May 3, 2012
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4039
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If one reviews the events of the
past year and monitors opinion polls, it becomes abundantly clear that
despite the mantras chanted by the far left insisting that most Israelis
and Jews are opposed to the policies of the current Israeli government,
the evidence on the ground suggests the very contrary.
There is neither a groundswell
of resentment against the foreign policy and security policies of the
Israeli government nor are there indications suggesting that committed
diaspora Jews are becoming alienated from the Jewish state.
In fact, it is undeniable that a
far stronger consensus prevails amongst Israelis in relation to the
government’s approach towards the Palestinians than at any time since
the national schism was created in the wake of the adoption of the Oslo
Accords.
Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu has effectively charted a centrist course which is endorsed by
most of the nation. This amounts to an end of further radical
concessions to the Palestinians in the absence of genuine reciprocity
and no additional unilateral territorial withdrawals that could lead to a
repetition of Sharon’s Gaza disengagement which merely emboldened the
jihadists and provided them with additional staging grounds from which
to launch rockets and intensify terrorism. At the same time Netanyahu
has repeatedly reiterated that in the event of a Palestinian leadership
committing to peaceful coexistence, willing to compromise and recognize
Israel’s security requirements, he would make every endeavor to achieve
an accommodation which would provide the Palestinians with an
independent state. Israelis recognize that this will necessitate a
change in the current duplicitous Palestinian leadership which is more
committed to terminating Jewish sovereignty than achieving statehood.
Despite the appalling Israeli
electoral system with its multiple parties and the excessive leverage by
small one-dimensional parties, setting aside the extreme left and right
and radical Arab parties, there are no basic ideological differences on
issues of foreign policy or security between the leading political
parties.
The histrionic media opposition
from the far-left is neither reflected in voting patterns nor in opinion
polls. The circulation and standing of its flagship newspaper,
Ha'aretz, has plunged to an all-time low. The reality is that although
the trendy “progressive” politicians and far left academicians continue
making headlines, in reality they have been effectively marginalized.
Nothing illustrates this more
than the humiliating defeat in the Kadima primaries of former leader
Tzipi Livni, which was unquestionably linked to her mindless and
destructive opposition to every aspect of the government’s foreign
policy and her vitriolic personal attacks on the Prime Minister. In
contrast, her successor, Shaul Mofaz is somewhat more circumspect in his
criticism of foreign affairs and announced that he intends to primarily
direct his efforts towards opposing the government on economic issues.
Unlike Livni, he made it clear that after the next elections he would be
open to joining a broader coalition.
The same applies to the Labor
Party which to some extent had been hijacked by extremists from the
far-left. Today, leader Shelley Yachimovich is more selective than her
predecessors in criticizing security policies and whilst opposed to
settlements, has deliberately distanced the party from its former
leaders who engaged in demonizing settlers.
One can point to similar trends
amongst diaspora Jewry. As was always the case, assimilated Jews are
less likely to display strong emotional ties with Jewish affairs and are
inclined to be more aloof from Israel. But the repeated assertions that
committed Jews and especially younger people are distancing and even
divorcing themselves from Israel have no basis in reality. Yes, the
generation which witnessed the Holocaust and the struggle for the
creation of a Jewish state is being replaced by Jews who take Israel for
granted. They cannot identify with the pre-state Jewish powerlessness
and do not experience the emotional fears for the security of Israel as
endured by their antecedents. But today’s committed diaspora Jews have
certainly not turned against of Israel.
When J Street appeared on the
scene two years ago, the left liberal media hailed it as the wave of the
future, claiming that its “progressive’, “liberal” and “pro-peace”
approach was far more representative of American Jews than the
established leadership. Yet, it made little headway and to this day
continues to represent the hard core far-left and only attracts naïve
even well-intentioned fellow travelers.
J Street’s boastful predictions
about supplanting AIPAC turned out to be pathetic. Indeed the last AIPAC
conference confirmed the strengthening support for Israel throughout
the Jewish community. Moreover the desperate efforts by the
administration – initially seen to be supportive of J Street - to
ultimately distance themselves and curry favor with AIPAC, speaks for
itself.
Peter Beinart, hailed as the
darling of the left liberal establishment whose frenzied attacks on
Israel received extraordinary coverage in the media, also disappointed
supporters of the anti-Israeli left by obtaining only miniscule support
from the Jewish community. Indeed his much heralded book was panned by
virtually every Jewish reviewer and his call for a boycott of
settlements was condemned by all, other than the extreme far left. Even J
Street was obliged to distance itself from him in relation to this
issue.
Indeed if one observes
developments in the diaspora and monitors Jewish public opinion polls
especially in the US, it is clear that there is a solid sense of loyalty
for Israel amongst Jews who understand the realities on the ground.
They display support for the current Israeli efforts to achieve security
in a region in which it is the intransigent Palestinians who undermine
prospects for peace and make a short-term realization of a two state
policy virtually impossible.
This was reaffirmed in the
results of a recent poll conducted by supporters of President Obama
designed to understate the role of Israel as a factor determining how
American Jews vote. But even this poll recognized that 73% of all Jews –
not merely the committed ones - considered that Netanyahu, the bête
noir of left liberals, represented ‘true Jewish values’.
We should not fall prey to
propaganda repeating false assertions that today Jews are less
supportive of the Jewish state. The reality is the opposite and that the
overwhelming majority of committed Jews continue to fervently support
Israel. The only major change is that they are no longer deluded by
visions of a non-existent Arab peace partner.
He may be contacted at ileibler@netvision.net.il
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
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