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Conservative converts.
The attempts were aborted,
no thanks to the efforts of
Cardin and her team. Despite
dire warnings that changes to
the law would have catas-
trophic consequences for the
unity of the Jewish people,
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir politely heard them
out, then promptly threw his
weight behind the proposed
changes.
When the chips were down,
what really mattered were the
dozen or so votes of the
religious bloc, which ensures
his continued hold on power.
What was the Israeli media
reaction to the appeal from
the North Americans? Apart
from a few obligatory para-
graphs tucked away in the
nether reaches of the daily
newspapers and brief men-
tions on the electronic media,
there was scarcely any reac-
tion at all.
All of which begs the ques-
tion: What effect does Amer-
ican Jewish opinion have on
Israel and Israelis?
According to Dr Gabi Shef-
fer, a specialist in Israeli-
American relations at the
Hebrew University of Jerusa-
lem, "Israelis don't give a
damn what American Jews
think."
"Partly it's arrogance and
insensitivity," he says, "partly
it's a philosophy which insists
that Israel is at the center of
everything and Diaspora
Jews should know their
place."
The Israeli public has
grown up with the "myth"
that Washington helps and
supports Israel because of its
strategic importance, says
Sheffer. "They are blind to the
vital role played by American
Jewry and, therefore, see no
reason to give serious con-
sideration to American Jew-
ish views on anything."
In his 'Ibl Aviv office, Ido
Dissenchik, editor-in-chief of
the respected Hebrew-lan-
guage daily "Ma'ariv," is more
circumspect, but the message
is much the same.
Dissenchik says he takes
American Jews seriously and
that his paper regularly
devotes space to dialogues
between Israeli and Diaspora
intellectuals.
But he concedes that he
does this in the teeth of op-
position from some of his
editors because "most of our
readers are really not too in-
terested in what goes on in
the American Jewish commu-
nity—or anywhere else in the
Diaspora."
Nevertheless, he insists on
covering the subject—not
because his readers are in-
terested, but because he
believes that they should be.
According to Dissenchik, it
is vital that Israelis get in-
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volved in Diaspora-Israel rela-
tions "in the hope that
somehow we'll be able to
create a new framework for a
genuine working partner-
ship."
A senior editor on Israel
'Television's prime-time even-
ing news program, which is
watched by some 90 per cent
of the population, hedges.
Israel 'Television, he insists,
does cover visits by American
Jewish leaders, sometimes
quite extensively. It is cur-
rently giving prominence to
the lobby against the pro-
posed United States arms
sale to Saudi Arabia.
But an issue like that
This is not the
first time major
American Jewish
initiatives have
been almost
totally ignored by
the Israeli
establishment and
media.
raised by the American
Jewish Congress? Does that
not rate serious discussion?
"lb be frank," he says, "I
don't think this is a story
that would excite the or-
dinary Israeli. I think he'd
say 'So what'?"
It may hurt, but it should
come as no surprise that the
average Israeli-in-the-street is.
not greatly exercised by is-
sues that concern American
Jewry. As far as many Is-
raelis are concerned, Ameri-
can Jews are rich, pampered,
privileged creatures without a
real care in the world.
Yoel Marcus, who is ar-
guably Israel's leading
political commentator and
social critic, offers this opin-
ion: "If American Jews don't
send their sons to fight for
this country, we don't need to
take their 'etzes' (advice) on
security matters seriously."
This sentiment is one that is
shared by many, if not most,
Israelis.
Which raises yet another
question: If Israelis are
disinterested in what Ameri-
can Jews have to say, to
whom are the American Jew-
ish leaders talking? Them-
selves?
Gabi Sheffer regards the
AJC declaration—and the al-
most total indifference with
which it was greeted in Is-
rael—as a new stage in a pro-
cess that has been developing
for some time; one which car-
ries within it the seeds of
grave consequences for Israel-
Diaspora relations.
Moreover, says Sheffer, the