Yesterday I wrote that the Israel lobby is crumbling— because Israel’s disgraceful behavior has made Israel bad for the Jews, because the two-state solution is fading and bringing about a fight at last between liberal Zionists who want the ’67 borders (David Remnick) and the neoconservative expansionists that the liberal Zionists made the mistake of building an American coalition with (Bret Stephens).
Here is more evidence for my belief that the lobby is in crisis.
Israeli ambassador and former American scholar Michael Oren, who is a hardliner, will be speaking at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs plenum in Washington in early March. The JCPA is very conservative on Israel, but look who who else will be at the plenum: Peter Beinart, the man who turned on the Israel lobby from inside it.
Writes Jeff Blankfort:
when the JCPA invites Beinart to speak, it means that there ARE serious problems within its Zionist core. Watch for an attack on the JCPA and pressure to withdraw the invite but even that will be positive.
I wonder where this leaves J Street? Beinart is sort of their boy. How alt will the J Street conference in February be if JCPA is offering Beinart? (I think this means J Street will have to come out for sanctions, to distinguish itself.) Here is JCPA’s remarkably tolerant/realistic intro for Beinart:
…Peter Beinart argues that as young American Jews become less liberal and less Zionist, they don’t fit with mainstream American Jewish organizations. According to Beinart, young Americans have “grown up viewing Israel as a regional hegemon and an occupying power. As a result, they are more conscious than their parents of the degree to which Israeli behavior violates liberal ideals, and less willing to grant Israel an exemption because its survival seems in peril.” He has uncovered a disconnect that will affect the future of the Jewish community’s organizations.
Some more evidence for my view comes from the hardliners. Elie Wiesel and the birthright organization have started a new outfit called Take Back Zionism that seeks to address the crisis by– making the kids even more nationalist-religious! (K Feldman addresses the issue in the post above.) The group’s vague creed:
Zionism is not just about conflict and politics. It is a centuries’ old idea deeply rooted in the Jewish community and tradition. Zionism is many things. It is land, history, religion, politics, peoplehood, culture, national destiny, self-determination. It is innovation and tradition. Zionism is ancient and modern.
I think that is ahistorical. Wiesel is locked into an eastern European, century-old idealistic view of Zionism as a liberation ideology, and this has nothing to do with modern empowered American Jewish life. Five of the grab-bag definitions of Zionism that folks are offering at Take Back Zionism:
A love for Israel .
The only democracy in the middle east
The pursuit of a safe-haven for the Jewish people all over the world.
Having a nation-state for the Jewish people. It’s our homeland.Jewish unity
So far only 213 people have sent in definitions. The site appears to be an attempt to bring together a diverse group of people who consider themselves Zionists. What’s interesting is that the views expressed dramatically clash with each other and don’t have any coherent vision whatsoever, especially those provided by various Zionist organizations. The definitions are very revealing about American Jewish youth but also provide a way for birthright to hear our criticisms directly by flooding the site with our own definitions. …
