratically elected government, whether left or right. Something in that policy has ruptured in recent years among significant parts of the American Jewish community, and the Israeli public clearly feels it. It is responding to alienation with alienation. n
Let’s talk politics. Israel experienced eight very tough years under the Obama administration. Not only in the settlements in Judea and Samaria, all of Israel. When Obama rested his feet on his desk while talking on the phone to Prime Minister Netanyahu, he was expressing contempt not only for Israel’s right. When he delayed arms shipments during Operation Protective Edge, he harmed our security. When he decided to speak to the Israeli public, but not in the Knesset, he showed contempt for our elected leaders, and when the United States abandoned Israel in the United Nations towards the end of Obama’s final term, we were all harmed. In 2012-2015, 86% of all UN condemnations targeted Israel. Not Syria, North Korea or Venezuela. Israel. We are forced to face all of that almost completely alone. e
Obama abandoned us for Iran, which he considered a stabilizing factor in the Middle East, and at the end of his term, he abandoned us in the United Nations too. President Trump, on the other hand, has been a breath of much needed fresh air for the Israeli public. So far, and I say this with all due caution, the Trump Administration has been a very good administration for Israel. It defends Israel in the United Nations, cuts the budgets of Palestinian organizations that foster hate and terror, recognizes our historic connection to Israel and Jerusalem and the strategic importance of the only democracy in the Middle East. It dares to undermine the agreement with Iran and is trying to lead a world trend. I know and understand that President Trump is a controversial figure among the Jewish community in America, but I can also say that the policy that he has adopted is a very welcome change. The Israeli public, if I may speak on its behalf, is very supportive of President Trump and adores Nikki Haley. y
Character assassination of Israel
The most recent campaign making the headlines is the one focusing on labor migrants in Israel. Israel is facing a well-oiled machine that is assassinating Israel’s character, thereby trying to undermine our legitimacy in both the world and among world Jewry. The campaign is a lie: Israel is not persecuting refugees in attics and is not deporting women and children (on the contrary). We are contending with illegal migration from Africa, tens of thousands of people who have converged on the southern areas of Tel Aviv where they have turned the lives of the local residents into a living hell. l
Now open the map. Israel is very close to Africa. Migration is a global trend but here, Israel is on the frontline. Those organizations are turning to you and they know why. They are playing on one of the most sensitive subjects of all – the Holocaust. I won’t tell you everything here is perfect; I have plenty of criticism of the government, but this policy is the right one. The illegal migrants need to be removed. d
Sadly, I see again and again how you affiliate yourselves with the wrong parties, with the extreme and vociferous left, which represents hardly anyone in Israeli public life. They speak perfect English, they're nice (really), understand the American mentality, you often share the same view of the world and they come right to your home. But it’s a honey trap. These externally supported groups have given up on Israelis because they didn’t vote the way they “should” have in the last elections. They have despaired of Israel’s democracy. If you had any idea how much money is being invested under the radar to distance us from one another, you'd understand. Even Qatar, which finances Hamas missiles and Al Jazeera, has hired a PR firm to appeal to your hearts – to your heart. t
People tell me I’m wasting my time and that the train has already left the station. Perhaps. But I refuse to give up on you. We don’t need to agree; we can argue, but you need Israel and Israel needs you. It’s worth investing in our relationship. p
