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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.

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.

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

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.

Toward September at the UN

Click through for a thoughtful, nuanced (short) take on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, by Professor Michael Walzer:

"What Does Netanyahu Think He Is Doing?"

Parashat B'chukotai: The Land of Israel, On Condition

Parashat B'chukotai comes at the end of the book of Vayikra (Leviticus).  After a book filled with specific laws, mostly about the sacrificial worship but also about living a holy life, this week's parasha exhorts the Israelites as a nation to keep God's covenant and commandments faithfully.  "If you walk by my laws and keep my statues, and do them, I will give your rain at its appropriate time, and the trees of the field will give their fruit..."  (26:3-4).  If the Israelites reject God's laws and walk away from them, a series of catastrophes will be visited on them.

The ultimate consequence, according to the Torah, of abandoning the commandments is exile.  God will no longer protect the people in Eretz Yisrael, and they will be forced to live elsewhere until they are ready to return to God.

The idea that the Jews' possession of the Land of Israel at any given time is conditional is woven throughout the Torah and the prophets.  While Eretz Yisrael is always the homeland, the Torah says that the right to live there at the moment always depends on the way the people live and act when they are on the land.  God gave the land not for its own sake, and not simply so that the Jews would have a place somewhere as all nations do.  The land and the Jews come together so that the Jews can bring God's teachings to their full flowering.

As Jews in and out of Israel today look at the conflict with the Palestinians, this perspective from the Torah must remain in mind.  This week, President Obama weighed in with his view on how the Land of Israel should be shared between Israel and the Palestinians.  Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinians, outlined their argument for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a state this September (a must read).

In biblical times, when faced with pressure from the outside, Israel's kings tried to view things only strategically, in terms of alliances and forces.  The prophets, with the words of the Torah such as this week's, reminded them that it is the character of Jewish society that will determine the outcome.  A callous insensitivity to the Palestinians' suffering, their sense of identity and statelessness, cannot be in line with the covenant.

No amount of military strength will prevail if there is not also a human response, a moral response.  I don't expect Prime Minister Netanyahu to let down his vigilance about Israel's safety when the Middle East is in turmoil.  As a Jewish leader, though, he needs at least to let on that he understands that the Palestinians are stateless and in exile.

The Torah well knew that biblical Israel was surrounded by enemies, and permeated by Canaanite tribes with a profoundly different religion and worldview.  But Parashat B'chukotai does not teach:  "If you reject my laws, I will send you into exile, unless your enemies are terrible and you had no choice."  This year is a precarious time for Israel.  Focusing only on how threatening the neighbors are will not, says the Torah, make Israel any safer.

Celebrating Israel at 63

Tonight begins Yom Haatzmaut, Israel's Independence Day.  For now, think about celebrating!  If you are in New Hampshire, come tonight from 5:30-8:30 to the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire's celebration for Jews across the state!

Whatever your thoughts about the situation in Israel and the MIddle East, tonight and tomorrow are days to celebrate.  Here are a few links:

David Ben Gurion reading Israel's Declaration of Independence (text here) on May 15, 1948:

Download or listen to Ben Gurion original rec 14.5.1948

One of my favorite Israeli songs:  "Noladti Lashalom" (I Was Born for Peace) -- turn up the volume!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkObTTDhu2A&playnext=1&list=PL93772CF54D63BE0F

I was born to the melodies
and to the songs of all countries
I was born to the language and the place too
to the few and many who will give peace a hand.
I was born to peace - let it arrive
I was born to peace - let it come
I was born to peace - let it appear
I want, I want to be in it already.

I was born to the dream
and in it I see that peace will come
I was born to the desire and the belief
that it will come after thirty years.

I was born to a people two thousand years old.
that have a land and it has a piece of heaven
and it sees, watches the day unfold
and it's a beautiful moment, moment of peace.

 

Here is a recording of the Zionist anthem Hatikvah, sung by survivors of the Shoah, recorded at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp not long after the liberation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syUSmEbGLs4

More song:  Ofra Haza, representing Israel at the 1983 Eurovision song contest, singing "Chai":

Alive, alive, alive - Yes, I'm still alive!
This is the song that Sabba (grandfather)
Sang yesterday to Abba (father)
And today I [sing]
I'm still alive, alive, alive
The people of Israel live
This is the song which Sabba
Sang yesterday to Abba
And today I [sing]!

(For a little background on the conflict, listen to my two-part podcast.  But wait for a couple days first and savor the anniversary.)

Who Redeems Us From the Might of Tyrants

Last Shabbat the prayers about redemption from tyrants, Pharaoh and Egypt read in a way I had never experienced before.  As I said in shul, we think of Egypt as a place of myth, and we mention it over and over in our prayers, always in connection with yetziat mitzrayim, the going-out from Egypt from oppression to freedom.  Now it's happening before our eyes in that place.  In a place that has never known a democratic regime, and has had three dictators since the 1950s.

Whatever else it means, the happenings in Egypt are the story of Exodus.  Everywhere people march and act for their freedom, they are reenacting the original story.  In many ways, it is the first Exodus that made the others possible.  By giving the Jews, and through the Jews the world, a story that begins in oppression by a tyrant, weaves through difficulties, and ends in (tenuous) freedom.  (For the story of how this has been true for hundreds of years over much of the world, read Michael Walzer's book Exodus and Revolution.)

As in the Torah, freedom is not just the moment when the whole people are safely across the Sea of Reeds.  It is also the moment each person -- of the oppressed or of the regime -- decides to break the pattern, or to hope.  We're seeing this in the remarkable actions of the Egyptian army, as well as the protesters.

Worry yes about what comes next and what it means for the Israel-Egypt peace.  But I don't see how a Jew or an American cannot be fully in awe, and fully in support, of the change in Egypt.  This is the core of who we are.  We who have been so nurtured by, identified with, and defined by the experience of the Exodus cannot hedge on this.  It's who we are.  So lift that Kiddush cup a bit differently tonight, as you sing zecher litziat mitzrayim, a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt.

The Palestinian Papers Leak

An excellent analysis of the implications of documents leaked to the press about the Israel-Palestine negotiations of the past few years.  By Mitchell Plitnick, who I do not know about at all.

http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117183/

The Palestinian Papers Leak

An excellent analysis of the implications of documents leaked to the press about the Israel-Palestine negotiations of the past few years.  By Mitchell Plitnick, who I do not know about at all.

http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117183/