I have two parents. My father is America and my mother is Israel.
In 1973 I was in Israel for the Yom Kippur war and the experience convinced me to toss in my lot with Israel: join the army and suffer the slings and arrows of “tzava” [army life]. In America people were dodging the draft or adjusting to the withdrawal of American troops or celebrating the change to a volunteer army, which meant other people fighting but not me or people who thought like me (RFK supporter). But my path into Israelihood and army-hood was through the yeshiva where I was studying, not in some “foreign” mass showing up at the draft board, and for the yeshiva I needed my father and mother’s approval (literal rather than metaphorical this time) and instead they issued a veto and I returned to America.
America is a super power sometimes extending, sometimes retracting her reach in the world. Israel is a small country in crisis. Which parent needs my help and which parent asks for the ultimate sacrifice?
When I moved to Israel in 2006 I took Israeli citizenship.
If dual citizenship did not exist I would not have given up my American citizenship in order to take up residence in Israel. The loyalties of an 18 or 19 year old have a different dynamic than those of a 51 year old. Why I moved to Israel is for another conversation. For right now let’s say I moved there not for the public sculpture but for the cuisine: to combine the tastes of kishke and chumus at its purest essence.
My opinion regarding US middle east policy is prejudiced, because of my mixed loyalties. I don’t know what would be best for America. (The most objective opinion I have regarding American policy is towards stability: which would include neither an attack on Iran nor a 180 degree turn around on Israel versus Palestine. Also: the role of money and lobbyists in Washington is anti democratic, but it seems almost inevitable.)
I don’t know if America is up to the “light unto the nations” role. (I’m sure Israel is not.) I would be hard pressed to name another country that attracts the eyes of the world as much as America. America sadly falls short in this role. Others would say that America is cast in this role only in the mind of America, because of its bull-in-a-China shop ways both regarding foreign policy and standard of living. But it has the eyes of the world.
American law allows for dual citizenship. Some Americans hate this idea. I didn’t write the law and have done no research regarding the evolution of the law. Some Americans hate anyone who has anything but singular single minded loyalty. Others merely hate those who are dishonest about their loyalty. I have tried to eliminate most of my dishonesty.
