The relationship between Israelis and American Jews reached a nadir this past week when a member of the Netanyahu Government appeared before the closing meeting of the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in Tel-Aviv. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told the leaders and delegates that supporters of the anti-Government, pro-democracy movement are similar to those who support the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) movement. Chikli previously had insulted U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, denigrated Reform Judaism, rejected the LGBTQ movement, accused J Street of being a hostile organization, and identified George Soros as a hater of Israel. Chikli now sought to justify a policy of the Netanyahu Government which has many American Jews as outraged as are many Israelis.
Lest anyone assume that this was a dramatic move in Israeli politics, this direction has been present and growing for years. Israeli politicians made two significant choices which totally changed their relationship with American Jews. First, it decided that it no longer needed to emphasize the need for bi-partisan support for Israel in Washington. Beginning already in the days of the presidency of Ronald Reagan but growing dramatically since that of Barack Obama, Israelis (and especially over the past 25 years in the many governments led by Binyamin Netanyahu) have opted to throw their lot behind the Republican Party, with any willing Democrats drawn along. While there were exceptions, for example, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, this has been the general thrust of Israeli political leaders.
Second, beginning as well during this period was a strong affinity that Israeli leaders developed with Evangelical Christians in the United States who themselves were also strongly affiliated with the Republican Party. Evangelical Christians largely expressed very strong support for the State of Israel, which fit directly into their own eschatological views. Pastor John Hagee as well as his colleagues became regular features at the annual policy conferences of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and numerous evangelical groups organized regular pilgrimages to Israel. As these linkages grew, Israel’s relationship with American Jews, who, largely have been Democrats and liberal, were being challenged at best.
Added to these largely extended thematic shifts in the relationship between American Jews and Israelis, the Governments of Israel and especially those headed by Netanyahu, exacerbated the long-standing good-will which had existed during the prior approximately 60 years of bi-partisan support for Israel. Unlike many previous Israeli Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not have a good personal relationship with President Barack Obama. When Netanyahu came to Washington at the invitation of Republican House Speaker John Boehner to address the Congress to underscore Israel’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, Netanyahu poisoned his relationship with Obama even more. (What is critically important and frequently neglected is that their personal dislike as well as their differing positions on how to address the Iranian nuclear threat, never effected the strong U.S.-Israel strategic relationship or Obama’s approval of the largest military aid package for Israel.)
Netanyahu’s transparent entry in American politics was only elevated when Donald Trump was elected. For the Israeli leader there had never been an American President so prepared to follow the lead of an Israeli Prime Minister. Trump’s policies in the region were driven by interests to which Netanyahu subscribed. Bibi used the apparent congruence of their relationship to champion his assertion that his leadership of Israel was best for both Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship.
The problem with this reasoning is that it did not consider how most American Jews had interpreted Netanyahu’s dismissal of Obama or his embrace of Trump. To be clear, the disconnect was not exclusively over policy but reflected an intentional disregard for the long-standing commitment to a strong bi-partisan relationship. For Trump, his behavior reflected his own personal adherence to conducting global politics as he did domestic politics; everything was based on what was good for Trump’s politics or his business.
American Jews raised major issues about most of Trump’s actions in the Middle East with the exception of the Abraham Accords. Excluding the 25-30% of Trump Jewish loyalists, American Jews resented how Netanyahu had parlayed his relationship with Trump both as a more authoritarian model for leadership as well as Bibi’s willingness to alienate even further the Democratic Party. Netanyahu’s growing dislike for liberal democracy in the U.S. and a similar attitude on his part towards political opposition at home, has been intensified by the even more extreme right-wing coalition over which he currently presides.
There are today a significant number of members of the Israeli Government who have an even more disdainful attitude toward American Jews than Bibi. Aside from their own personal arrogance, some of these Ministers have exhibited an attitude toward Diaspora Jews that insult the very role that American Jews have played over the past 75 years. In a world where people are connected 24/7, where Jews are being attacked more constantly and openly—and not only by angry Muslim neighbors--these cabinet members have chosen to dismiss out of hand the views of American Jews. It is for this reason, in part, why some of the right-wing members of the coalition have failed to recognize that American Jews were always so proud of the fact that Israel and America adhered to the same democratic values.
The dissent movement, which has developed in Israel to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan, has aroused significant support among Israel’s supporters in the U.S. The anti-democratic tone within these judicial changes have been challenged by many of Israel’s political supporters throughout the world as well as among American Jews. The Jews in Diaspora are not attacking Israel’s national security policy or its continuing concern about an Iranian threat, the thrust of their disagreement with Israel’s current leaders is that they are destroying one of the fundamental planks of the U.S.-Israeli alliance, that of shared democratic values. It is therefore important to recognize why the conduct of Israeli Government officials—including last week in Tel-Aviv and in the New York City “Salute to Israel” parade—were so disturbing.
Israel needs friends as do American Jews. In the current environment of global escalation of anti-Semitism, it would behoove Israel and its Ministers to recognize the damage they are doing to the relationship with the United States, Diaspora Jewry, as well as fundamental, democratic values.
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