8 | NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 

guest column

Israeli Elections and the 
Relevance to American Jews

PURELY COMMENTARY

I

sraelis headed to the polls 
on Nov. 1 (electing former 
Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu yet again).
The month preceding the 
election in Israel 
was filled with 
election propa-
ganda. Israelis 
have become 
highly resilient 
to election pro-
paganda. The 
vast majority of 
Israelis continue to view the 
results of the election as part 
of the ongoing saga of divided 
politics. Yet most Israelis don’t 
necessarily view the current 
political divide as indicating 
that the nation itself is divid-
ed. 
After more than 70 years, 
Israelis have developed a 
healthy skepticism about the 
role of government and the 
limit in the government’s 
ability to control every aspect 
of Israeli lives. Every election 
cycle, frequent as it is, brings 
new faces and new political 
leaders. The politics of Israel 
is now being led by much 
younger politicians who were 
born and raised in contempo-
rary Israel. Regardless of their 
politics, there is incredibly lit-
tle differentiating between the 
left and right of the Zionist 
parties.
Even the Ultra-Orthodox 
party, which does not consid-
er itself a Zionist party, relies 
on its historical partnership 
with Likud as a basis for its 
legitimacy and relevance. The 
fact that the previous coalition 
spanned from left to right and 
included an Arab party is no 

coincidence because Israelis 
expect a government that 
can focus on their vital daily 
issues: economy, education 
and security. 
The recent partnership 
between the right-wing 
pro-settlement parties and 
the left-leaning parties fur-
ther indicates that the one 
issue entirely not at the cen-
ter of the political debate is 
the future of peace with the 
Palestinians. While some 
Meretz politicians (the most 
left-wing Zionist party) 
mention peace and argue 
for moderation in the Israeli 
response to terror, there is 
zero expectation for change 
in the current stalemate in 
meaningful peace negotia-
tions. Israelis (both Arabs and 
Jews), along with most Arab 
nations, have moved on from 
the Palestinian issue. 

U.S. JEWS’ PERSPECTIVES
What is becoming apparent is 
the growing divide between 
American Jews and Israel. 
Both liberal and conservative 
Jews in America have a vision 
of contemporary Israel that is 
entirely based on an Israel that 
no longer exists. 
The American Jewish left 
yearns for the good old days 
of Israel’s early days, for the 
righteous and socialist nirva-
na without hateful colonizing 
settlers roaming the land. 
At the same time, the right 
yearns for the great military 
miracle of the 1967 war and 
how it brought about the rise 
of Israeli military and eco-
nomic power since. Both are 
pretty detached from what 

Israel is in the 21st 
century, a mature and 
successful democracy 
striving in a changing 
region while facing 
real existential threats. 
Israel of pre-’67 was not a 
socialist nirvana, but a deep-
ly divided nation ruled by a 
Labor coalition that held Arab 
Israeli citizens under military 
rule for 18 years. In 1967, the 
then-Labor party coalition, 
annexed east Jerusalem along 
with significant sections 
around it as it moved aggres-
sively to build new settle-
ments in the Jordan valley, the 
Etzion region and other areas 
in the West Bank and Gaza.
The Likud, which came into 
power in 1977, continued what 
Labor had started in 1967. The 
short-lived Labor coalitions led 
by Rabin and later Barak, tried 
to reach historical compromis-
es with the Palestinians, yet 
despite the willingness of the 
majority of Israelis to support 
these efforts, it resulted in little 
tangible benefits. 
In 2022, the occupation 
continues to be a problem 
with no obvious solution, 
which has become a consen-
sus within Israel. The fact 
that Israelis are willing to live 
without permanent peace with 
some of its neighbors is noth-
ing new but part of Israel’s 
reality from 1948. Of course, 
Israelis want peace, but not at 
the cost of security. 
What is also apparent is 
that Israelis don’t understand 
American Jews. Israelis’ views 
of America as a strong stra-
tegic partner don’t extend 
to American Jews. Israelis 

have little understanding of 
Americans in general, and 
this ignorance extends to 
American Jews. The diver-
sity of American Jewry and 
their strong integration into 
American society, economy 
and politics is something most 
Israelis barely understand. 
The good old days when 
Israelis viewed American Jews 
as their protectors and bene-
factors are long gone. 
There is a growing accep-
tance in Israel that as the 
new center for Jewish global 
life, Israel should be the one 
looking to protect America’s 
Jews, who are facing growing 
pressures from antisemitism 
and assimilation. In the 21st 
century, there is a growing 
sentiment that Israel’s found-
ing fathers’ vision of creating 
a haven for Jews is as relevant 
as ever. There is little change 
in support of Israelis for the 
Law of Return and for the 
importance of Israel in pro-
tecting Jews throughout the 
world. What is most striking 
is the sentiment shared by 
most Israelis that world Jews 
are in a precarious position 
and that even America’s Jews 
are facing an uncertain future. 
These sentiments are likely 
to be shared by future Israeli 
governments. 

Hannan Lis, originally from Haifa Israel, 

is past COO of The WW Group (Weight 

Watchers), founder and CEO of Lis 

Ventures LLC, a venture fund investing in 

emerging technologies and companies.

Hannan Lis