RUTH KING

The columnist Joseph Sobran, no friend to Israel or Jews, once quipped that American Jews were the most powerful minority because they pretended to be powerless. If weakness is to be measured in population numbers or in a historic legacy of abuse, torture, expulsion and genocide, there is no pretense. If strength is to be measured in participation and representation in the arts, science, the professions, and business, as well as political influence, then American Jews certainly have been a powerhouse. And, there is no question that the advent of Israel and its image as a scrappy democracy did more to bolster Jewish confidence and prestige than any other factor.
    
After World War II  anti-Semites were intimidated as the world confronted the horrors of the Holocaust. When the gates to Israel were finally opened in 1948, American Jews rallied to the rescue of the European survivors as well as those Jews from Arab countries who were forcibly expelled after centuries of dhimmitude.  American Jews participated in the epic rescue with everything from the ubiquitous blue and white cans collecting coins for Israel to the sophisticated and efficiently administered Jewish philanthropies and service organizations.  For the leftist Hashomer Hatzair as for right wing friends of the Irgun, the locus of their energies was Israel. For their part, the Israelis fought valiantly against the combined forces of five Arab states and won, winning the respect of most Americans.

In the decades that followed, Jewish organizations focused on defending Israel and fighting vigorously against anti-Semitism in all its manifestations.  The Presidents Conference of Major Jewish American Organizations, AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, to name just a few, were courted by legislators, cabinet members, and candidates for office.  They were routinely invited to the White House for breakfasts, briefings and receptions. Benefits for these organizations filled large stadiums  and the rallying cry was “We are one.” In politics, Jewish fundraising for candidates demanded a quid pro quo -- namely, unstinting support for Israel.

In 1977 the election of Menachem Begin rocked the Jewish leadership, the majority of whom were Democrats and had identified with Israel's perennial Labor governments. Rabbi Alexander Schindler, then head of the President’s Conference, nonetheless set the proper example in squiring Israel’s hawkish Prime Minister to meetings with Jewish organizations and U.S. government officials. Begin often spoke of the courtesy and respect shown by Rabbi Schindler.

This is not to imply that Jewish efforts encountered no obstacles. The oil industry was a countervailing force. The State Department was generally indifferent or openly hostile.  But the Jewish lobby scored important successes with both houses of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Many of those seeking office known for their antagonism to Israel were defeated, even in states with small Jewish populations.

As we noted earlier in Outpost ("Farewell to Political Influence”, Feb. 2000) this remarkable Jewish political influence is now in decline. In past years every perceived insult -- such as Andrew Young's meeting with the PLO while he was U.S. ambassador to the UN -- was followed by briefings and explanations as high level government officials sought to allay Jewish concerns. Today, with the exception of AIPAC, whose main function has become  promoting foreign aid to Israel and assisting those legislators with good records of support to meet Jewish donors, most Jewish organizations have little impact.  The issue of support for Israel has become a minor blip on the political radar screen.  Formerly the convention platforms of both parties included strong statements of support for Israel American Jews as Israel and opposition to anti-Semitism. Today, these are not even mentioned.  When candidates cite their support for Israel, it is often to declare their commitment to the phantom “peace process.”

Why did Jewish political influence fall so precipitously? In an interview on May 2, 2004, Daniel Pipes, noted scholar on Islam and protagonist of Israel, attributed what he called the decline of the Jewish “golden age” in America in large measure to the growth of the American Moslem population, and to the academies, where Moslems are attempting to close down debates on key issues. But it is hard to believe that Moslem prestige in America is growing. Our citizens have been subject to mass murder by Moslems in the World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings; we have had two wars with Moslem antagonists; we have seen the viciousness of Moslems close up with the beheadings-on-video of Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg; we witness the suicide bombings in Israel, Bali, Madrid, all of this in the name of Islam.
               
Moreover, the decline of Jewish influence preceded these developments. It is our own conviction  that the Jewish “golden era” is over because the majority of those organizations charged with defense of Israel and Jews lost their focus. The root of the problem goes back to the hijacking of their boards and platforms by the radicals who emerged in the 1970s from the anti-Vietnam War movement.
   
With the end of the draft, the anti-war movement splintered and the civil rights movement became inhospitable to Jewish participation. Seeking new organizational frameworks, many radical young Jews turned to communal Jewish organizations and reshaped them to fit their own agendas -- emphasis on non-Jewish issues such as gay rights, abortion, environmentalism, affirmative action and Palestinian Arab rights.  Others joined university faculties, became journalists or entered political life. A hawkish Israel became less attractive than the myth of Palestinian Arab dislocation and subjugation.

To be sure, when it came to Israel, there was some initial resistance from the old guard.  Breira, one of the first projects of these "Movement" Jews, met with a hostile reception despite the heavy representation of Hillel rabbis in its membership. But ever receptive to "progressive" fashion, the Jewish community did not long resist the newcomers. Breira was followed by New Jewish Agenda and Peace Now, the latter becoming part of the Conference of Presidents.  Samuel  Berger, a Peace Now alumnus, became National Security Adviser to President Clinton. 
       
It is ironic that Hadassah, whose membership exceeds that of any other national or international women’s organization, is helpless to defend Jews and Israel at international women’s conferences. Hadassah has been so busy with abortion rights that the right to life of Israelis has taken a back seat. It is appalling that the Anti-Defamation League published a brochure accusing evangelical Christians, Israel's chief supporters, of anti Semitism. (After doing the damage, the ADL’s chairman recently did an about-face with an article praising evangelicals for their love and support of Israel!) 

A March 2002 poll conducted by John Zogby (brother of leading American-Arab political operative James Zogby) found that while support for Israel was high among both Republicans and Democrats, Republicans were more stalwartly pro-Israel by a margin of three to one -- this in spite of the fact that Jews and their organizations have remained loyal to the Democratic Party by a ratio of three to one.  If Israel were a priority, Jews would be supporting those candidates most outspoken in her defense.          

When leaders of  Jewish organizations are challenged to defend their leftist, pro-Arab Palestinian programs, they often invoke the notion of “tikkun olam”-- the repair of the world. This “repair” includes every people or species that is perceived to be endangered, but Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are not among them. It is hard to see how repair of the world can coincide with abandonment of Israel, a remarkable democracy threatened by the same enemies which now threaten America. This is the repair of the world turned upside down.

Many Jews are apprehensive about the decline of American Jewry and some have begun to work for a Jewish revival. However, as Dr. Kenneth Levin has pointed out in Outpost (April 1999), "Some in the forefront of this Jewish revival movement, in the development of these new educational programs, comprehend them and pursue them as an alternative to the emphasis on Israel in American Jewish communal activities.”

In sum, Americans Jews have forgotten that our relationship with Israel is symbiotic. Israel depends on us to present its case fairly, especially in view of the miasma of media bias, and we depend on Israel to flourish. Jews without Israel cannot survive, no matter how friendly a corner of the Diaspora we live in. A beleaguered Israel cannot survive unless it is the number one priority for  the Jews of America.