points of view
News Analysis from page 36
Commentary
the party. Breger also said that Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
educated and partly raised in the United
States, has been able to converse with
Republicans in language they under-
stand.
"Bibi made a huge impact. His origi-
nal outreach to conservatives was free
market, and then it extended to the war
on terror:' he said. "You had the rise of
the neocons and their influence on for-
eign policy, the notion that democracy
is what you should strive for, and Israel
is a democracy."
Breger also said that while Jewish
fundraisers still tend to give to
Democrats, there is a growing base of
Republican Jewish givers.
"Even in 2008, when a very high
number of Jews voted for Obama, the
financial support Jews gave to the party
was significant:' he saidAnd it's still
seen as relatively untapped."
But Breger noted that campaign
promises could eventually run up
against the challenges of governance,
noting the old saw, "You campaign in
poetry, you govern in prose."
Shalit, Israel And Rabbinic Debate
New York/JTA
Historical Take
However, as so many reflect upon the
olitical sovereignty in the
action taken by Israel, it is instructive
restored Jewish homeland
to remember that Israel unfortunately
often means making decisions
has confronted the same heartbreak-
with life-and-death impli-
ing and excruciating question
cations. That reality was
before.
brought home last week
In 1985, the Jewish state
with the agonizing decision
had to decide whether to
to authorize the terribly
return 1,150 Palestinian and
imbalanced swap to gain the
Lebanese prisoners for the
release of Gilad Shalit.
release of three Israeli sol-
The criticisms and con-
diers. Two prominent Israeli
cerns lodged by many sup-
rabbis — Shlomo Goren and
porters of Israel within and
Haim David Halevi — addressed
beyond its borders against
the issue directly at that time.
the Netanyahu government
Their words from that time
for exchanging more than
have resonance and meaning
1,000 prisoners for a lone
today, as they provide impor-
Israeli soldier are legitimate and under- tant perspectives for reflecting upon
standable. Undoubtedly, some of the
the policy position adopted by the cur-
released prisoners will attempt again
rent Israeli government in agreeing to
to wreak murder and mayhem against
this exchange.
inhabitants of the Jewish state.
Rabbi Goren served as Chief
At the same time, the overwhelming
Ashkenazic rabbi of Israel and was for-
majority of Jews and people of good
Uncertain Future
merly chief rabbi of the Israel Defense
Dov Zakheim, a former senior Pentagon
will throughout the world have rejoiced
Forces, while Rabbi Halevi was the chief
official in both Bush administrations,
over a decision that will allow Shalit to
Sephardic rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Rabbi
said that a Republican president likely
return to the safety and love of his fam-
Goren, in an article written on May 31,
would have to make decisions that dis-
ily and nation. Agreeing to the lopsided
1985, stated that Jewish law abso-
pleased Israel.
deal involved great pain for an Israeli
lutely forbade the Israeli government
"Elections are about principle, hold-
government charged with balancing
from redeeming "our captive soldiers
ing office is about realties," he said.
numerous and competing concerns in
in exchange for 1,150 terrorists," and
"Ronald Reagan wasn't always doing
providing for the safety and security of
based his ruling on a talmudic passage
what Menachem Begin wanted, but
its soldiers and citizens. The decision
in Gittin 45a that stated, "Captives
there was a recognition that whatever
involved no easy or obvious choice.
should not be redeemed for more than
Reagan did, his heart was in the right
their value."
place; the same with [George W.]
Rabbi Goren emphasized his
Bush. I don't think there's the
great distress at the personal
CHINA OPTION
same perception with Obama"
plight of these captives — they
Neusner, however, expressed
were surely in "mortal danger."
THE JEWISH STATE
doubt that the next Republican
However, he still insisted that the
AT THE WESTERN
president would pressure Israel
state should not redeem them,
EDGE OF ASIA
even to the extent that his old
as an exchange for the release
boss, George W. Bush, did.
of known terrorists bent on the
"In a future Republican White
destruction of Israel and its
House, the president chooses who
Jewish population surely would
CHINA AT THE
his advisers are going to be, and
imperil all Israeli citizens and
EASTERN EDGE
it includes people who he is com-
only fuel Arab attempts to cap-
OF ASIA
fortable with',' he said. "It may
ture more Jews in the future. The
include realists, but increasingly
price exacted from Israel through
it looks like it's not going to."
the release of these terrorists
Leading Republican realists
was simply too steep for the
such as Brent Scowcroft and Jim
state to afford.
Baker, the first President Bush's
Rabbi Halevi, responding to
TOGETHER, TWO ANCIENT
"DESTINED'?
national security adviser and
Rabbi Goren soon after the arti-
CIVILIZAI1ONS, DESTRO TO
ISN'T THAT
secretary of state, respectively,
cle appeared, said he was sympa-
LEAD THE WORLD TO
A LITTLE
are now in their 80s. The aging
thetic
to the position advanced
A MORE
STRONG?'
realists are not being replaced,
FUTURE!
by his Ashkenazic colleague, but
at least within the GOP, Neusner
disagreed with the conclusion.
said.
In Rabbi Halevi's view, the condi-
"Those people find them-
tions that pertained to a modern
selves more comfortable in the
Jewish state were vastly differ-
Democratic Party,' he said.
ent from those that confronted
Dry Bones
ovLrzeo
the Jewish community in pre-modern
times when the talmudic passage was
written. The Jewish people were now
sovereign in their land, and the "polit-
ical-national" aims that motivated
the terrorists "to wreak havoc among
the Jewish people" would continue
regardless of whether their prisoners
were released in exchange for Israeli
soldiers.
Indeed, these terrorists would
persist in their efforts until a politi-
cal solution to the entire Israeli-
Palestinian conflict was achieved.
Coming To Grips
The "impossible choice" before the
government, as Rabbi Halevi saw it,
was whether to "strengthen the power
of the terrorists through the release
of their comrades or to strengthen the
morale of IDF [Israel Defense Forces]
soldiers should there be future wars."
Faced with the two options, Rabbi
Halevi believed that priority had to be
assigned the latter — the Israeli gov-
ernment should do all in its power to
uphold the morale of the Israeli soldiers.
If a soldier, and by extension his
family and all residents of the Jewish
state, knew that the government would
spare no effort or expense to liberate a
captured soldier, and that such release
possessed the highest governmental
priority, then the resolve of the citizen-
soldiers of the State of Israel to defend
their nation would be fortified and
absolute.
In a moral universe where alterna-
tives were limited and where the mili-
tary might of the State of Israel could
protect its citizenry despite the pre-
posterous numerical imbalance of the
exchange, Rabbi Halevi felt this choice
was still the wisest one that the govern-
ment could make in an imperfect world.
In responding in this way, Rabbi
Halevi enunciated a position that pro-
vides a rationale for understanding
why the current Israeli government
made the decision on the issue of pris-
oner exchange. As its critics contend,
surely it is a policy fraught with danger
for the state.
At the same time, it appears to be
a policy that continues to guide Israel
legitimately as it continues to pro-
vide unlimited support to its citizen-
soldiers as they all too often confront
an enemy certainly bent on the state's
destruction. 1 ]
Rabbi Ellenson is president of the Hebrew
Union College Jewish Institute of Religion.
October 27 - 2011
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