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Netanyahu erases the boundary between world Jewry and Israel in celebration of ‘our country’


In this speech on the Jewish new year directed at English-speaking Jews, Benjamin Netanyahu completely erases the difference between Jews and Israel. He begins by saying that the Jewish people always unite when they face challenges, like the ones “our country” experienced when “three of our teenagers” were kidnapped and murdered and rockets were fired at us and we lost many of our “bravest young men.” He does not mention the word “Israel” till the 60th word or so. So these are events that happened to Jews, not to a country in the Middle East.

My friends, As Jews celebrate the New Year around the world, we can take pride in all that unites us. The Jewish people indeed always unite when faced with great challenges, and the past year was no exception.

Over the past few months, three of our teenagers were kidnapped and brutally murdered, thousands of rockets were fired at our country and too many of our bravest young men and their families made the most painful of sacrifices in Operation Protective Edge.

There’s a reason Netanyahu says we’re a united community. Israel needs English-speaking Jews to maintain its international support. We built Israel together, he says, and are all committed to it:

Throughout all [the challenges], we witnessed tremendous support for Israel from Jewish communities everywhere…. As we celebrate Rosh Hashanah with our families and our friends, we should also celebrate the strength we derive from our commitment to one other…. The Jewish people are again sovereign and free in our own homeland. Together we’ve built a vibrant democracy, a robust economy, a global technological powerhouse.

As Scott Roth always says, this conflation of Israel and Jewry is anti-Semitic. If Israel is the Jewish people, then Jews can justly be blamed for what Israel does. But that’s wrong: the Jewish community is actually diverse, and includes anti-Zionists, who don’t believe in a Jewish nation occupying Palestinian lands.

In Netanyahu’s view, this dependence of Israel on Jews around the world is balanced by another dependence: we Diaspora Jews need Israel:

And at the same time, we in Israel know that it has been a difficult period for many of your Jewish communities. You face increasingly virulent and even violent anti-Semitism.

So on behalf of the people of Israel, I thank you for supporting our just campaign to defend ourselves; to provide the sustained peace and security that all Israelis deserve. And I assure you that we in Israel will continue to stand by your side as you confront hatred and intolerance. Jews everywhere must be able to live proudly and without fear.

Another contradiction. He says that Israel will benefit the “entire planet,” but at the same time he leaves out that portion of the entire planet that Israel lives in:

In the New Year, Israel will remain a beacon of freedom and human rights in an intolerant area; Israel will continue to be a source of innovation to the benefit of the entire planet

And just in case you’ve heard young Jews saying that they want no part of an Israel that just killed 2100 Palestinians for the same conflict-management purposes that it killed 1400 five years ago, to Netanyahu these young Jews don’t exist:

Israel will remain a source of pride and strength for Jews, no matter where they live and I have no doubt that the future of the Jewish people is one of hope and promise.

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You face increasingly virulent and even violent anti-Semitism BECAUSE
Israel will remain a source of danger for Jews, no matter where they live

The Jewish people indeed always unite when faced with great challenges, and the past year was no exception.

Who named Netanyahu king of the Jews ?

Phil, I agree that Israel is not the country of all Jews, no matter how often its leaders, its people, and others may say so.

But whether all Jews are proper “targets” of non-Jewish wrath at Israel is another question. (Hint: Think “collateral damage”, because this is or should be war.)

I believe that BDS (sanctions, boycotts, trade embargoes, cultural and academic embargoes, travel embargoes, diplomatic embargoes, etc.) should be directed at Israel generally, because Israel is a democracy and its voters (after they “hurt” enough) might direct the Israeli government to do stuff — stuff such as removing the settlers, demolishing the settlements and wall, lifting the blockade of Gaza, etc. Even making a “just and lasting peace” with the Palestinian people.

And I intend that Israelis, broadly, should “hurt”. How else turn things around? But this means that lefties (if any are left in Israel) and Israeli-Palestinians — and any non-Zionist Israelis — would also “hurt”. Even though not themselves complicit. “Collateral damage.”

And so, since broadly speaking, American Jews have supported Israel in every way including in its crimes, war-crimes, crimes against humanity, etc., and ditto, ditto European Jews, and since Israel keeps claiming to be the country of ALL Jews, and the non-Israeli Jews fail in significant numbers (or significant NOISE) to deny this, well, then we are — as a group — as complicit in Israel’s crimes as Israeli citizens are complicit, again, as a group.

There are many exceptions, of course, but, in each case, as a group, the support for Israel’s crimes, and the failures to speak out against them — and the failure to distance ourselves from Israel — make us, again, as a group, complicit.

I am not calling for collective punishment of all Jews nor yet of all Israeli citizens. But I am calling for BDS treatment (non-violent, and thus not collective punishment, although necessarily collective “something”) for all Israeli citizens, businesses, institutions, etc. And to be consistent, I should be calling for collective “something” for all Jews, at least until such a day come that Jewish protest against Israel (as it seems to do, but narrowly, at Mondoweiss) becomes so broad that all the world will see it and know, for sure, that Israel-the-middle-eastern-state and Israel-the-Jewish-people are not one.

What do you think? Especially with the (as NYT claims) upsurge of antisemitism in Europe?

This point can’t be stressed too much:

As Scott Roth always says, this conflation of Israel and Jewry is anti-Semitic. If Israel is the Jewish people, then Jews can justly be blamed for what Israel does.

I don’t understand why more Jewish leaders in the Diaspora aren’t protesting against the merging of the Israeli government and Zionism with Judaism and “the Jewish people” — all of them. That this is a dangerous trap to fall in should be obvious.

If I were head of the JPPI (not likely to happen :)), I would be developing an information program to emphasize to the world that Jews comprise a highly diverse community with many internal debates, arguments and contradictions. “The Jews” do NOT own the beliefs and policies of whatever regime is currently in power in Israel and should not be held responsible for them.

By insisting that the Israeli government and Zionism are synonymous with Judaism and all Jews, many Jewish leaders are laying the groundwork for a potential major explosion of antisemitism worldwide. Why are they doing this?

“As Scott Roth always says, this conflation of Israel and Jewry is anti-Semitic. If Israel is the Jewish people, then Jews can justly be blamed for what Israel does. But that’s wrong: the Jewish community is actually diverse, and includes anti-Zionists, who don’t believe in a Jewish nation occupying Palestinian lands.”

That’s not wrong at all, in fact, that’s how morality works in a group setting. You’ve got it completely wrong, Phil. The rank and file in ANY group bear responsibility for the groups actions. Also, you’re sort of poking holes in your rationale for MW – if Jews the world over aren’t partly responsible for Israel’s behavior, how could they possibly be important to the solution? how can they be so “important” yet blameless? Just doesn’t make sense.

I guess being jewish really does mean never having to say sorry.

If a political movement came along which insisted that all Irish or all Germans worldwide belonged to a mystical ethnic collective, and that all Irish or Germans owed absolute loyalty to the Irish or German governments — and to Irish or German ethnic nationalism — you can be sure that most Irish or German Americans would object in the strongest possible terms.

How many ethnic groups in the world would permit themselves to be backed into a dangerous corner like this? The assumptions behind this kind of collectivist thinking are outrageous, insulting and bigoted.