It is no great surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was reelected last week. He is a skillful politician and an astute campaigner. What did surprise some, however, including many American Jews and American Jewish communal institutions, were the various statements Netanyahu made during the last days and hours of his campaign. The day before the election, Netanyahu claimed that, if reelected, no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. Additionally, in an Election Day video, he pleaded for his supporters to go to the polls because Israeli Arabs were voting “in droves” and being bused to polling stations by his left-wing opponents. Although Netanyahu has since attempted to backtrack on these statements, to anyone who has closely watched Bibi’s nine years as Prime Minister, it is readily apparent that Netanyahu meant precisely what he said.
This is why so many American Jewish organizations were quick to condemn Netanyahu’s statements, even as they celebrated Israeli democracy. For example, the Union for Reform Judaism and its umbrella organizations issued a statement March 18 condemning Netanyahu’s racist comments and raising concerns about his retraction of support for a two-state solution. The Reform movement asked rhetorically about the kind of future Netanyahu envisions for Israel: “A non-democratic future in which a Jewish minority rules over a Palestinian majority? Or a non-Jewish future in which democracy is preserved, but, inevitably, the Jewish character of the state will disappear?”
The Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism (RACJ), with the support of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), also rebuked the Prime Minister’s warning about Arab voters: “This statement, which indefensibly singled out the Arab citizens of Israel, is unacceptable and undermines the principles upon which the State of Israel was founded.” The RACJ called upon all Jews to denounce “the Prime Minister’s divisive and undemocratic statement.” And in the USCJ’s official statement on the election outcome, Rabbi Steven Wernick implicitly noted the Conservative movement’s displeasure with Netanyahu’s retraction of support for a two-state solution, describing the USCJ’s vision of Israel as “secure in recognizable borders, at peace with her neighbors, and accepted in the community of nations.”
Unfortunately, other prominent American Jewish organizations were less willing to criticize the Israeli Prime Minister. The Orthodox Union simply congratulated Netanyahu and the Likud party, making no mention of Netanyahu’s problematic statements. AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations defended Netanyahu’s subsequent retraction of his opposition to a Palestinian state and criticized the Obama administration for suggesting that Netanyahu’s recent backtracking is not enough. And while the Anti-Defamation League, in its statement on the Israeli election, expressed regret that the “campaign was too often marked by extreme and divisive statements by candidates,” it refused to call out the Prime Minister’s comments specifically. Abe Foxman, ADL’s national director, even defended Netanyahu’s comments about a Palestinian state and his warning about Arab voters.
The ADL has been a particular disappointment of late. In February, when J Street led a campaign declaring that Netanyahu did not speak for all Jews despite his claim that he did, Foxman called J Street’s campaign “repugnant.” But when Netanyahu engaged in demagoguery and warned against “droves of Arabs” exercising their right to vote, the national director of the ADL, an organization whose mission is to fight “all forms of bigotry, defend democratic ideals, and protect civil rights for all,” did not criticize Netanyahu’s bigoted statements, but instead attempted to justify them.
Netanyahu, in an interview with MSNBC on March 19, tried to explain that when he said in Hebrew that there would be no Palestinian state if he were reelected, he meant that it was because of the Palestinian leadership’s rejection of Israel as a Jewish state. Although Netanyahu’s policies and the Jewish Nation State bill that brought Israel to elections in the first place should have made it clear that Netanyahu does not really support a two-state solution, his recent statements confirm exactly what he means by a “Jewish state” – one that discriminates against minorities, forgoes its democratic character, and chooses land over security and peace.
No one disputes that the Palestinian leadership has an array of serious problems and that Israel is right to move with caution in meaningful peace negotiations. But it is entirely understandable that the Palestinians could never accept Netanyahu’s version of a “Jewish” state, and neither should we. Netanyahu’s ideal “Jewish” state is an affront to Judaism. It is time for all American Jews to stand with those who call for a state whose Jewish character, above all else, is defined by a commitment to tolerance, tikkun olam, pluralism, and peace-seeking. It is time for American Jews to call for hope.
Hannah Ehlers is a student at American University.
