Opinion

Denial In Israel Advocacy

Washington/JTA

S

ome people see the world not as
it is, but as they would like it to
be. Psychologists have a term for
this: They call it living in denial.
Sadly, denial colors the way too many
leaders of established institutions in the
American Jewish community look at Israel
when it comes to matters of peace and
security.
Decades of telling and retelling a com-
fortable narrative in which Israel is always
extending its hand in peace, only to have it
rejected by the Palestinians, understand-
ably makes it hard to accept when the
facts show otherwise.
Yet when it comes to the state of the
peace process in the Middle East today,
the facts do show otherwise.
Granted, under Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership, Israel
has spoken about freezing settlements. But
in reality, construction continues unabated
on the West Bank.
Granted, the prime minister has spoken
about pursuing a two-state solution. Yet
Israel's foreign minister tells the world
that there is "no chance" for a Palestinian
state in the foreseeable future and, in east
Jerusalem, barely a week passes without
provocative Israeli actions that directly
undermine peace efforts and destabilize
the city.
Similarly, facts don't support the charge

that the present
pre-1967 land with
Palestinian leader-
east Jerusalem as its
ship is not a partner
capital.
for peace.
Of course,
Israel today does
Palestinians and the
have a partner
broader Arab world
for peace: prag-
both could be doing
matic, moderate
far more to advance
Palestinian leaders
solutions rather
who genuinely sup-
than pointing fin-
Jeremy Ben-Ami & Debra DeLee
port the two-state
gers; and we are not
Special Commentary
solution and are
saying only Israel
working to establish
bears responsibility
order and security in the West Bank. The
for the present state of affairs. But the real-
looming threat of more extreme alterna-
ity is that, partner or no, the status quo
tives to Palestinian Authority President
is unsustainable and the long-term out-
Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister
look for Israel's survival as a Jewish and
Salam Fayyad only underscores the urgen- democratic homeland is bleak without an
cy of taking advantage of the opportunity
immediate change of course.
that exists today for peace and the peril of
The United States and Israel do not ben-
failure.
efit from making excuses for maintaining
The real issue, however, is not the exis-
a self-destructive status quo. American
tence or quality of a Palestinian partner; its pro-Israel advocates owe it to the Israel
what course of action best advances shared
they love to stop hiding behind the latest
U.S. and Israeli interests, including securing incarnation of the "no partner" excuse for
Israel's future as a democratic home for the
inaction.
Jewish people.
No matter what you think of Abbas
No matter who leads the Palestinians,
and Fayyad, there is no justification for
Israel needs permanent, secure and rec-
expanding settlements, blockading Gaza
ognized borders. Israel has to make clear
(a point we have long argued and that
both in word and in deed that it is ready to now has been belatedly recognized by
end the occupation, not with a verbal nod
the Israeli government) or systematically
to the two-state solution, but with a solid
planning the expansion of the Jewish
commitment to a Palestinian state on
presence in Arab neighborhoods of east
territory equivalent to 100 percent of the
Jerusalem.

Americans — Jews and non-Jews
— can see with their own eyes what is
happening in Gaza, in Jerusalem and in
the West Bank. It is clear to any objective
observer that the actions of the present
Israeli government have yet to match the
promise of the rhetoric. Pretending other-
wise does not help Israel; it risks further
alienating the American and American
Jewish publics.
Many Israelis, too, are asking us to
break out of this mode of Israel advocacy.
In a poll commissioned by B'nai B'rith,
half of Israeli Jews recently said that it was
essential that America pressure both sides
to make progress toward peace. Those liv-
ing in denial seem to be deaf to this plea.
It is tempting to let ourselves fall under
the spell of the siren song that Israel is
today extending its hand in peace, and
that if there is no peace it is not for lack
of effort. We may badly want it to be true.
We may want to believe that Israel — the
country that we love, support and defend
— is living up to our hopes and dreams.
But siren songs have a tendency to leave
ships wrecked on rocky shores. Those of
us who care about Israel must be coura-
geous enough to see things as they are and
act accordingly. ❑

Jeremy Ben-Ami is president of J Street. Debra

DeLee is president of Americans for Peace

Now.

Conversion Wars from page 31

Israeli advocates of the bill attempted
to convince American Jews by confusing
them. The legislation was very compli-
cated and changed frequently.
But a patronizing "You don't under-
stand" approach did not work this time.
True, few American Jews compre-
hended the bill's intricacies. But one
thing about this legislation was truly
important: It fundamentally altered the
religious status quo by granting signifi-
cant new powers in the realm of conver-
sion to Israel's Chief Rabbinate. Such a
change would reignite battles over con-
version, both in Israel and throughout
the diaspora. American Jews understood
this very well and remained firm in their
opposition.
It would have been preferable had
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
opposed the bill in the spring, sparing

32

August 5 • 2010

the Jewish world the sorry spectacle of
the past few months. Nonetheless, his
decision last week to cast the bill as
disastrous for the Jewish people was wel-
come. The prime minister was wise, too,
in calling on Natan Sharansky, the chair-
man of the Jewish Agency for Israel, to
devise an acceptable compromise.
No one should harbor any illusions.
The Israeli religious parties are intent
on gaining absolute control over conver-
sion, both in the State of Israel and in
matters that relate to the Law of Return.
Any arrangement that gives them less
than full control will never win their
support.
Still, I believe that a reasonable com-
promise is not out of reach.
As a Reform Jewish leader, I would
like to see Israel's religious monopoly
swept away. I will need to accept that

such a change for now is simply not
possible. I do expect that additional
support will be provided to Reform and
Conservative schools and synagogues;
but I recognize that this will have to
happen within the confines of the exist-
ing structure.
At the same time, the leaders of three
major non-Orthodox parties in Israel
— Likud, Kadima and Labor — will
need to agree that they will oppose
conversion legislation and any other
significant change in the religious status
quo demanded by the religious parties
or their allies.
Such an understanding should have
been reached 30 years ago, of course,
but each of the major parties has been
reluctant to cede ground that might be
exploited by its rivals in future coalition
negotiations.

What is different this time is the terri-
ble experience that we have just had. At
a time when Israel is especially vulner-
able, she has suffered through a period
that has tarnished her image, upset her
supporters, gladdened her enemies,
played out in the general media and
even reached the U.S. Congress, causing
dismay to all who love the Jewish state.
Perhaps Israel's political leaders will
finally understand: Religious extrem-
ism must be rejected, the sensitivities
of world Jewry must be respected, coali-
tion politics must be transcended and
Jewish unity must be affirmed.
Neither the Jewish people nor the State
of Israel can afford the heavy price of
these ongoing religious crises.

❑

Rabbi Eric Yoffie is president of the Union for

Reform Judaism.