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Preparing for Next Week's NH Primary -- Israel Issues

Next week we will be voting in New Hampshire for the presidential nominees.  One of the important issues for Jews to weigh is how American policy will affect Israel.  Here are statements taken from the official campaign websites of the remaining Republican candidates.  President Obama does not have anything posted on his campaign website, but he does have a record.  I will look for a couple of representative essays supporting and critiquing his record on Israel.

In the meantime, here are some Republican excerpts, verbatim from their websites.  Bear in mind that U.S.-Israel relations are also part of some wider contexts -- energy policy, counterterrorism, the U.S. and the Arab Spring.  You can view excerpts of speeches the candidates gave at a recent Republican Jewish Coalition forum here.

 

Newt Gingrich (no mention of Israel on official website)

Jon Huntsman (no mention of Israel on official website)

Ron Paul (only mention:) ...stopping foreign aid...

Rick Perry

As Governor Perry said during tonight’s debate, “Obviously, Israel is a special ally, and my bet is that we would be funding them at some substantial level. But it makes sense for everyone to come in at zero and make your case.”

Governor Perry is a friend to Israel and understands the challenges faced by the country.  He has visited the country several times and has personal relationships with Israeli leaders.  While in Israel in 2009, he was also awarded the Defender of Jerusalem Award.

Governor Perry recognizes Israel as a unique and vital political and economic partner for the United States in the Middle East.  Our mutual commitment to democracy and free market principles makes us allies in the defense of western civilization.

Governor Perry understands Israel’s security challenges, particularly the threat of Iran, and the need to work together to counter this threat.  Especially after the most recent IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear activity we must not let any daylight show between our two nations.

Governor Perry understands the need to continue to work toward a solution to the Palestinian problem, but does not believe weakening Israel is the road to peace.  A strong Israel is in the best interests of the United States and the region.

Governor Perry believes that the actions by the Palestinians to circumvent the appropriate diplomatic process and go directly to the United Nations to seek a unilateral declaration of statehood is unacceptable and a direct threat to our friend and ally, Israel.

Under Rick Perry’s presidency, any consideration of Palestinian statehood will depend upon a complete recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, the total rejection of terrorism and Palestinian leaders sitting down directly with Israel to negotiate a settlement. The aid and support of the United States will be based on the Palestinians meeting these requirements.

Mitt Romney -- THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ARAB SPRING: ISRAEL

Israel is the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East and a beacon of democracy and freedom in the region. The tumult in the Middle East has heightened Israel’s security problems.

Indeed, this is an especially dangerous moment for the Jewish state. It has deteriorating relationships with Turkey and Egypt. It faces longstanding dangers from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, a violent and highly unstable Syria, and a nuclear-aspiring Iran whose leadership is openly calling for Israel’s annihilation.

To ensure Israel’s security, Mitt Romney will work closely with Israel to maintain its strategic military edge. The United States will work intensively with Turkey and Egypt to shore up the now fraying relationships with Israel that have underpinned peace in the Middle East for decades. The United States must forcefully resist the emergence of anti-Israel policies in Turkey and Egypt, and work to make clear that their interests are not served by isolating Israel.

With regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Romney’s policy will differ sharply from President Obama’s. President Obama and his administration have badly misunderstood the dynamics of the region. Instead of fostering stability and security, they have diminished U.S. authority and painted both Israel and ourselves into a corner. President Obama for too long has been in the grip of several illusions. One is that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is the central problem in the region. This has been disproved repeatedly by events, most recently and most dramatically by the eruption of the Arab Spring. But it nonetheless led the administration to believe that distancing the United States from Israel was a smart move that would earn us credits in the Arab world and somehow bring peace closer. The record proves otherwise. The key to negotiating a lasting peace is an Israel that knows it will be secure. 

The administration’s errors extend in other directions as well. President Obama has repeatedly and unilaterally created new preconditions for restarting peace talks. The result has been to encourage Palestinians simply to hold out and wait for Washington to deliver more Israeli concessions on a silver platter. Why, after all, should the Palestinians even negotiate with Israel if the White House is pressuring Israel without extracting any price from the Palestinians in return?

As president, Romney will reject any measure that would frustrate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He will make clear to the Palestinians that the unilateral attempt to decide issues that are designated for final negotiations by the Oslo Accords is unacceptable. The United States will reduce assistance to the Palestinians if they continue to pursue United Nations recognition or form a unity government that includes Hamas, a terrorist group dedicated to Israel’s

destruction. The United States needs a president who will not be a fair-weather friend of Israel. The United States must work as a country to resist the worldwide campaign to delegitimize Israel. We must fight against that campaign in every forum and label it the anti-Semitic poison that it is. Israel’s existence as a Jewish state is not up for debate.

Rick Santorum

[W]e must cease our verbal, moral, and diplomatic equivalence as between good and evil. Syria does not deserve an ambassador; its protesters deserve support; Israeli housing starts should not be put on the same moral plane as Hamas terror attacks; and China should be challenged on religious liberty rather than be given a veto on the human-rights activists we wish support.

...we must stand by Israel, especially at a time when it appears increasingly to be standing alone. The recent dislocation of the old order in the Middle East will usher in a new one, and anti-Israeli elements are working overtime to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Superhero Primary

A great thanks and yasher koach to Darren Garnick, reporter and political junkie, for sending me this piece to link to!  Darren's article for theatlantic.com is called "Republicans in Tights:  Behind the Scenes of the 'Superhero Primary'". His son Ari, age 9, asked the Republican candidates for president about their favorite superheroes. 

 

Parashat Vayishlach -- Penn State and the Rape of Dina

Now Dina, the daughter of Leah whom she had borne to Yaakov, went out to see among the daughters of the land.  And he saw her:  Shechem son of Chamor the Hivite, chief of the land, and he took her and he lay with her and he raped her.  Then his soul was drawn to Dina, daughter of Yaakov, and he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to the young woman... (Genesis 34:1-3)

This is the only story we have about Dina, the only daughter of Yaakov and his wives.  She might be literally a teenager or a young adult woman.  The language of yetzia, "going out", is used also about Yaakov himself and about Moshe, when they were teenagers or young men.  And this is what happened:  she went out to be among other young woman, "to see".  And her life was interrupted by another "seeing", from Shechem son of Chamor, a powerful man.  The result -- the twisted love from him, and the revenge against Shechem's people by Yaakov's sons -- is the only result we hear.  We don't hear any more of Dina's story.

Part of the cruelty of sexual assault and sexual abuse is the physical violence.  Part is the taking over of a life -- the hijacking of the victim's own story, own path.  Dina's story opens with something so interesting -- we don't have other biblical stories about young people going out among themselves, other than to herd sheep or draw water.  What were they doing?  What kind of interesting young woman were they?  But now, we have only "the rape of Dina" and nothing else.

In the verses I've quoted, the Hebrew word for young woman is read aloud as na'ara, but the written Hebrew in the scroll says na'ar -- a lad, a young man.  Against the backdrop of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal this lept out at me.  Shechem's assault was against a young woman, but it could have been against a young man or a boy.  The violence, the consequences, are the same.

We ask:  what more is there to learn?  What more might we not already know about rape, abuse, assault, sexual harrassment?  So this year the Torah isn't coming to teach us something we don't know.  Instead, it is reminding us of all the things we do know.  We're reminded, through Penn State and Syracuse University, that we have not finished building systems of accountabiity, so that those who witness or suspect sexual abuse are obligated to come forward.  We have not finished building cultures or havens that protect abusers.

Rabbi Brad Hirshfield of CLAL, reflecting on Penn State, recently made the case for vigilance, which he defines like this.  Vigilance means a willingness to be more on guard than usual on behalf of people who are especially vulnerable.  To put aside even loyalty and the presumption of goodness we usually have about other people, and for the sake of those who are vulnerable to entertain the possibility that the worst may be true.

Rabbi Hirschfield argues that being vigilant does not mean thinking that everyone is an abuser or even that every secondhand story one hears is true.  It does not mean giving up our faith in others, in teachers and coaches and advisers.  But when something credible comes to us, we have a duty -- especially to children -- to pursue it, to confront if we can, to see that it's not swept under the rug.

There are all kinds of reasons it is hard.  It's easier to be a bystander, not to take sides, not to get involved.  But the fact is:  abuse, whether it's physical or sexual or emotional, is real and it happens, and there is no part of our society that is yet free from it.

So we have to remind ourselves of our duty not to turn away if we know or if we hear something.  Children especially need to know that if, God forbid, they have to summon the courage to speak to us about something that happens to them or to a friend, that we will listen and not dismiss it, or look for reasons not to take it seriously.  We -- their parents.  We -- their teachers, their youth group leaders, their rabbi.

It's the same in the case of adults who tell of abuse or harassment.  The kinds of things Herman Cain was accused of occur in private.  They are the situation of Dina and Shechem, where one person holds particular power over the other -- whether it's financial or emotional or physical.  It's hard to prove, and incredibly frightening for the victims to contemplate what might happen if they speak out.  Those who have been abused or threatened or harassed stand in a position of particular vulnerability, especially against the powerful, whether it's a boss or a coach or any kind of leader.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that no one is beyond reproach simply because of their position of power.  Certainly not a football coach, and not even a person who fancies himself the President of the United States.  It is our duty, imitating God, to look out for the less powerful, for the vulnerable.

That is vigilance, one of the things we need reminding of.  The other is that we have to tell our children that we will listen if, God forbid, they have to tell us about something that happened to them or to someone they know.  We have to be there if a friend or a neighbor, God forbid, has to tell us that they are in danger, to be ready to call the police if necessary or to find safety.  In our community, one place to turn in a case of abuse of any kind is Bridges, which is one of the best organizations in our area for victims of domestic or child abuse in any form -- the phone number 24 hours a day is 603-883-3044.

In our synagogue this week, it is USY Shabbat, a celebration of youth and leadership.  They are the truest honor to the legacy of Dina, daughter of Leah and Yaakov.

First Reflections on the Storm

I say first reflections in that I began to have them earlier in the week.... We've had a couple of half-minyan services this week since the snowstorm.  Taking time for the maariv prayers, I saw the first section in a bit of a new light.  We praise God who "designs the day with wondrous skill" and rotates the seasons with regularity.  Yet of course this week, the days have been strange and the weather unseasonal.

Surely, though, the author of this prayer was well aware that the climate and seasons vary.  I can only think that he directs us, as the sun goes down on each day, to take a step back and marvel at the overall pattern behind the variations.  And to see that no matter how cold or warm, how dry or wet, we experience the same rising and setting sun, the same rotation of the stars (we rotate of course, not they).  What the author of the prayer sees, when the light of day is gone, is that there is something dependable even when the day that ended seems very unusual.

And then, even more importantly, the prayers don't stop there.  The second section is about Torah and mitzvot.  I experienced that this week as a reminder.  It's tempting to let the weather sidetrack everything, to decide that complaining and getting by puts everything else on the back burner.  But that's a luxury.  There have been a lot of people doing a lot of mitzvot because of the snowstorm.  Those electrical workers doing the dangerous work, up high and under the gun, were making our place safe again, not just convenient.  People found ways to do small kindnesses, making sure the intersections were orderly or even, I read in the paper, bringing a power strip to Barnes and Noble so one person wouldn't monopolize an outlet.

And of course, I hope the week reminds us of bigger pictures -- that some people live in countries where power is unreliable all the time; that some people in our city can't afford electricity and heat in the winter; that we all use too much energy and water.

So this week I learned a new thing, about the sequences of the prayers.  From the wonder at nature's rhythms and power, to the daily imperative of living wisely through mitzvot.

I hope you are safe and warm.  Shabbat shalom!

Bringing Home Gilad Shalit

Today the Israeli government approved a deal to bring home Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was abducted in 2006 by Hamas.  Negotiations over some kind of prisoner swap have been going on off and on ever since.  Prime Minister Netanyahu authorized, and the cabinet approved, a deal that will release hundreds of Palestinians involved in terror attacks against Israelis.

Here is the text of Prime Minister Netanyahu's remarks before the Israeli cabinet meeting:

Today, I bring a proposal to the Government for a deal that will bring Gilad Shalit home alive and well; bring him home to his parents Aviva and Noam, his brother Yoel, his sister Hadas, his grandfather Zvi, and the entire people of Israel. Two and a half years ago, when the government was formed, I took upon myself, as my first priority, to bring Gilad home to his people, to his family – to bring him home safe and sound.

At the time, Gilad was already held in captivity for two and a half years, with no visits from the Red Cross, with no visits at all, and we did not know what state he was in. The first step I took, and we approved it here in the Government, was to get a video recording of Gilad, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw it. We saw that he was functioning, physically, mentally and cognitively. We saw that he was functioning well. We knew that he was healthy and that he was alive. I regarded that tape as an insurance policy, because it obliged the Hamas before the international community to safeguard him, to keep him alive and maintain his health. But that was obviously only the first step.

The most important mission that we had was more challenging – to actually bring Gilad home. To that end we held long and tough negotiations through the German mediator. These negotiations were based on a framework outlined by the previous government. They were long and exhausting and despite all our efforts, a deal was not reached.

I must point out that not a day went by without us trying various ways to bring Gilad
home, any way possible, and that didn't work either. In the last few weeks, the
negotiations were renewed in Cairo, this time with the Egyptian government as mediator.

My instructions to the team were to adhere to the principles and framework that are
important for the security of the State of Israel, which I will detail in the meeting.
There is an inbuilt tension between the desire to bring back an abducted soldier, or
citizen, and the need to maintain the security of the citizens of Israel. This is my dual responsibility as Prime Minister.

The deal I am bringing to the Government expresses the right balance between all of
these considerations. I do not wish to hide the truth from you – it is a very difficult
decision. I feel for the families of victims of terror, I appreciate their suffering and
distress, I am one of them. But leadership must be examined at moments such as this, being able to make difficult, but right, decisions.

I believe that we have reached the best deal we could have at this time, when storms are sweeping the Middle East. I do not know if in the near future we would have been able to reach a better deal or any deal at all. It is very possible that this window of opportunity, that opened because of the circumstances, would close indefinitely and we would never have been able to bring Gilad home at all.

Therefore, for all of these reasons, I instructed the team to put their initials on the deal last Thursday, and today it was finalized and signed by both sides. I thank my Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Yohanan Locker, the Chief of the Shin Bet Yoram Cohen, my personal envoy to the negotiations, David Meidan and his predecessor Hagai Hadas. I thank the team that has accompanied them all these years.

I thank the IDF, the security forces for doing everything they could regarding Gilad
Shalit. I also wish to thank the German mediator, and the Chancellor Angela Merkel who supported his mission all along. A send a special thanks to the Government of Egypt and the Egyptian Intelligence Services for providing much assistance in mediating and helping us reaching this agreement.

This morning I Invited Noam Shalit to my residence, and I spoke on the phone with the mother Aviva and the grandfather Zvi. I told them that I am keeping my promise and I'm bringing their son and grandson home. I told them, "I'm bringing your boy back." I am happy that I succeeded in fulfilling the Jewish decree of redeeming captives, and if all goes as planned, Gilad will be back in Israel in the next few days with his family and his people.

The Nation of Israel is a unique people. We are all mutually responsible for each other, as our Sages said: "He who saves one soul, it is as though he saved an entire world." Tonight, I bring the Government a proposal to save Gilad Shalit, to finally bring him home to Israel after five years.

Dvar Torah: Reflections on the 9/11 Anniversary

Here is the text of my Dvar Torah last week on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

Interesting Article on Cairo Anti-Israel Rioting

Last week Egyptian demonstrators attacked the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.  An airlift was necessary to extract Israelis inside.

Here is a valuable analysis of why many Egyptians are anti-Israel.  The author claims it has very little to do with a desire to improve the lot of Palestinians:

Eric Trager, Cairo’s Embassy Riots: Anti-Israeli Sentiment in Egypt Has Nothing to do with Palestine

Parashat Ki Tetze: Reflections Before 9/11

On the Shabbat the day before the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, we read Parashat Ki Tetze.  It opens:  "When you go out to war upon your enemies..." (Deuteronomy 21:10).  It concludes:

Remember that which Amalek did you along the way, when you went out from Egypt:  he came upon you along the way, cut down all the stragglers at your rear, and you were tired and worn out -- not fearing God.  And it shall be:  when Adonai your God gives you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land that Adonai your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.  Do not forget!  (Deut. 25:17-19)

The ta'amei hamikra -- the trope, the notes that tell us how to chant the Torah -- tell their own story about how painful it is to look back even from a distance at a terrible crime.  The Torah reading is almost without rhythm, out of step, as it tells how in the future to deal with the memory.

So the first word Zachor -- "Remember" -- is given a long note, as if to say how hard it is to summon the actual memory.  (Click on them to hear how they sound chanted.)  The next word in Hebrew, et , is a word without any content, and yet it also gets a long note.  Then, as the attack on the Israelites by Amalek is recounted, the words just rush out.  Many, long words are compressed into the cantillation normally used for just a few.  Hard letters, gutterals and stops.  Then a deep breath, and drawn out:  V'haya, "and it shall be, in the future"...and the strange command.  To blot out the memory of Amalek, yet never to forget what they did.

We need to remember, and want to forget.  We recall in detail -- what we say, where we were -- and are ashamed when we realize that the images that transfixed us on TV were the dying moments of three thousand people.  We want the revenge, to blot out Bin Laden and his followers, and also to have rest from all our enemies.  We want to deny al-Qaeda the dignity of even being known.  Yet we have to tell the story, if we are to have any hope of building a world that will be without them forever.

Are we doing justice to the memory of those who died, on September 11 and in the wars since then?  Are we changed, as people or Jews, as Americans or free people?  These are the questions to remember, even as we return to the first moments in our memories.  My own answers I will give in shul this Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom -- May it be a Shabbat of peace, as we recall that day of war.

 

Two Modest Proposals on Money and News

This occurred to me recently as the presidential primary campaigns are underway.  I propose that no one donate any money to a campaign for the Democratic or Republican nomination.  As far as I can tell, whoever the nominee is for each party will espouse the same basic policies as his party on the major economic issues.  The return on investment, for an individual and especially for the nation, is incredibly small on a primary campaign donation.  Untold millions will be spent on these campaigns, and most of it will be wasted on losing campaigns.  Instead, if you have a political passion and money to spare, use it to shore up nonprofits that provide social services, increase scholarship funds at colleges, or provide capital to a small business that could create the jobs people need.

The general election is a true choice.  The amount of money spent on it is also obscene and wasteful.  I have no good answer to that today.

Second proposal, as I listen to blow-by-blow accounts of where Col. Qadafi might be today:  How about a newspaper that only prints stories about what happened three days ago?  Then reporters could sift through what they learn in real time and give us the facts we would need to understand an event or issue, without the extraneous "scoop" that has no value to our ongoing understanding. 

Israel Update -- August 11

Welcome back to the many people from the Beth Abraham community who have been is Israel lately!

Over the last month, a remarkable set of tent cities and protest marches have sprung up around Israel, in protest initially against the high cost of housing.  Mobilizing largely outside the political system, the movement has won the commitment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to set up a high-profile commission of academics and government officials to address what has become a broad range of socioeconomic issues.  Some 300,000-400,000 people participated in demonostrations last Saturday night, mostly in Tel Aviv but also throughout Israel.  Some are commenting that the protesters are young and old, drawing on the old classical Israeli left as well as university students.

So it's a good time to make a habit of reading the Israeli and Jewish press.  Set bookmarks for Israeli papers Haaretz or the Jerusalem Post, or read the New York-based Forward.

Our member and frequent public radio reporter Sheryl Rich-Kern has this story you can listen to, about a program at Babson College this summer that is bringing Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinian Arabs together to learn about entrepreneurship and then launch joint ventures together back at home.

Finally, mark your calendar for Wednesday, August 24 for a rally in support of Israel from 5-8 PM at Veterans' Park in Manchester.