NEWS
U.S. Jews Are Wrong
To Criticize Israel
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FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1992
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Washington (JTA) — Is it
wrong for U.S. Jews to
publicly criticize Israel on
issues of security or political
ideology?
Yes, said Thomas Dine,
executive director of the
American Israel Public Af-
fairs Committee, in a debate
with Leonard Fein, founder
and former editor of Moment
Magazine, a U.S. Jewish
monthly, and now a colum-
nist for the weekly Forward.
Mr. Dine's views drew no
public support during a
subsequent hostile question-
and-answer session with 55
members of the New Israel
Fund, which sponsored the
debate on Jewish dissent.
The group is a rarity among
pro-Israel Jewish groups in
that it donates money direct-
ly to programs in Israel
rather than through the
United Jewish Appeal.
Mr. Dine was partly echo-
ing a standard policy plank
of the Conference of Presi-
dents of Major American
Jewish Organizations,
which claims that U.S. Jews
should not publicly criticize
Israel on security issues.
But Mr. Dine goes further
than the Presidents Con-
ference in also making
Israeli political ideology a
taboo subject.
Political ideology basically
refers to those tenets of the
Labor or Likud parties that
drive their policies, such as
Likud's policy of ac-
celerating Jewish set-
tlements in the West Bank.
Mr. Dine argued that to air
Israel's faults in public
would be as insensitive as a
marriage partner going
public and saying something
bad about his or her spouse.
He also cited how the an-
cient Greek kingdom of
Athens fell to Sparta be-
cause of "internal strife."
Continued public airing in
the United States of
criticism of Israel will create
"splits among ourselves,"
Mr. Dine argued.
Mr. Fein retorted by accus-
ing Mr. Dine of formulating a
"corruption of public
discourse."
If U.S. Jews followed Mr.
Dine's model, then they
would lose their
"credibility" for refusing to
acknowledge the "ugly
along with the pretty." That
is the difference between be-
ing advocates and
apologists, Mr. Fein argued.
Mr. Fein also accused Mr.
Dine of challenging the
motives of critics of Israel by
saying that some do so to
"get their name in certain
newspapers."
Frank Fisher, treasurer of
the New Israel Fund, pro-
tested Mr. Dine's position on
political ideology, saying an
issue such as settlement
policy "does not move out of
the realm of debate because
the (Israeli) government
feels deeply about it."
Mr. Dine advised that in-
stead of criticizing Israel
publicly, U.S. Jews should
do so privately.
"ml LOCAL NEWS hi
Sidney Bolkosky
Detroit Jewry
Is Program Topic
Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, pro-
fessor of history at the
University of Michigan-
Dearborn will deliver the con-
cluding lecture at the B'nai
David Cultural Forum 10:30
a.m. April 5 at B'nai David.
He will speak on "History
of Detroit's Synagogue Com-
munity, 1892-1967" as part of
an ongoing series of programs
commemorating B'nai
David's centennial anniver-
sary in 1992.
Professor Bolkosky received
his degrees from the Univer-
sity of Rochester, Wayne State
University and the State
University of New York at
Binghampton. He has taught
at Hobart and William Smith
Colleges, Concordia Universi-
ty and at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn since
1972.
Dr. Bolkosky published a
history of Detroit Jewry en-
titled
Harmony and
Dissonance for the Jewish
Welfare Federation and
Wayne State University
Press.
Dr. Bolkosky's lecture will
be preceded by a continental
breakfast at 9:45 a.m. and the
community is invited to at-
tend at no charge.