Yizhar Hess
American Jews can’tstayquieton Israel
ews around the world,
and particularlyin the
United States,are feel-
ing the dismay that
brought many of us into
Israel’s streets in recent
weeks.
Most oftheseU.S.Jews are
Democrats stilltraumatized
by the Trump years, even if
they’ve mostly caught their
breath two years later.But
when they see what’s hap-
pening in Israeltoday with
ministers who don’teven try
to hide theirhatred of Arabs
or the LGBTQ community,
Reform and Conservative
Jews, secular Israelis,civil
servants and their political
opponents, and are advanc-
ing what amounts to regime
change under the guise of
“legalreform” they are once
again leftspeechless.
These Jews know Bibiwell.
They often disagree with
what he stands for,and they
don’t forget how he treated
PresidentBarack Obama, but
they know he’scapable.Were
he American, they muse, he’d
likelybe viableRepublican
presidential contender.
But they also remember
the racism and incitement of
Meir Kahane. Now, during ev-
ery televisionsegment about
Israel,their eyes are fixed
on his disciple,Itamar Ben-
Gvir. They wonder whether
his smiling image isnow the
true face of Israel.
Suddenly, before they’ve
even come to terms with the
formation of this new gov-
ernment, before they could
even understand whether
itsextreme coalitionagree-
ments were an action plan
or mere slogans, shocking
plan to fundamentally alter
Israel’ssystem ofgovernment
emerged.
At first,
many thought they
perhaps didn’t understand
this plan. But in the weeks
that followed,they’ve heard
sharp condemnations from
mainstream and even right-
leaning pro-Israel figures
such as Alan Dershowitz and
Abe Foxman, and internal-
izedthatsomething deeper is
atstake.
We share thisdeep dismay
because theStateofIsraelhas
achieved so much. Israelisn’t
without itsflaws,but there’s
no denying our nation-state
is success story.We’ve cre-
ated high-tech superpower
with strong economy and
powerful army, and above all,
vibrant Jewish center that
continues to write glorious
and unprecedented chapter in
Jewish history.Itisimpossible
to be Jewish in today’sworld
without Israelbeing part of
your identity,
whether you are
supporteror critic.
What roledo Jews around
the world and especially in
the United Stateshave toplay
inthediscussionabout Israel’s
possibletransformationfrom
liberaldemocracy to an Or
baniststate?The official and
legal answer is clear:They
don’t have one. But should
they play part in the battle
against these dangerous
changes? Yes,absolutely.
After all,for decades, the
U.S.-Israelalliance and Is-
rael’srelationshipwith U.S.
Jews have both been strongly
rootedinthe factthatboth na-
tionsare liberaldemocracies.
How, then, are true friends
of Israelsupposed to behave
when they see Israel’s leader,
on trialfor corruption, ad-
vancing “reforms” thatcould
spell the end of Israel’sde-
mocracy? They have heard
the prime minister himself
brag about Israel’sSupreme
Court for years, and empha-
size that “A strong,indepen-
dent court allowsforthe exis-
tence of allother institutions
in democracy.”
While they debate what
they can do to counter this
risk,theclockisticking. Some
U.S.Jews willjoininlongtime
ZionistTom Friedman’s pierc-
ing callforU.S.PresidentJoe
Biden to save Israelfrom it-
self.Another possibility is
boycott of the government or
itsministers.Perhaps there
willeven be callsforprotests
outsideIsraeli embassies,like
American Jewry once did
outsidethe SovietEmbassy
even though this would be
publicdiplomacy disaster.
There are also Jewish
Americans who are now
acknowledging what might
have been strategic mis-
take. Many have long sup-
ported projects that Israeli
governments have labeledas
important.
As result,today most lib-
eral and progressive Jewish
philanthropy is invested in
undoubtedly worthy govern-
ment-endorsed projects (ali-
yah, Birthright,Masa), while
right-wing American Jewish
donors have succeeded in di-
rectly changing Israelisoci-
etyby making unprecedented
investments of foreignmoney
intoovertlypolitical projects.
Two notableexamples are the
Adelson family’sownership of
the IsraelHayom newspaper,
and billionairesArthur Dant-
chik and Jeffrey Yass, who
funded the Kohelet Forum,
the thinktank behind thedan-
gerous legislationcurrently
on the table.
change in Israel’s demo-
craticnature willhave exten-
sive consequences. One such
consequence isstrategicand,
indeed, existential. Israel
needs American supporttore-
main themilitarysuperpower
itistoday.But no lessimpor-
tant is the factthat Jewish
state that isn’t democratic
will quickly transform from
dynamic, fascinatingplace
loved despite its flaws into
one Jews willfeelthe need to
distance themselves from in
order to maintain their own
Jewish identity.Committed
Zionistslikemyself recognize
thisdanger, and willfightto
ensure democracy remains
an integralpart of the Zionist
vision.
YizharHess istheViceChairman
oftheWorld ZionistOrganization.