Israeli Politicians Shouldn't Be Invited to Address UJA Meetings
Fein, Leonard
ON MY MIND Israeli Politicians Shouldn't Be Invited to Address UJA Meetings Once again, American Jews have inadvertently permitted themselves to be used by Israeli politicians, their commitment to...
...The day after Shamir's appearance before the Young Leaders, I had occasion to meet with a number of members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee...
...Many of them supposed—as did the press—that the applause for Shamir reflected an endorsement of his policies...
...There are other Israelis—poets, teachers, merchants, scientists—who might substitute for political noteworthies...
...Many of them imagine—as does the press—that the UJA adequately and accurately represents the organized Jewish community...
...But political leaders will use whatever ammunition they can, and are in any case prone to interpret every scrap of ambiguous evidence in their own favor...
...Three close friends and ardent supporters of Israel had just days earlier been among the 30 signers of the letter to Secretary Shultz that was critical of Shamir's rejection of the "territories for peace" concept...
...Had they misread the debate within the American Jewish community...
...Or do we prefer that support for Israel indeed be confused with support for Israel's policies...
...In Los Angeles, a few days later, a well-attended dinner honoring Shamir gave additional evidence of that support...
...Some people argue that the inevitable disagreements we have about such things ought to be hushed up, others that they should be debated fully and freely...
...For if the applause was, as had been reported, not merely for Israel's prime minister but for the Likud position, that is what it would come down to...
...We needlessly alienate large numbers of people when we imply that to be part of the communal consensus, hence of the community, requires agreement with the policies of the day...
...UJA is a non-partisan organization, and political leaders are partisan people...
...The fact, of course, is that it is not possible for the vast majority of America's Jews to "stand by the government of Israel unreservedly," since that government is split right down the middle...
...But there are some Jewish audiences that are improper forums for Israel's political leaders...
...I rather suspect that for most American Jews, the choice is too remote, that their politics are pro-Israel, whatever that may mean, rather than pro-Likud or pro-Labor...
...When Israeli politicians and political leaders come to the United States, it is both natural and proper that they seek to meet with Jews and to address Jewish audiences...
...But however one comes down on these matters, there are other places where the debate may go forward...
...surely it flatters the egos of our philanthropic activists to be courted by prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers and such...
...And so it does...
...There is debate within the community...
...So one can scarcely blame the prime minister for the spin he gave to his reception by American Jews...
...And the corollary probability is that had Foreign Minister Peres been involved in high-level negotiations in this country, he would have received as tumultuous a welcome as did Shamir...
...Was there really no space for these good friends of Israel to stake out their own views of the matter...
...It would be most peculiar were there no debate, given the importance of the events, given the importance of the choices that must be made, given the divisions within Israel itself...
...But again, the communal consensus is pro-Israel, not pro-Shamir or pro-Peres...
...He was accorded a tumultuous reception, and that reception was widely reported in the press...
...In community after community, when a donor to the federation campaign raises objections to the policies of Israel's government, he or she is reminded that our dollars go to meet human needs, not to underwrite government policy...
...As it was in March, to no good purpose.—Leonard Fein...
...There are endless opportunities for them to make their case...
...A second problem: Reading of the UJA event the next morning, what was the reaction of all those Jews who are not intimately involved with the daily life of the Jewish community, and whose own views of Israeli policy are critical...
...But good fundraising technique is not necessarily good public policy...
...Our philanthropic activities are manifestly, even militantly, apolitical, and so they should be...
...Nor can we blame the press, which with rare exception chose to interpret the Washington event as evidence that American Jews do, indeed, support Shamir—and, therefore, that American Jews oppose Peres and Secretary of State Shultz...
...Now they were worried: Had the reception accorded Shamir the night before meant that American Jews were siding with Shamir as against Shultz—and Peres...
...It is not their speech I seek here to curtail, but the likelihood that their very appearance will be misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused...
...There are, however, several untoward consequences to this arguable representation of the views of American Jews...
...Based in part on that episode, which took place in the midst of the prime minister's meeting with White House and State Departmeni people, Shamir could—and did—report upon his return to Israel that the "vast majority" of America's Jews "enthusiastically and faithfully supports Israel...
...His next words were, "And the vast majority of America's Jews stand by the government of Israel unreservedly...
...It might not be such a bad idea for us to come to know such people, thereby to be reminded that our commitment to Israel is to its people rather than to the policies of its leaders, whatever their party...
...But Shamir's report did not end with the sentence I have quoted...
...The distinction between the two is a bit hazy, but there is a distinction, and it is an important distinction to preserve, precisely because it permits us to go forward as a united community...
...The issue is not whether Israel's leaders will have the chance to make their views known to the America Jewish public...
...Was their endorsement of the Shultz proposal—an endorsement shared weeks earlier by AIPAC, by Morris Abram (chairman of the Presidents' Conference), by other significant mainstream voices in the Jewish community—out of step with Jewish sentiment and opinion...
...ON MY MIND Israeli Politicians Shouldn't Be Invited to Address UJA Meetings Once again, American Jews have inadvertently permitted themselves to be used by Israeli politicians, their commitment to Israel to be exploited for partisan purposes...
...I do not know—no one does—whether most American Jews agree with Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir or with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres...
...Hence they were likely to conclude that they themselves stand outside the communal consensus...
...Nor is there any dearth of appropriate audiences, ranging from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations to the Zionist Organization of America, Pioneer Women, Herut USA, AIPAC and dozens more...
...Case in point: In March, Prime Minister Shamir was in this country for an unusually important set of meetings with the president and the secretary of state...
...It may be good fundraising technique to be able to present UJA donors with Israel's top political leaders...
...As it happened, his visit coincided with the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., of UJA's Young Leadership division...
...Among these, the United Jewish Appeal and local Jewish federations are the most prominent...
...The prime minister was invited to address the 2,500 or so young leaders...
...Serious and thoughtful people, friends of Israel all, can and do believe that Shamir and his colleagues are pursuing the wrong policy, equally serious and thoughtful and devoted friends of Israel can and do believe that Shultz's proposals are dangerous...
...That distinction is threatened when our local federations or our national philanthropic organizations—the Council of Jewish Federations or UJA in particular—invite Israel's political leaders to address their meetings...
Vol. 13 • June 1988 • No. 4
