Beware of fighting words!

A group of Christian leading clergy recently published a proclamation, calling upon the leaders of the Democratic Party to “be careful about appointing Jewish politicians to the Biden Administration, for they have nationalistic Jewish loyalty and affinity for the State of Israel.”

22/04/2021 01:48

Tags: Racism

Arab Israeli voting

“United States leadership”, they wrote, “must be fully in the hands of Christians, and every U.S. Administration should rely solely on Christian support. Do not be fooled,” they added, “for regardless of the pretty words of loyalty to the United States of America that these Jews offer, their purpose is merely to fool the American public and conceal their dual loyalty.”

Before you react, dear readers, with anxiety or protest regarding this proclamation, allow us to clarify that these words were not actually written, and hopefully they never will be, even though the debate over the identity of the United States of America as a Christian Nation is still alive. Still, similar things were written in Israel this week, directed against Arabs rather than Jews.

Reframing these words in an America context, we wanted to illustrate how serious and dangerous such words are, and, also, how much they should concern us as Jews. Especially so, since they were written by 7 of the most prominent rabbinic leaders of religious Zionism, most of whom are heads of yeshivas. Among them, for example, is Rabbi Chaim Druckman, the head of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and Ulpanot, well known from his long tenure as head of Israel’s State Conversion Authority, being a Israel Prize laureate, and serving as a former MK and deputy minister. In the public statement, these rabbis wrote: "The Israeli government must not be reliant upon Arab parties with Islamic national aspirations" ... "The leadership of the Jewish state must be fully in the hands of the Jewish people. Every government in Israel must rely only upon Jewish parties"... "We call on elected officials not to be tempted by pretty words whose entire purpose is to blind the Israeli public’s eyes, and, God forbid, make it kosher to establish an Israeli government with the support of our enemies."

The words of these rabbis reflect their distorted understanding of the meaning of a Jewish state in the twenty-first century, in a democratic age. Their desire to advance a Jewish state defined by Jewish exclusivity radically contradicts the spirit of the State of Israel, which is expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

These words were, of course, aimed at preventing the possibility of Prime Minister Netanyahu establishing a government coalition with outside support from the Raam party, led by Mansur Abbas. This is not the place to explore the party’s political positions, nor those of Abbas himself; and Hiddush does not enter into legitimate disputes between political right, left and the center. Nevertheless, it seems that a dangerous red line has been crossed here. Just to put things in context, we turn your attention, for example, to Abbas’ impressive and moving words in the Knesset one year ago, remarking on Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism Day.

Moreover, the words of these rabbis reflect their distorted understanding of the meaning of a Jewish state in the twenty-first century, in a democratic age. Their desire to advance a Jewish state defined by Jewish exclusivity radically contradicts the spirit of the State of Israel, which is expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Only last week, we re-internalized its message in celebration of Independence Day. Neither a halakhic-theocratic state, nor a racist one, was envisioned by the Declaration of Independence. None of the moral elements and values underpinning the Declaration were now stated or before by these rabbis, whose worldview is in clear conflict with them. In contrast to this extremist vision, we seek to strengthen the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, in the spirit and letter of the Declaration of Independence:

“The State of Israel will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience… ”