Eternal connection. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, there were many Jews in the world who opposed the Zionist idea. The main reason for this was their fear that they would be attributed dual loyalty (to the Jewish state and their country of residence), and would suspect that in the event of a conflict of interest, they would prefer the interests of the Jewish state.
When the state was established, most of these opponents became non-Zionists. Anti-Zionists – that is, those who opposed Israel even after its establishment – found themselves on the margins.
Those who examine the history of American Jews will see a (downright embarrassing) patronizing attitude toward the small and poor country in its early days, and fear of propaganda for immigration to Israel and of Israeli pretensions to present the new state as the spokesperson for the Jewish people. The agreement signed in August 1950 between Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Jacob Blaustein, president of the American Jewish Committee, tells the whole story: Ben-Gurion surrendered almost unconditionally to Blaustein's demands in order to ensure continued Jewish aid to Israel, and among other things, gave up any attempt to encourage the immigration of America's young Jews. The only thing Blaustein agreed to was allowing Israel to persuade professionals in vital fields for the young country to come to Israel and help.
AMAZING: 200,000 People Attend Pro-Israel Rally in Washington DC. 🇮🇱🇺🇸
No one will ever extinguish the light of Israel. #MarchForIsrael pic.twitter.com/p3ZtJXqiYj
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) November 14, 2023
But everything changed in the Six-Day War. The anxiety of the weeks preceding it, which had turned into euphoria with the astonishing victory, the feeling that Israel was omnipotent, all created immense pride among the Jews of the world, especially the largest community, American Jews. Thousands immigrated, volunteered, enlisted, and millions felt a close identification with the young country. If until then many Jews had felt uncomfortable that their neighbors had not distinguished between Jews and Israelis, after the war it was the Jews who saw this identification – mistaken as it was – as a badge of honor.
Since then, these relations have been established between the two largest Jewish communities in the world: when we are very successful (Operation Entebbe in 1976), their pride increases, and they are blessed with our relationship, while in the opposite situation they contain us.
But the identification between Israel and world Jewry has become a fact in recent decades. Jews who are not enthusiastic about Israel cannot escape this identification, just as Israelis who renounce contact with the Diaspora can do so on an intellectual level, but in practice they will see them as part of the common fabric.
When someone introduces himself as an Israeli on a visit to Tokyo, there will always be someone who asks him if he knows a certain Jew in New York, just as an American Jew will be asked if he knows Falmoni from Israel.
The war in Gaza is proof of this dual affinity. On October 7, the Jewish world identified with us. Many of us received emails sharing our collective grief and were asked what we could help with. However, in the context of the war that began, it was world Jewry who was accused of Israel's alleged "disproportionate response" to the Palestinians, and once again they had to hide chains with Stars of David, through no fault of their own.
There is no choice – the identification between the two communities is here with us in order to stay, and it is also relevant to those who want to shake it off. What does not exist is an institutionalized connection between the two communities, which will allow them to better understand each other, and listen to each other.
Back to polls
The comeback kid. Naftali Bennett returns to the polls as a strategic genius who demanded that Netanyahu eliminate Hamas when he was in his government.
But by the same token, during his insignificant period as prime minister, he led the policy of distancing himself from the two-state solution (and twisted his face when then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with President Mahmoud Abbas at his home) and avoided contact with the Palestinian Authority.
Today, when many good people on the right suggest that the PA take Gaza from us, it is important to remember Bennett's contribution to weakening it and its inability to withstand it.
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