It’s not every day that an American president echoes themes from a 125-year-old Jewish debate, but a single unscripted comment that Joe Biden made during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was exceptional.
In reinforcing his commitment to Israel, President Biden said, “I think without Israel, there’s not a Jew in the world who’s secure. I think Israel is essential.”
The statement did not draw much attention in the Jewish community. There was bigger news out that day, including the president’s statement of his desire to invite Netanyahu to the White House. In the end, most American Jews understood the president’s statement in the context of lifelong commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. Indeed, anyone who has heard Biden speak about Israel has heard of his meeting as a young senator with Golda Meir as well as his oft-repeated stories about the lessons he learned from his father about the Holocaust.
But in glossing over the statement, we miss an opportunity for profound discussion about a fundamental question that was debated at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 and that global Jewry continues to wrestle with today:
Does Israel’s existence make Jews around the world safer?
In some ways, the answer could not be clearer. After all, as the war in Ukraine rages, over 11,000 Jews have fled that besieged country to make the Jewish state their home. Every year, tens of thousands of Jews make Aliyah, and it is not atypical for them to list antisemitism as one of their reasons for picking up their lives and moving to a new country.
Of course, there is a counter-narrative. We know that antisemitic attacks and incidents grow exponentially during times of armed conflict between Israel and the terrorist groups surrounding it. Indeed, it is impossible to have an honest discussion about antisemitism in much of the world without some suggesting — whether in good faith or not — that hatred of Jews is merely redirected hatred of Israel. They point out that among the antisemites who turn to violence to express their Jew-hatred – and, consequently, hatred for the Jewish state – there are those who direct their attacks against non-Israeli Jews living in, say, New York or Paris. In that milieu, it is understandable for some Jews to believe that Israel — this international object of ire — in fact makes them less safe.
Here in America, this question is particularly fraught, as it is here where Jews have attained a higher level of success and integration than anywhere else in world history. American Jews rightly see no conflict between their Jewish Zionism and American patriotism. Our synagogues proudly fly both the American and the Israeli flags, and the overwhelming majority among us see no inconsistency in their positioning.
But pride aside, are we American Jews, who cannot fathom needing to flee our homes, made safer because of Israel’s existence?
Ironically, it was a Ukrainian-born Israeli, former Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman of the Executive Natan Sharansky, who best answered this question. His simple suggestion was to add just one word to Biden’s statement so that the remark would be, “I think without Israel, there’s not a Jew in the world who feels secure.”
With the addition of this word, the president’s statement neatly encompasses the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of American Jews. Yes, Israel exists and will continue to exist to serve as a refuge for all Jews, no matter where we live. This is true for Jews in Ukraine, Ethiopia, France, and even the US. Yet for many of us in the Diaspora, Israel represents something more – something perhaps more subtle, but no less important.
It is no coincidence that the increased integration of Jews in American society coincided with Israel’s creation in 1948. It was not by accident that Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War coincided with an unprecedented surge in American Jewish pride. Israel’s success as a modern-day miracle gave us a confidence as a people that, quite simply, we never possessed before.
Despite whatever political turmoil Israel has lately endured, it remains a source of pride and unity for the Jewish people. When Israel sends emergency aid to another nation, invents in a new life-changing – or life-saving – technology, or even fields an internationally competitive team of Jewish baseball players, we feel a swell of pride that comes with the knowledge that such a thing would have been impossible just a few generations ago.
American and Israeli leaders have long understood and respected the unique ties connecting American Jews to Israel. Biden’s remarks would not have sounded out of place in 1897, but they are anything but antiquated. Indeed, they are as true as ever.
The writer is head of North America at the Jewish Agency for Israel and president and CEO of Jewish Agency International Development.