Below is my sermon from Friday March 27th:
Let
me start off by stating that I am happy to discuss this conversation on AIPAC
and the recent elections in Israel following our service this evening. I will
be right here happy to speak with you after we finish our worship service.
Secondly, I am working with what information we know for the moment, but as the
political landscape continues to shift and change, much of what I offer may
have already changed even before our service is over. And thirdly, there are
many pundits and experts who can speak to the tachlis, the details of the various personalities and parties
involved in the election. Rather than dive into all of those details, I am
pursuing a broader approach to look at some general themes and possible
outcomes as a result of these most recent elections.
All
that being said, one of the most partisan, vicious, and difficult elections in
Israel’s history, if not THE most partisan election in Israel’s history,
something curious happened Wednesday March 18th, absolutely nothing.
People went to work. Netanyahu began the process of attempting to form a
coalition government. People, being either happy or unhappy with the election
results, continued to demonstrate their love of the only enduring democracy in
the Middle East. There were no riots. There was no coup. Life kept moving ever
forward. This is what democracies do, especially when an estimated 72.3% of the
electorate[1] (nearly
three quarters of all available voters) showed up at the polls.
Israel,
lest we forget is only sixty-six years old (sixty-seven this coming May). When
the United States was sixty-six years old John Tyler was president, following
the death of William Henry Harrison. Tyler, among other things while in office,
worked to annex the then sovereign nation of Texas, angering abolitionists.
Himself, an ardent supporter of Southern rights and slavery, Tyler helped to
sow the seeds for what would become the bloodiest war in the history of the
United States, the Civil War.
I mention all of this because, as difficult as this
election was, Israel is not on the precipice of a Civil War, so I would
encourage everyone to take a deep breath.
So here is what we know. First off, I actually lived in
Israel in 1999, which was the last time Benyamin Netanyahu lost an election. I
remember the sense of jubilation when Netanyahu lost to Ehud Barak. That being
said, in many ways Bibi is Israel’s first true politician. He is part of that
second generation, who were not instrumental in the founding of Israel or in
securing the nation from the precipice of destruction. He will also soon be the
longest serving Prime Minister in Israel’s history, assuming he is able to form
a coalition government. In this sense Netanyahu represents a different type of
politician for a different type of Israel.
Netanyahu’s
main focus for the past decade has been Iran and Iran’s nuclear program. That
has been his singular focus. That was the main topic of conversation at AIPAC
and at his two speeches a few weeks ago here in the United States.
With
regards to AIPAC, as I mentioned in a blog post, “it was wonderful to gather
together with 16,000 lovers of Israel across all sorts of spectrums be it
Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Christian, Evangelical, Republican, Conservative,
and even a few independents. Also, as great as it was to see that there were
over 500 hundred rabbis in attendance, even more exciting were the over 3,000
high school and college students, fighting the fight for Israel on the ground
of our academic institutions.
However
there were two central themes that dominated the experience: Iran and
Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, both of which I will admit, I am conflicted
about.
With
regards to Netanyahu’s speech, there are those who accuse him of acting for
purely political reasons. I do not believe this is an entirely fair accusation.
Netanyahu has made it a singular focus of his political career to prevent Iran
from acquiring nuclear capability. He has spoken out at the UN and just about
anywhere else to make this point. He has focused on it so much that many
Israelis are frustrated because they feel like he has ignored internal Israeli
challenges like the dominant issue of the affordable housing crises. At the
same time, Netanyahu spoke at Congress during the middle of the day, which is
prime time viewing in Israel. His speech may have been focused on Iran, but it
was also very much a campaign speech, he is a politician after all.
I
also believe that there are many in the House and Senate, on both sides, who
are very much concerned with the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran and
they very much wanted to hear from Netanyahu. At the same time, by giving him a
platform, they were lobbing a direct insult against the President, which in
turn has created a mini-political firestorm in Washington. The President is the
head of the Democratic Party, and many in Congress chose to forgo this speech
in public because they support their leader. This in turn is simply bad news
for Israel and AIPAC, as the goal of AIPAC is to garner bipartisan support for
Israel. A divided Congress when it comes to the question of Israel is never a
good sign.
The
President for his part has also handled this badly as well. Israel is a true
ally of the United States, and that partnership should be unshakable. All
criticisms should be done quietly and behind the scenes. I am sure there were
ways to better handle this speech, but instead it became not just a battle, but
it is a distraction to the greater issue, which is a potential nuclear Iran.
Obama
and Netanyahu have to very different approaches to solving this problem.
Obama’s administration is working to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities, whereas
Netanyahu wants to eliminate Iran’s ability to produce a bomb all together. Now
I am not saying which one is the right approach, as I am not a diplomat, or
even which one would work, but my wish is that the two of them could sit down
and figure it out. Partners talk to one another and not at each other. I
believe all sides, including the players in Congress are to blame for making
this central security issue into a political one.
North
Korea has taught us that any nation that is truly determined to acquire a
nuclear weapon can do so. Sanctions will not prevent it. North Korea is the
most isolated nation in the world, and yet, it has a nuclear bomb.
So
the real question is: why is Iran pursuing nuclear ambitions? As far as I can
tell, is once you have nuclear capability, you are treated differently by the
rest of the world. Iran wants to be the dominant country in the region. It
funds terror as a means to undermine its enemies and further its stature in the
Muslim world. By getting rid of Saddam Hussein, we effectively curbed a
regional ability to counterbalance Iran’s growing ambitions. Iran wants to be on
the biggest stage and wants to have a seat at the table, and it wants to be
taken seriously. This does not mean we have to take it seriously. In order to
defeat Iran’s nuclear ambitions, we have to understand them.
The
other problem is that by framing the nuclear issue around Israel, which many in
the world already hate, there are many who do not understand that a nuclear
Iran will lead to a nuclear arms race in the region. Saudi Arabia, a major
rival to Iran, will most likely begin to pursue their own nuclear program,
along with many other countries in the region. This is not Israel’s problem alone;
this is a problem for the whole Middle East, and by extension, the whole world.”[2]
All that being said, a nuclear Iran is one of many issues
that came up during this latest election. There were also a great number of
social issues, many relating to the growing economic disparity in Israel as
well as the lack of affordable housing and economic opportunities for young
people that helped fuel the large voter turnout.
Here is what else we know: Netanyhu won what appears to
be a decisive victory. But when you add up the number of seats in the Knesset,
he actually only won one from the left. All the other additional seats he
picked up from parties further to the right than his own. And yet, he remains
in power for a few critical demographic reasons. The first is the growing
numbers in the Ultra-Orthodox world. They are growing at a rate of over 5%
whereas the general “secular” population is growing at a rate less than half
that.[3] So
simply in terms of numbers there are more people voting on the right. Secondly,
remember that large influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union? They tend to
also vote against anything they perceive as left leaning.
A
third factor in all of this is that as Israel feels increasing pressure from
the larger world, especially Europe, its most significant trading partner, and
as Israel feels more isolated, the electorate tends to rally around the
government rather than for the opposition as a sign of strength and solidarity.
We
also know that Netanyahu in several desperate attempts to get his voters to the
polls made two statements that angered many. The first is that he stated there
would be no Two-State solution. He has since retracted part of his statement,
but the damage has been done. Many of his critics rightly or wrongly in Israel,
Europe and even among Americans feel that Netanyahu has no interest in peace
with the Palestinians.
The
cardinal sin Netanyahu committed was to express either an outright unwillingness
to engage in negotiations or a general reluctance depending upon how you read
his words. I think we can agree that finding a partner in negotiations is a
difficult if not impossible prospect to say the least. Abbas has been in power well
past his allotted term as head of the P.A. Yet, Israel always, always has to be
interested in the possibility, no matter whether it works or not. Politics is
90% perception 10% results. If Israel does not look willing or eager, it only
emboldens her enemies and her critics.
Also
Netanyahu warned his people of the surge in Israeli-Arab votes. I am reluctant
to read this as racism, as some have, but by calling out a specific group in
the electorate, Netanyahu certainly has many fences to mend.
And
then there is the potential changing nature of US-Israel relationship. Now
let’s not kid ourselves, Truman, was known to on occasion offer up an
anti-Semitic slur or two. Kissinger during negotiations threatened to change
the relationship with Israel, and even Reagan condemned and called out Israel
for some of her actions. Needless to say, Obama is not the first president, nor
will he be the last who is going to be frustrated with this strategic ally.
However
we should also note that Obama is the first president, other than maybe George
W. Bush, for whom 1967 is not part of his collective memory and experience. He,
like so many Generation X-ers and millienials and so on, only remember Israel
when she is strong and not when she was fighting for her existence.
So
what does this mean for Israel? Well first off, lest we forget, it was not the
doves who have made peace, it was the hawks like Begin and Sharon. So no matter
what Netanyahu might say, he might be, and I stress, might be, the man to
ultimately offer up a true and enduring peace. But of course he needs a partner
to dance with.
Secondly,
it means we need, in the words of our Reform leaders, “continue to work with
all those who share our commitment to an Israel in which the government does
not dictate religious practices and offers a pluralistic and open approach to
religious expression … as we continue to work to prevent a nuclear Iran, the
Israeli government will need more than ever to focus on restored relations with
the United States. The threat Iran poses to Israel, to American interests, and
to global stability must remain at the top of our agenda… we also (must)
recognize the work ahead of us in reaching out to those, especially younger
Jews, who are more critical of Israeli politics, especially when it comes to
the Israeli-Palestinian relationship.”[4]
But
what can we do? Well first off, if you like the way the elections turned out,
keep supporting Israel. There are great causes like AIPAC, Israel Bonds, and
FIDF that can continue to use your generosity. If you are upset by the results
you can give to groups like J-Street and Rabbis without borders.
And
in either case, I also encourage you to support the Israel Religious Action
Center which fights for causes related to religious pluralism in Israel and groups
like the Women of the Wall. And of course, please vote in the World Zionist
Congress Elections. The greater number of us who vote, the greater say we have
in how money is distributed in the land we all care so deeply about. There are
many links to these various organizations in our Shabbat Supplement.
I
also encourage you to join us this Sunday at 9:30 for our Annual
Brotherhood-ARZA breakfast where Sophie Felder, Director of Regional Affairs
from the Embassy of Israel will be speaking to us more about the current
geopolitical landscape in which Israel currently resides.
When people ask me my thoughts on the recent elections,
my straightforward, al regal achat response is, it’s complicated. It is
continuing to play out. Yet it is also a single moment in time. Parties in
power do not remain in power forever, and that is even more true of those
individuals in power. Yet at the end of the day, it was a fair and open
democratic election in an area devoid of any sense of human rights or equality.
Israel lives in an increasingly dangerous and unsettled region to say the
least. Sometimes we may even be tempted to ask, why does the media focus so
much on in Israel when there are so many more important events transpiring in
the region like in Syria, Yemen, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and of course in
Iran.
Yet Israel is the only true democracy. And because of it
we do have higher expectations of her, rightly or wrongly. There is much work
to be done in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. I know some of you are
heartened by the results and some of you are disheartened by the results, and
yet, as Jews we are commanded to always have hope. Continue to support those
causes that give you hope as we all strive to help Israel fulfill the destiny
we have all dreamed for her since the days of her inception. Amen.
[1] http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Voter-turnout-at-10-am-higher-than-in-2013-election-394166
[2] http://rhythmguitarrabbi.blogspot.com/2015/03/some-thoughts-on-aipac-2015.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel
[4] http://urj.org/about/union/pr/2015/?syspage=article&item_id=116921
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