TWO VIEWS Should American Jewish Organizations Publicly Criticize Israel on Peace Issues?
LEVINSON, THEODORE R. MANN and BURTON S.
TWO VIEWS Should American Jewish Organizations Publicly Criticize Israel on Peace Issues? l "We Musr says AJCongress' Theodore R. Mann Should American Jewish organizations publicly express views...
...These are the serious arguments in favor of great restraint: • Israel's security, the safety of its men, women and children, must be left in the hands of those who will pay the price if the decision is wrong, not in the hands of those, like ourselves, who are 6,000 to 9,000 miles away from the scene...
...If we are going to continue our major efforts on Israel's behalf—time, emotion, energy, money—it is natural that we should have an important say in many social and cultural matters...
...I wish I could be so sanguine...
...World Jewry, like it or not, is part of the dynamics of peace negotiations...
...Over the last decade, the Arab world has slowly moved toward acceptance of Israel's existence...
...What precipitated so much interest in the question of American Jewish organizations speaking out was a policy statement adopted in October 1987 by the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) of which I am president...
...What he calls paralysis, I would call responsibility...
...There is no reason to believe that we, sitting here, have the answers for this complicated situation...
...He says in a self-congratulatory way that "no harm has come to Israel from that fact that The New York Times carried the story...
...The fear of the consequences of speaking out had so gripped American Jews that we were organizationally paralyzed...
...Not for those who really care...
...I then urged each of the major organizations that made up the Conference to put on their agendas for discussion within their separate organizations, the issue of whether Israel's aspiration to permanent control over the occupied territories was in the Jewish interest...
...When I would publicly condemn him, I would be applauded quite widely by American Jews...
...In the past, individual Jews and groups of prominent Jewish individuals organized ad hoc committees that "spoke out" against Israeli policies...
...What is involved is not only the historic ability of the American Jewish community to have an impact on American Middle East policy, but also the Arab perception of the long-term relationship between the United States and Israel...
...the process of determining what "they" want requires a combination of outside inquiry and deep introspection...
...When the task force members proposed a policy statement to the governing council of the AJCongress—with representatives present from regions throughout the country—the support for the position of the policy statement was overwhelming...
...We have succeeded in doing what we set out to do: focusing the attention of Israelis on our deeply felt concerns...
...We Americans have the right to give or to refrain from giving...
...Until the October AJCongress policy statement, Jewish organizations had virtually never spoken out critically on subjects like these...
...In retrospect, the democratic process worked, and the judgment of the majority was right...
...The price the administration paid was seen as too high...
...The real issue is the long-term impact this could have on the process of U.S.-Israel relations and the role of the Jewish community in that process...
...As much as we care about what happens to the state of Israel, we haven't cared quite enough to put our lives on the line, as the people of Israel do...
...Others we must trust to Israeli democracy, to American support, and to the hope that the Arab world will finally realize that only peace can help the Middle East begin to face its many political and economic problems...
...His timing, however, left much to be desired...
...There are, however, serious, persuasive considerations on both sides of the issue...
...Generally, they were severely condemned by the major Jewish organizations...
...The First Amendment to the United States Constitution gives us rights to free speech, to speak and write what's on our minds...
...To that I say, the people of Israel have long been aware of the problems concerning the West Bank, as evidenced by the many newspaper editorials and Knesset debates on the subject...
...Anything resembling an American Jewish free-for-all on the subject of Israel could revive hope in Arab countries that U.S.-Israel relations can yet be changed, that the military option against Israel could yet be renewed...
...And the process of determining how best to achieve what they want involves close calculation of the political process, the national interest, the Jewish interest and the strengths and limits of the American Jewish community...
...It is not"meet," to use the Old English terminology...
...Will we do it again in other circumstances...
...What I find so disturbing is the sense of certainty of knowing what's good for Israel that pervades Ted Mann's position...
...Some we can affect by our direct input...
...It has a right to express its opinions...
...From my perspective, it's not so clear his judgment is right...
...Not necessarily...
...It is these that must engage us...
...Moreover, there is a certain disdain in which the opinions of American Jews and their organizations are held by a great many Israelis, including many of Israel's leaders...
...And we have broken the organizational paralysis that has for so long gripped American Jewry...
...I don't mean to draw an analogy between the views of George Ball, whose motives are questionable, and representatives of the American Jewish community, who have clearly and consistently worked on Israel's behalf...
...Thus, for example, some saw the American decision in 1981 to sell AWACS to Saudi Arabia, despite a major campaign against the sale by the American Jewish community, as a defeat...
...A breakup of an international peace conference, or Soviet-Syrian-PLO pressure on Israel at such a conference, could create far more than the "public relations" problems Mann envisages...
...Middle East policy...
...That is the sound principle that has guided us in the past and undoubtedly will in the future...
...Moreover, when negotiations are in process, speaking out is particularly tricky and dangerous...
...Not a single newspaper throughout the United States that supported our action in editorials was at all condemnatory of Israel...
...Views expressed at the right time can be constructive...
...There is a certain hubris in American Jews advising Israelis about what is best for them in terms of their physical security, when virtually any Israeli chosen at random spends far more time thinking about, worrying about and analyzing that issue than does even the most involved American Jewish leader...
...Lesson number two: If you are an American president (or legislator), there is no political benefit, and much political loss, in leaning on Israel even when American Jews are divided about Israeli policy or even if most American Jews think that policy is wrong...
...It is time to turn to them...
...Mixed solutions, which sidestep the demographic dilemma, are therefore the order of this and future days—whether territorial compromise as Labor has espoused, or functional compromise or permanent autonomy as envisaged by some in Likud...
...I felt that same irrational anger welling up deep inside myself...
...at the wrong time, they can be destructive...
...Otherwise, it is not disputed that a baby boy born in Israel today will become a bar mitzvah in a state in which 45 percent of the population is not Jewish...
...Not a single organization did so...
...It is as much this expectation as the reality that has an impact on American policy-making...
...But isn't this something of a straw man...
...Other factors may also come into play when American Jewish organizations consider whether to speak out publicly...
...Does the recent action of three major American Jewish organizations set a precedent...
...They have nothing but a sixth sense to guide them in distinguishing the real from the unreal "negotiating position...
...Prior to taking this action, an AJCongress task force met with each of Israel's political and intellectual leaders...
...But the most persuasive one is that it is chutzpah for us to do so...
...The issue is not one of rights, but of responsibility...
...American Jewry knew that the "rejectionist" Arab states had condemned Anwar Sadat and had broken relations with him, and that Carter needed to pressure both Israel and Egypt in order to bring about a peace treaty...
...We can say whatever we want, wherever and whenever we want...
...Why this extraordinary and uniform restraint...
...otherwise, it has very little effect on them...
...This brings us to the other side of the equation— the role of the American Jewish community in the making of U.S...
...The fear of silence finally overcame the fear of speaking out...
...It may well be, as Israel's Labor party leaders argue, that Israel should grasp the opportunity for an international peace conference...
...All of this is not to say that the decision to go public was an easy one...
...Like the rest of us, the rabbi obviously had the right to speak out...
...Thus, for example, Israel could retain military-security control of the area, while the Palestinians have control over their daily lives as well as Jordanian citizenship if they so desire...
...The United States has supported Israel because of wide public support and because of a recognition of Israel's strategic value...
...I just can't feel so all-knowing...
...2. It's Dangerous Chutzpah" says ADL's Burton S. Levinson Ted Mann's article reinforces my belief that the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) made the wrong decision by involving itself publicly in Israel's internal debate on the peace process...
...But of this I am certain: We would not have done so if we believed Israel's security was at risk...
...Geographical distance is significant not only in the sense that we will physically survive poor decisions that involve security and many Israelis may not...
...I allude to them only because they are so frequently made...
...We did so and, to make certain that in the public debate within Israel we would not be misunderstood, we ran our policy statement in Hebrew in all of the Israeli newspapers...
...That was the beauty of Camp David—its recognition that if there were to be peace, neither side could expect to get all it wanted...
...Israel is free to say no to any proposal proffered by Jordan or the Palestinians, and if any combination of powers attempts to impose terms on Israel, the United States has pledged that it willjoin Israel in walking out...
...There can be serious consequences to speaking out, but there can also be serious consequences to remaining silent...
...We, the American Jewish community, have mattered—not as much as our enemies would have it, but enough...
...Let me also dispose of the matter of American Jewish financial support of Israel...
...By the time he finishes serving in the army, he will go to college in a state in which more than 50 percent of the population is not Jewish...
...Such an emotional investment in Israel, such an impact on our very personalities, carries with it certain inevitable consequences—among them, crying out when we are pained and expressing our anguish when we believe an Israeli policy endangers the Jewish state...
...Moreover, it can be argued that the issue we addressed did not involve a security risk to Israel...
...What seems clear is that the "silent majority" in Israel is not ready to make a decision concerning the future of the territories without an Arab leader's unequivocally coming forward for peace, as Sadat did...
...They did so, in my opinion, only because the American media did...
...Israeli newspapers, uniformly, considered the story a major one...
...Public criticism of Israel was an unavoidable part of the process...
...Mann also says that the AJCongress' policy statement focused Israel's attention on concerns of great interest to the American Jewish community...
...So too with the West Bank...
...Lesson number three: World Jewry, like it or not, is part of the dynamics of peace negotiations...
...Anything resembling an American Jewish free-for-all on the subject of Israel could revive hope in Arab countries that U.S.-Israel relations can yet be changed...
...Now Israel's very future as a Jewish state hangs in the balance...
...But this very fact impels us to refrain from intervening and trying to ' 'save Israel in spite of herself...
...Who are we to make the determination that these matters will not impinge on Israel's security...
...Over my own personal objection, vigorously asserted, the decision (won by a single vote) was to issue it to the general press...
...Mann says that the AJCongress would not have spoken out "if Israel's security had been at risk...
...As then-chairman of the Conference of Presidents, I would speak up and publicly condemn President Carter for having abused Israel, despite the fact that one side of me knew he had to do it if the negotiations were to be successful, as we all wanted...
...This is based on a recognition of Israel's strength and—even more crucial—an Arab acceptance of the fact that the U.S...
...Our ability to influence rests on the knowledge that when it comes to fundamental matters affecting Israel's security, the community will be united, personal opinions aside, in its respect for Israel's right to decide...
...If only to save Anwar Sadat's life, America, the mediator, could not appear to be siding with Israel...
...I sympathize with those in the American Jewish community who are at times frustrated over the lack of true partnership between us and Israel...
...The fear of silence finally overcame the fear of speaking out...
...But it is perceived otherwise by most Americans, who have not focused on the fact that American Jews have no "pope," nor do we recognize any authoritative spokesperson...
...es past nisht, as our grandparents would say...
...The West Bank need not confront Israel with a choice between Scylla and Charybdis...
...But on issues like the peace process and the West Bank, other considerations requires us to respect Israel's right to decide what its position should be...
...For 40 years the American Jewish community has resisted such involvement...
...In 1978, Jimmy Carter had recently been elected president, Menachem Begin had recently been elected prime minister of Israel and Anwar Sadat had recently decided to go to Jerusalem to try to make peace with the Israelis...
...The 18 members of the task force unanimously concluded that the aspirations of exactly half of Israel's cabinet to maintain permanent control over the occupied territories was a suicidal policy...
...But what about publicly, in policy statements given to the general press...
...The only matter on which there was a real split—and to those without the decisionmaking responsibility it may seem picayune— was whether the press release announcing that we had adopted such a policy should be distributed only to the Israeli and Anglo-Jewish press, or to the general press as well...
...Only when we act as Americans rather than "merely" as American Jews, only when Israelis see that American Jewish positions are regarded as significant by other Americans, are we taken seriously at all...
...I have no doubt he believes what he says, but ultimately he is making the judgment here that Israel's security is not at stake...
...Finally, Mann proudly says that the AJCongress policy statement has ' 'broken the organizational paralysis that had for so long gripped American Jewry...
...such sales have been minimal ever since...
...Again, I failed...
...On matters such as "Who is a Jew" and Jewish Agency funding, we would like to see more sensitivity in Israel and we don't hesitate to say so publicly...
...Here are the arguments on the other side, in favor of speaking out: • We are indeed 6,000 to 9,000 miles away, but the future of Israel affects a great many American Jews existentially in ways that simply cannot be brushed aside by geographical data...
...They don't need American Jewish organizations to focus their concern...
...What it does suggest is that Israel has to find its own way toward reaching that peace...
...American Jewry, like the Israelis, desperately wanted a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt...
...Those of us who make these close calculations have learned some serious lessons about the dangers and benefits of speaking out...
...it is also significant because those within the zone of physical danger are likely to consider the options with much greater care and constancy than the rest of us...
...That is obvious, but has absolutely nothing to do with whether American Jews should let voting Israelis know how they feel on a subject that is of enormous interest to both groups...
...Is that how our Zionist dream was supposed to turn out...
...Finally, there is something demeaning when American Jews go out of their way to tell non-Jews that they disagree with Israel...
...Lesson number one: If you are an American Jewish leader, there is little risk of condemnation in publicly chastising an American president for abusive treatment of Israel...
...Whether the AJCongress would have adopted its policy statement if there had been an official Israeli position that conflicted with it, I do not know...
...Yet every time Carter did so, great anger would well up within American Jewry, even among those many American Jews who were not enamored of Menachem Begin...
...I didn't have to conduct a poll to know that...
...it seems to me it's much too soon to tell, and it surely can't be determined by a look at a few editorials after the Times piece appeared...
...Equally ridiculous is the argument on the other side, repeated ad museum, that Israel is a democracy and only Israelis have the right to vote in matters that affect them...
...Arguments can be made on both sides...
...If expressed at the right time, they can be constructive...
...The question, however, is one of wisdom, not rights...
...Our identities are intertwined with Israel, with its existence, with its actions, with how it is perceived by the world—so much so that it is hard to conceive what we as a community and what each of us as individuals would be like were Israel to disappear...
...But we should do so only when there is a moment of such clarity and such overwhelming understanding in the broader community that Israel's course is self-destructive, that this overcomes the proper restraint and self-discipline that have determined our posture to date...
...An international peace conference poses public relations dangers to Israel, not security risks...
...Nothing Ted Mann, or indeed anyone else, has said gives evidence of such a moment of clarity—not on the question of an international peace conference, and not on the future of the West Bank and its implications for Israel...
...In effect, this ruled out either a Palestinian state or Israeli annexation, because Israel would never accept an independent Palestinian entity and neither Egypt, Jordan nor the Palestinians would accept Israeli annexation...
...That is the reality...
...Since Israel would have no sovereignty over the areas populated by the Palestinians, no demographic dilemma need arise...
...The answer is unclear...
...In the past, there have been serious arguments among American Jews about "speaking out" when an Israeli position was offensive to a segment of American Jews and to their notion of what a Jewish state should be like—on issues such as settlements in the occupied territories, the annexation of these territories and, occasionally, Israeli retaliation that was regarded as "out of proportion" to the Arab terrorism to which it was responding...
...There is something self-serving about it, something like German Jews several generations ago trying to make certain that gentile America understood that they were different from the "wretched refuse" piling up on the Lower East Side...
...Since then, the Israeli papers have frequently editorialized on the substance of the issues...
...An American Jewish leader takes little risk by publicly chastising an American president for abusive treatment of Israel...
...l "We Musr says AJCongress' Theodore R. Mann Should American Jewish organizations publicly express views that differ from those of the Israeli government...
...There was also overwhelming support for adopting the policy statement...
...There are several lessons to be learned from this experience...
...We urged Israel to agree to direct negotiations within the framework of an international peace conference, as already agreed between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein...
...George Ball, former undersecretary of state, wrote a piece in Foreign Affairs several years ago entitled "How to Save Israel in Spite of Herself...
...Nor will they come true if there is a major American Jewish or Russian Jewish aliyah—which no Israeli leader expects...
...Within six weeks of our action, two other major segments of American Jewry, the Reform movement (the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) and the American Jewish Committee, followed suit...
...As chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, I advised the then-prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, both in person and in writing, that his cabinet had moved so far to the right that it would be impossible to maintain a united American Jewry behind the policies such a cabinet would be likely to pursue...
...In fact, it was a victory, because the administration understood the kind of battle it would have to wage in the future—against a unified American Jewish community—to get through an arms sale to Arab countries not at peace with Israel...
...But the notion that we are going to save Israel from herself on matters touching directly on Israel's security concerns is at the heart of the controversy over whether American Jewish organizations should take positions on these questions...
...Theoretically, an organization speaks only for its grass-roots membership...
...at the wrong time, they can be destructive...
...Because of this misperception by many Americans, Jewish organizations have a responsibility not only to their membership but to American Jewry as a whole...
...A free-for-all is likely to ensue in the American Jewish community—yes, as unruly as Israel's political environment—and those who would weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship would find their task far easier...
...American Jews and others were strongly critical...
...The issue here is the process of United States-Israel relations and the role of the American Jewish community in that process...
...What I find so disturbing is Mann's certainty of knowing what's good for Israel...
...World Jewry has a right to be supportive or nonsupportive of a particular Israeli position...
...There is no reason to believe that we, sitting here, have the answers for this very complicated situation...
...There is at least one special circumstance that was present in the only case where we did speak out, and that might not be present in other instances: There was—and is—no official Israeli government position on the issue that we addressed...
...The dynamics of the security balance on the West Bank and with regard to the peace process are difficult to assess...
...Admittedly, the demographic forecasts will not come true if there is a "transfer" of Arabs out of the occupied territories—which no responsible Israeli leader recommends...
...It makes no sense whatsoever...
...And that makes a difference...
...Eight years ago, at about the time Moshe Dayan resigned from the Israeli cabinet and publicly explained his reason, that the Israeli cabinet had become "annexationist," I reached the same conclusion as Dayan...
...Remember what the Camp David accords, signed by Likud's Menachem Begin, said about the ultimate disposition of the West Bank: Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the resident Palestinians must all agree on a final settlement...
...Admittedly, Israel faces many problems in the years ahead...
...The reasons are varied—some are better than others...
...There are persuasive arguments on both sides, as I indicated earlier...
...Timing is everything...
...I would like to think we would have...
...They have no "insider" information...
...Does this mean that under no circumstances should American Jewry speak out on fundamental matters regarding Israel and its security...
...None of which is to suggest that peace is not an imperative for Israel...
...They knew, or should have known, that Carter would have to pressure Israel publicly...
...We cannot ignore those who reason that Israel may someday find itself facing a choice between a binational state or an undemocratic one...
...All of these arguments are simplistic...
...When American Jews publicly divide on issues involving Israel's security, there will be a perception among America's legislators and policymakers that they are free to pursue whatever policy they wish without paying a real political price...
...It is that soon...
...No harm has come to Israel from the fact that The New York Times carried the story...
...American Jewish organizations are frequently regarded as not very relevant...
...They knew it would be a hard and tough negotiation, and that Jimmy Carter was an essential part of that process...
...A stubbornly held position is not necessarily a final position, and American Jewish leaders are not privy to all the facts...
...and Israel are inseparable...
...to the people of Israel there are no "good choices" at the moment on the subject of the West Bank...
...Some argue that if Israel expects American Jews to support it financially, *we American Jews should have a public voice in policymaking...
...On the other hand, the Likud leaders have a persuasive argument of their own—if King Hussein were truly interested in peace he would go the route of direct negotiations like Sadat, and to inject the Soviets and Syrians into the peace process would inevitably lead to stalemate and maybe even war...
...The stakes in the controversy over whether American Jewish organizations should take positions on questions like this are great...
...Several years later, when I held no office in an American Jewish organization, I urged the AJCongress to introduce a discussion on this topic...
...Once it becomes acceptable for the American Jewish community to enter the fray as Mann would have it, then the equation changes forever...
...I would disagree with his pejorative "paralysis...
...But "American Jewry" is an amorphous mass...
...Only in the light of this background can we appreciate the extraordinary character of the recent action taken by the AJCongress in issuing its October policy statement...
...This is kind of a "taxation without representation" argument...
...The long and short of it is, that when an American Jewish position is regarded as important enough to be a news story in The New York Times, and not merely in the Anglo-Jewish press or The Jerusalem Post, Israeli society and the Israeli government take note...
...The grass-roots membership of the organization was simply too divided—not so much about the underlying issues as about the consequences of speaking out...
...This policy statement expressed grave concern that if the status quo in the occupied territories continues for another 12 to 20 years, Jews will be a minority in their own land...
...Period...
...Undoubtedly, the demographic arguments that have been raised are profound...
...Before weighing these considerations, let us look at some pertinent background...
...Peace negotiations have their own internal dynamics...
...We have finally broken the organizational paralysis that has for so long gripped American Jewry...
...The American Jewish community works day by day, year by year, to help our fellow Americans understand Israel— at the political level in Washington and on the grass-roots level in communities across the country...
...I wonder whether it is his place to make that judgment...
...Ten years ago, you may recall, the Carter administration was calling for an international peace conference, when the man of peace, Anwar Sadat, understood that direct talks were the real route to peace...
...Moreover, on a subject like the Jonathan Jay Pollard affair, which directly impinged on relations between our two countries, we need to inform Israelis of the damage done...
...This is not a time to remain silent...
...No one denies that American Jewish leaders should candidly express their views to Israel's leaders privately, which many do, frequently and vigorously...
...Nothing in the foreseeable future precludes some kind of mixed solution like this...
...One world Jewish leader, the British chief rabbi, condemned Prime Minister Begin's stubbornly held position just as it was on the verge of producing the fruitful negotiations that led to the Camp David peace accords several months later...
...The cabinet in Israel's current "unity" government is divided evenly, five to five, on an international peace conference...
Vol. 13 • March 1988 • No. 1
