Politics and Policy Archive
Welcome to Politics and Policy where you will find the latest thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on the important political and public policy questions facing us as Jews and as Americans.
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For an Open, Democratic Debate Concerning Israel’s Policies
By David Kraemer
Recently, an ad appeared in The New York Times, sponsored by a new project of
The New Israel Fund entitled the “Voice for Democracy,” calling for a more open
debate in the Jewish community worldwide concerning Israel’s policies and politics. The argument of the ad was relatively
simple: Israel, the only true democracy in the Near East, must stay that way. The health of a democracy can be judged
by—and even depends on—the openness of political debate in that democracy. Thus, those in the Jewish community leadership who
condemn the expression of “dissenting” opinions are weakening the democratic
nature of Jewish “Israel-dialogue” worldwide.
In doing so, they compromise the vigor of the international Jewish community and
even of Israel itself.
The “Voice for
Democracy” website also includes an open letter (for which it is soliciting
signatures) to Jewish community leaders. In
this letter, the project articulates its central thesis:
Democracy
means more than casting ballots. Democracy means protecting the human and civil rights of
innocent civilians - Jewish and Palestinian - even in war. It means closing the gap
between rich and poor in Israel, one of the largest in the developed world. It means
condemning and resoundingly defeating calls to forcibly transfer Arabs, including citizens
of the state - calls too reminiscent of history's treatment of the Jewish people.
Those
who love Israel and are concerned about these issues should not feel silenced. An open and
vigorous debate within the Jewish community about the direction of the country will only
strengthen Israel.
It is the
latter paragraph that particularly interests me. Those
in the American Jewish community who have held critical views concerning Israel’s
present policies have found themselves largely silenced.
The American Jewish establishment has permitted little public dissent from
the party line of Israel’s current government. Dissenting
opinions are rarely heard in the American Jewish press, and individuals who write for that
press, and who might like to express contrary opinions, are afraid to do so for fear of
jeopardizing their standing. As a
consequence, the concerned American Jewish readership has been cheated of the fuller range
of political options, and American Jewish political dialogue is immensely weakened as a
result. None of this can be “good for
the Jews.”
Ironically, and by contrast, political debate in Israel is far
more open and free-wheeling. In fact, many
American Jews would be shocked by the kind of critical opinion that regularly appears in
the Israeli press. The openness of Israeli
debate is the good news. American Jewish
ignorance of this debate is the bad news. But
the “Voice for Democracy” project shows that some, at least, have had enough of
the tacit censorship that characterizes Jewish dialogue concerning Israel in this country,
and that they are intent on addressing the problem. If
we agree that democracy is strengthened by open dialogue and debate, we will rejoice in
this project and pray for its success. If it
succeeds, then we may hear things we would prefer not to hear. But that will be evidence of our strength, not our
weakness.
In the same spirit,
I have a proposal for those who control and edit the American Jewish press: begin to
print, in every issue of each of your publications, selections (in English translation)
from the Israeli press that reflect the range of opinions that are regularly expressed in
Israel. Let American Jews know that there are
Israelis who think Sharon is the best Jewish leader since King David, and others who think
he is the most incompetent, bumbling leader Israel has yet known. Let American Jews read arguments for the necessity
of the Israeli military crackdown in major Palestinian population centers, and other
arguments for the folly of this military policy. And
so forth.
The “Voice for Democracy” expresses certain definitive political views (such as its condemnation of those who advocate “transfer” of the Palestinian Arab population), but, more importantly, it argues for the need for an open political dialogue in Israel and in the international Jewish community more generally. Whatever our individual political opinions, we must endorse this goal. There can be no gainsaying the fact that our collective life would be strengthened by a respectful, broad-ranging debate. Those of us who live in a democratic society, and know its benefits, should support the fuller realization of the democratic ideal in Jewish life and the efforts of those who are working on behalf of this ideal.
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