The Israel-Diaspora rift is worse than ever - opinion

Tension between Israeli and American Jewry is not new. Yet, the tension we are witnessing here now has become fodder for discussion, debate and even for news coverage, and deservedly so.

We, Jewry, are in the throes of one of the most significant and divisive set of differences in our history. Nothing this vast, no rift this wide, between American and Israeli Jewry has existed since the creation of the state.

And, I fear, without drastic change on both sides, tensions will, inevitably, worsen. The tension is not one-sided. It is the end result of two-sided change. Changes have taken place both in Israel and in American Jewry – changes in priorities, changes in status, changes in how one perceives the other and how they perceive themselves.

They are macro changes and micro changes; changes that affect the entire community and differences within each community that lead to one group being louder, stronger, more articulate and more worthy of media attention.

What makes this new reality even more significant, even more difficult to fathom, is that this time, past experiences and history cannot help us solve the problem.

In May of 1977, Menachem Begin was elected as Israel’s prime minister. Many members of the Jewish community from the political Left openly and vocally despised Begin. But they respected his position as the leader of the State of Israel, the Jewish state.

Yitzhak Shamir succeeded Begin and was also involved in a power share with the Labor Party’s Shimon Peres. Shamir was thought of as a pariah by the political Left. But during his tenures in office, Shamir received their respect, even if not their adoration.

Ariel Sharon, who served as Israeli prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was called the “Butcher” by some. He received this ignoble moniker because of his indirect role in the massacres that took place in the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon. But once in position, Sharon was received by mainstream Jewish leaders across the board – albeit with not infrequent protests outside his meetings and public events.

Israel is no longer essential for American Jews

THAT WAS then, this is now. And now there is a difference. Israel was once a sine qua non for American Jewry. It is no longer so.

The expression “sine qua non” sounds like a word salad, like garbled nonsense when literally translated. Literally, it means “without which, not.” But what sine qua non really means is “without something – something else is impossible”.

In other words, without Israel, Jewish life in America would be impossible because Israel is absolutely essential, vital and indispensable for American Jewish life. 

I am a product of that thought – more so, of that belief. I thought that way when I was growing up and I still think that way today. But today, I am a minority opinion.

Today, the idea that Israel is a sine qua non does not hold true for a large number of Jews, especially younger Jews. For many younger Jews – millennials and Gen Z Jews, Judaism is not at all important. And when Judaism isn’t important, the Jewish state has no significance, the Jewish state does not resonate.

Their criticism of Israel is not born out of love, not born out of a broader mindset of what is right and wrong, as it always was. These Jewish Americans have equal disdain for Trump supporters as they have for Israel. And the overlap between haters of Trump and haters of Israel is as real as it is frightening.

The spotlight highlighting the difference between then and now is focused on issues surrounding the movement for Israeli judicial reform. This one overarching issue highlights this huge and growing rift between Jews in America and Israel.

It falls along political lines. The more centrist and liberal of American Jewry are aghast that the Israeli Right wants to curb the independence of the Israeli judiciary.

Certainly, there are still Jews in America for whom Israel is not just a priority but the priority. There are still American Jews for whom Israel is still a sine qua non, but this group is primarily older or Orthodox. They are Jews who received Jewish day school and yeshiva education, who spent time in Israel during summers or during gap years.

Birthright programs are helping to make a dent in the paradigm being drawn. But the other group spent a summer or a year – not just a wonderful 10 days. Trips to Israel in any form are truly effective tools that build a relationship between Israel, Israelis and the group’s participants.

Israel, too, has been dramatically changed. The Left wing of the Israeli political spectrum has all but imploded. Political dialogue is now between the Center and the Right.

The traditional Left party that built Israel, Mapai and then the Labor Party, is limping along and barely breathing. Over the past 10 years, the Left has failed miserably in conveying any of its values to younger Israelis.

Their failure has been catastrophic. And that failure has been magnified as Israel’s Center and the Right have provided significant arguments that attract the younger generation in Israel, of course, but also in America.

The future does not bode well. And yet I have tremendous faith. I have faith that over time, and with dedication, Jews will bridge this chasm.

The writer is a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on the Jewish Broadcasting Service.