Here is a combination of my personal story and the many insights I gathered during my long journey as a tourist, as a porter, as a student and as an Israeli diplomat in the United States. The trends I will present regarding the US-Israel relations and regarding the relations between Israel and the American Jewish community are worrying, but they are not irreversible.
Here are the personal stories and many insights I gathered during my long journey as an Israeli tourist, sable, student and diplomat in the United States. The trends I will present regarding Israel-US relations and the American Jewish community are worrying, but not irreversible
I believe that through a joint pursuit of peace, justice and democracy, the relationship between the United States and Israel and between Israel and the American Jewish community can be restored as a powerful positive force.
I first came to the United States in 1986 after a 10 month backpacking trip in South America. I immediately fell in love with New York and understood why the United States was considered by the Jews to be “the golden state” (the golden state in Yiddish).
As a kibbutznik with a socialist education and 5 years in the military, the US was my first acquaintance with the concepts of capitalism and free enterprise. I was exposed to libertarianism by the books of Ayn Rand and the culture of individualism I saw on the streets of New York. I did not become a libertarian).
I worked hard at a moving company in an attempt to save money, knowing that I would not return to the kibbutz and would have to pay for higher education myself.. In the days when I did not work in moving furniture I visited the city’s cultural centers to learn more about America.
My second time in the US was in 1990, when my wife Ronit was accepted for a master’s degree in dance education at Columbia University. I was so happy to have another opportunity to live in New York.
As a kibbutznik with a socialist education and 5 years in the military, the United States was my first acquaintance with the concepts of capitalism and free enterprise. I was exposed to libertarianism in the Ain Rand books, in stark contrast to what I knew in Israel
We took advantage of every minute of free time to consume American culture. We heard American culture in New York jazz clubs – Blue Note, Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil, Pat Newsdays and many others. We read culture at Village Voice, listened to concerts and operas at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera with cheap standing tickets. We watched the best modern dance troupes in the world as volunteer ushers at the Joyce Theater. We were exposed to plastic art in the city’s amazing museums and galleries. When our daughter Maya was born an American citizen, we slowed down a bit but still enjoyed the city as much as we could.
My passion for sports has always been a particularly effective means of connecting with people. Back in Israel I was a die-hard NBA fan, and I connected to American football of the NFL and colleges as soon as I got to the US, but on the other hand, I did not connect to baseball. I did not understand the charm of such a popular sport in the US. The frequent baseball metaphors I have heard from American politicians have made understanding the game a necessary necessity for me to better understand American culture.
In 1997, I came to the United States for the third time for my first position abroad as a diplomat stationed at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. There, in the capital of the free world, I was exposed to the secrets of American politics and diplomacy and absorbed a great deal of knowledge every day.
I was amazed at Israel’s opportunities to advance its interests as an ally of the most influential nation in the world. The power of pro-Israel organizations and the approach that Israeli diplomats had to Congress and the government impressed me. At my first AIPAC conference I saw how diplomats from other embassies watched enviously as American elected officials competed among themselves over who would show greater closeness to Israel.
The attitude we, the Israeli diplomats, had towards Congress and the administration impressed me. At my first AIPAC conference, I saw other diplomats enviously watching American elected officials compete over who would be closer to Israel.
In my attempt at the time to understand the basic components of the unique relationship between Israel and the United States that I witnessed firsthand, I organized them in my head around three main components that I briefly referred to:
“VIP – (Values, Interests, Politics)”
The values that underlie Israeli-US relations
The Protestant Puritans who first came to Plymouth Rock on top of the Mayflower in 1620 imagined themselves in New Jerusalem and as the fulfillers of the vision of the Hebrew biblical prophets. This ethos was adopted by the founding fathers of the United States and was immortalized in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.
Over a century later, the spirit of the American Revolution and the principles of the Constitution provided inspiration to the leaders of the Zionist movement. Many Americans see Israel as a “sister” country that, like theirs, is populated by immigrants who have established a just, democratic, and liberal society. Following their successful opposition to English control.
The common interests
Since President Truman’s recognition of Israel, 11 minutes after Ben-Gurion’s declaration of independence, Israeli leaders have sought to strengthen ties with the leader of the free world. Energy deposits in the Arab / Persian Gulf have been critical to the U.S. and global economies and have made the Middle East a strategic focus of U.S. foreign policy.
Since President Truman’s recognition of Israel, minutes after its declaration of independence, Israeli leaders have sought to strengthen ties with the leader of the free world. The energy deposits in the region, which are critical to the US economy, have made the Middle East a foreign policy hub
Israel was a credible US partner in the Cold War and the war on terror. A partnership that allowed the US to avoid “boots on the ground,” as opposed to their alliance in defending South Korea or West Germany.
The depth and breadth of the current US-Israel relationship, the joint forums mainly in the fields of security and intelligence, the commitment to maintain the qualitative military advantage (QME) of Israel and the three bilateral funds (BARD, BIRD, BSF) are A consequence of common interests.
Israel’s political influence
Israel has enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States for years, with Democrats and Republicans treating its relationship as one that transcends the political debate. Israeli diplomats and Jewish organizations sought to maintain the US-Israel relationship as bipartisan, even though most Jews were Democrats.
Pro-Israel forces have been and continue to be well-organized and deeply involved in U.S. politics and media. In donations and political involvement: Nearly half of the donations made to the Democratic Party and a quarter of those donated to the Republican Party come from Jewish donors.
The pro-Israel forces were and still are deeply organized and involved in politics and the media in the United States. The Jewish community there constitutes about 2% of the population, but it has a disproportionately political influence.
Since its inception in 1963, AIPAC has become the most powerful and effective foreign policy lobby in the United States. In addition, a lobby for Israel has developed of Christian evangelicals who for the most part vote for Republicans. For them, support for Israel is a religious commandment that will, according to their faith, bring about the resurrection of Jesus (after we Jews die among the sons of light in the sons of darkness in Armageddon, or become Christians).
In Washington, too, I continued to develop my passion for sports as a diplomatic tool, and the need to understand baseball became more thought-provoking. At that time there was no baseball team in Washington, so I had to travel to Baltimore to watch the Orioles play at Camden Yards. Although I learned a lot during my time in the US, baseball remained an enigmatic sport for me, but the insight into the value of understanding American culture grew.