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Phil Weiss alerts me to a disturbing column written by Rabbi Eric Yoffie in the Forward attacking J Street for its insufficient sympathy for Israel’s assault on Gaza. His piece is shameful not because it expresses sympathy for the Israeli suffering from Palestinian rocket attacks. This is certainly legitimate. It is shameful because he demeans J Street for expressing too much sympathy for the Gazans.
I have written several times glowing posts about speeches and statements Rabbi Yoffie has made about Christian Zionists or Muslim-Jewish understanding. And I have never criticized him before because I have never read anything that I felt was so far off the mark. But this piece requires a strong denunciation since it lacks any sense of moral calculus or compass regarding the horror of this event.
He goes off the rails in his argument almost from the beginning:
I suspect that most American Jews feel the same discomfort that I feel. They support the military offensive too…
Not so fast. Glenn Greenwald reports on a Rasmussen survey that confirms that while the American public is sharply divided on the conflict, that Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed:
Democratic voters overwhelmingly oppose the Israeli offensive — by a 24-point margin (31-55%).
Since 80-85% of Jews consider themselves Democrats that would mean that even IF a majority of Jews supported the Operation Solid Lead, that the split would be close to right down the middle (I’m conceding that the 20% of Jewish Republicans would strongly favor the assault). This is Yoffie’s first questionable assumption. Here is more questionable thinking:
…They [American Jews] expect Israel to be both politically wise and morally sensitive in how it fights. It is especially important to us that Israel do everything humanly possible to avoid the death of innocents and to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. There is much evidence that Israel has worked hard to limit the carnage, and the credibility of Israel’s leaders in providing assurances on these points is an important factor in assuring the continued support of American Jews — and, indeed, of all Americans — for the Gaza campaign.
This passage too is full of dubious assumptions. Israel has killed 400 civilians in Gaza and undertaken an 18 month siege which has reduced the enclave to penury. Eric Yoffie is an intelligent person and learned rabbi. How can he possibly believe what he is writing? It simply flies in the face of reality as the rest of the world (outside Israel’s most ardent backers) knows it.
Yoffie’s insinuation that the majority of Americans support the operation is also questionable. Rasmussen finds that Americans support it by a slim plurality (44-41%). The longer the operation continues surely the more opposition will mount among Americans.
Here Yoffie takes on J Street’s courageous position attacking the Gaza incursion:
…Not a few Jewish doves have demonstrated an utter lack of empathy for Israel’s predicament. J Street, a new Washington lobbying group and a major voice of the dovish pro-Israel community, has spoken out sharply against Israel’s actions in Gaza. While it claims to represent the moderate American Jewish majority, in this case it has misread the issues and misjudged the views of American Jews.
It is interesting to note that Yoffie’s presumption is that American Jews owe Israel the benefit of the doubt in issues like this military offensive. The majority of our empathy must go to Israel’s “predicament” rather than to the Gazans who presumably deserve less because they simply are not Jews. This is a stale notion that lost favor years ago even among American Jews. The day when we got out the flag and waved it no matter what Israel did (and especially when it did anything morally questionable) are long gone. Israel no longer gets a blank moral check from most American Jews. And that’s as it should be. We state what we think is in Israel’s long-term interests, but owe no special obligation to support Israel when it strays from our view of what those interests should be (as they have done in Operation Solid Lead). I’m simply shocked to read that the leader of the most liberal American religious denomination is still spouting such virtual inanities.
Consider the moral calculus of this statement and ask yourself what is missing:
A second J Street statement was worse by far. It could find no moral difference between the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militants, who have launched more than 5,000 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians in the past three years, and the long-delayed response of Israel, which finally lost patience and responded to the pleas of its battered citizens in the south.
Notice that Israel has suffered 5,000 rockets fired at it while the Palestinians have suffered…hmmm, I seem to have missed that portion of Yoffie’s statement. The Palestinians haven’t suffered anything, have they? Well then, in that case you can see how easy it is for Yoffie to get into high moral dudgeon over J Street’s purported embrace of a “pro-Palestinian” position.
Here is more ignorance masquerading as sympathy for Israel:
These words [of J Street's criticizing both Israeli and Palestinian violence] are deeply distressing because they are morally deficient, profoundly out of touch with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naïve. A cease-fire instituted by Hamas would be welcome, and Israel would be quick to respond. A cease-fire imposed on Israel would allow Hamas to escape the consequences of its actions yet again and would lead in short order to the renewal of its campaign of terror. Hamas, it should be noted, is not a government; it is a terrorist gang.
Most people in the world feel, at best, deeply divided over this conflict; and at worst they feel Israel is almost entirely in the wrong. Yet somehow Yoffie transforms this reality into one in which J Street is “morally deficient” for seeing precisely what most other people are seeing: an aggressive Israel attacking disproportionately a virtually defenseless (except for crude handmade rockets which cause far more fear than actual mayhem) Gaza.
Not a whiff from the good rabbi in the above passage of Israel’s draconian siege on Gaza and the effects this is having on 1.5 million civilians who have done nothing to warrant such punishment. And regarding the Hamas line he espouses, it is once again wrong. Hamas IS a government whenever Israel isn’t intervening (like now) against its control of Gaza by preventing it from being one. Hamas was elected by Palestinians democratically. It was the U.S. and Israel which refused to accept the democratic results of this election and determined to topple Hamas by force. Not a word about that, Rabbi Yoffie. Why not? Or is it possible that Middle Eastern democracy is only considered legitimate when it’s flying an Israeli flag?
In order to justify Yoffie’s rejection of Hamas as a legitimate representative of the Palestinians, he trots out this definitive “wisdom:”
To be a dove of influence, you must be a realist, firm in your principles but shorn of all illusions…
Being a “realist” as far as Yoffie is concerned means accepting that Hamas are nothing but a bunch of thugs incapable of being legitimate partners of Israel or of governing Palestine. The only problem is that many Israelis, among them respected generals and intelligence analysts, don’t agree. So Rabbi, are they unprincipled and illusion-filled or are you perhaps getting a bit ahead of yourself in making such definitive and ill-considered statements about the nature of Hamas?
As a reality check for my views, I did what I normally do in these circumstances: I checked with my closest Israeli friends, who are all left of center, haters of war and ferocious opponents of the West Bank settlement movement. In virtually every case, they saw the action in Gaza as tragic but necessary and were astounded by the opposition of American doves.
You’ll note that Yoffie’s “closest Israeli friends” are the moral arbiters of what a correct American Jewish position should be on this issue. Could it be that his Israeli friends represent as narrow a spectrum of opinion as his own views expressed here? Can Yoffie deny that the pages of the Israeli press are filled with reports that question Israeli motives for this attack, which denounce it as a failure practically before it began, which portray the immense suffering of Gazan civilians? I guess the many critical journalists I’ve been reading in Haaretz and Ynet must not be among Yoffie’s circle of “closest friends.” I’d like to introduce him to Akiva Eldar, Amira Hass, Gideon Levy, Yossi Sarid, B. Michael, David Grossman, Uri Avnery, and many others. They might teach him a thing or two about what those Israelis believe who aren’t among his intimate circle.
…Why, we ask, should Israel’s center-left government, after long periods of restraint and desperate efforts to renew the cease-fire, be expected to refrain from fighting terrorists that are regularly attacking from right across the border?
Because the operation won’t work. Because the only way to end the violence is to negotiate. Because Hamas legitimately demands something in return for the end of its attacks–that is, an end to the horrifying siege that has starved its children and brought death to its critically ill who lack medicine or care.
American Jews see Israel’s Gaza offensive as a tragic necessity, unwelcome but inevitable, carried out by a reluctant Israeli government doing what it must to end rocket attacks against its citizenry. In short, American Jews are, as usual, sensible and centrist, and supporting Israel in her hour of need.
Again, not so fast. While Rabbi Yoffie speaks for a large religious denomination, I don’t believe his views are those of the majority of American Jews. And even if I concede that they are the views of the majority, there is by no means the consensus he posits. American Jews, like the rest of Americans, are deeply divided about this. To claim otherwise, is simply like whistling in a graveyard. You’re hoping you’re right, but haven’t a clue or a means to prove it.
Rabbi Yoffie’s piece in the Forward proves to me that while he may have liberal instincts on many issues, when it comes to Israel he is little better than the mainline Israel lobby organizations. We cannot expect wisdom from them or him on these issues. It grieves me to say this because he has often been eloquent and profound about some subjects as I’ve noted above. But not this one. Not by a long shot.
J Street–you’ve done something honorable. Don’t even think of backing down or being intimidated by this flackery. You are in the right. Time and history will confirm it. It is Rabbi Yoffie who will be eating his words in six months time when he sees that this military project has failed just as all previous ones seeking to do the same thing have failed before it. Unfortunately, Rabbi Yoffie would do well to consider these profound words from Zechariah: Ki lo b’choach, v’lo b’hayil, ki im b’ruchi, amar Adonai tzevaot. “Not by strength and not by might, but rather by my spirit says the Lord of Hosts.” “Spirit” is words, negotiations leading to peace. Those are the only things that will work here. Remember that little bit of Jewish wisdom, Rabbi.
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Jeff Foster wrote: “This is such a sad and complex situation. I do not believe that giving up Gaza and the West Bank with open borders will ever satisfy Israel’s enemies, and I believe anyone naive who believes it will. I like the idealism Richard and others hold. I wish they could be right.”
Jeff, you provide nothing to back that statement up. Israel takes Palestine, bulldozes down peoples homes, farms, and businesses to construct settlements, starves the people in Gaza because they elect leaders whom Israel opposed who actually stated that they recognize Israel within the pre-June 1967 borders, and the Israeli government with U.S. backing still refuses to negotiate with the Palestinians to bring about the just settlement that is needed. Jeff, I have to remind you that during the time that Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister there were very few terrorist attacks against Israel. Rabin was on the path to a final settlement with the Palestinians. Unfortunately, a Jewish settler aided by Israel’s Shinn Bet assassinated Rabin. In addition to those Israelis who believe that all of Palestine belongs to the Jews whose parties are included in Israel’s government, another reason that this dispute goes on is because of American corporations that benefit from this such as Catapillar which supply Israel bulldozers, Apache which supplies helicopter gunships, Raytheon, and other corporations. Click on this link http://www.democracynow.org/2006/7/21/u_s_arming_of_israel_how or paste it into your web browser and hear this Democracy Now program. You can also just read the transcript.
I challenge everyone here to answer one question: do you support a one-state or a two-state solution? Your answer to the question will be closely aligned with what tactics you support in the current conflict.
You can read more about my perspective here:
http://www.blogher.com/gaza-and-israel-reflections-and-resources
For anyone who says that it’s “naive” that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute can be settled, here’s a link to an open letter by an Israeli Uri Avnery to Barack Obama http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/avnery?rel=hp_currently Avnery fought in Israel’s 1948 war and served in Israel’s Kenesset.
Dont worry. In the next few days Hamas will repel the IOF and advance and take Asheklon. Israel will be sorry it ever started this war
@Trans fat
A David- Goliath rematch with reverse result ? unlikely . Besides, I dont think it’s in the Palestinians interest to win a military victory.
Trans fats wrote: “Dont worry. In the next few days Hamas will repel the IOF and advance and take Asheklon. Israel will be sorry it ever started this war.”
I don’t know about that but as I said and so did someone else, if the U.S. doesn’t insist that Israel negotiate in good faith with the Palestinians and end the occupation, the Palestinians will themselves give up on the idea of a two-state solution and demand a one-state solution instead. The Palestinian population is growing much faster than the Israeli population, and Israel can’t keep the occupation going forever without escalating violence including inside Israel proper. If this dispute isn’t settled soon, down the road we will likely see a one-state solution to the problem which will be a bi-national state. In fact before the establishment of the state of Israel, there were Jews like Rabbi Judah Magnes http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/magnes.html, Ehad Haam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehad_Ha%27am Martin Buber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Buber and many other people who advocated for a bi-national state. They wanted that Jews settle in Palestine and share the land with the indigenous people there. Had those Jews not been overruled by the other Zionists, we wouldn’t have the problems that we have today. It must be noted that for centuries before the Zionists came along, those Jews who remained in Palestine after the Roman occupation and the other indigenous people got along very well.
Carlos and Shamwow:
Never be ashamed of who you are. And Shamwow, your words sound like some emo teen who would rather wish troubling things away rather than confront them.
Just because the Jewish state is engaging in some pretty despicable acts now doesn’t mean we should abandon it altogether. Be embarassed now, but also work towards not making it an embarassment.
I wonder if R’ Yoffie was ever this pliable in the Lebanon fiasco. Like I said, too many liberal Jews throw their principles to the wayside in times of war. Especially when the election of a liberal government is at stake! I also wonder if these same people would be the same if Obama was a warmonger?
Jill wrote: “I challenge everyone here to answer one question: do you support a one-state or a two-state solution? Your answer to the question will be closely aligned with what tactics you support in the current conflict.
You can read more about my perspective here:
http://www.blogher.com/gaza-and-israel-reflections-and-resources”
Jill, I enjoyed reading your perspective. I didn’t have a chance to click on all of the links, but I read enough on the subject anyway. I can’t answer your question with only a yes or no answer. If you read my last post which is a few posts below yours, you’ll notice that I mentioned Jews like Martin Buber, Rabbi Judah Magnes, and Ehad Haam who advocated a Bi-National state and I said that if they were not overruled by the other Zionists, we wouldn’t be in the situation that we are today. I agree that this is what should have happened. However the Palestinian leaders are calling for a two-state solution, and as I mentioned before even the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Heneyeh stated that he recognizes Israel within the pre-June 1967 borders. Click on these TWO links http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2006%2F02%2F24%2FAR2006022402317_pf.html&ei=sR9fSaKmO5KasAPB-t2ZDQ&usg=AFQjCNGV4IFEZjORZtHNMigArBSzVNPd6w&sig2=DgPlr9gEn1bBeTonA6qf6w AND http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html Most or all of the major Jewish peace organizations also support a two-state solution, so that is where I am now. I really expect Obama to put pressure on all sides including Israel to settle this dispute. However if I am wrong about this and this dispute goes on much longer, then I will only be in favor of a one-state solution meaning a Bi-National state. I don’t believe that Israel should exist as an oppressor and occupier nation, and it can’t exist that way anyhow for much longer considering that Palestinians are outnumbering Israelis.
@Trans fats: You must be off yr meds. That’s about as imminent as Israel and Hamas sitting down together like the lion & lamb and signing a peace deal tomorrow.
@Rabbi Arthur Waskow: Thank you, Rabbi Waskow, for your eloquent drash that, as usual, teaches us something important about Jewish tradition, while making a cogent comment on political realities.
I would also urge my readers to follow the link here or at Rabbi Waskow’s comment to make a contribution to his Shalom Center. Anyone Jewish leader who can stand up for another as he has deserves our strong support.
And DO support J Street as well as Waskow suggested.
Hamas was democratically elected to the legislature, part of the government, but then they took over completely after a battle with Fatah in 2007. So I don’t know if it is correct to sat “democratically elected” anymore. In a way they are a dictatorship.
I, at times, feel like Jeff Foster above. His comment stands out.
I want to note, if no one has mentioned this, that Mayor Bloomberg was on both CNN and MSNBC I think it was yesterday- talk about Freudian slips- saying “Israeli’s are being killed every day by these rockets”. He said this twice. I was really taken aback. It was not a slip but more what I feel the mind does when there is a moral issue that conflicts with a perceived survival issue. My strong feeling and continuing horror is that Jews, Israeli’s in particular, are less and less able to feel the humanity and suffering on the other side, particularly with the walls ( iron and concrete) and checkpoints. And it is this that is happening to the collective psyche of a subgroup that diminishes Jews on the whole in the eyes of the world and amongst themselves (subject of ongoing debate here). This is what hurts me more than anything- the numbness to suffering, the easy imposition or disregard of it, the justification of it. That is what so many, like David Grossman, Uri Avnery, Henry Siegman and other mentioned above are saying really. One could of course make the same case about the other side and this is war, but that doesn’t help us move out of this downward spiral.
There are some who can see that Israel’s survival depends on the well-being of Palestinians. This is not idealism. So the real enemies are those who refuse to see this.
This is what David Grossman has said in his short but very strong book-”Death as a Way of Life”. All the unsold copies should be bought and distributed accordingly.
@Walter Ballin
Thank you for your response. I studied Buber extensively in my college years and agree with your assertions. I’m not 100% sold on the terminology of “binational” but I would say that this is my main hang up with Israel, in general re: its identity as a Jewish state only. It’s a problem – I don’t know how it’s solved with stability though – which of course is why we are where we are – or they are where they are.
I’m also not as convinced as you sound to be re: Palestinians wanting two states. I think there’s a Venn diagram waiting to be drawn to show the breakdown of how Palestinians feel re: one versus two states, and then there are the Israeli Arabs – 1.7 million strong – who say that they don’t want to live under Palestinian rule. If there was a viable healthy Palestinian state, who knows if that would hold. But still – I’m thinking about a Venn…
Suzanne wrote: “Hamas was democratically elected to the legislature, part of the government, but then they took over completely after a battle with Fatah in 2007. So I don’t know if it is correct to sat “democratically elected” anymore. In a way they are a dictatorship.”
Suzanne, I know that Hamas took over completely in Gaza after a battle wit Fatah. However it is my understanding that Fatah with Israeli and U.S. backing had the Hamas members who were elected to the Palestinian national legislative body removed and arrested. I don’t recall the exact details and I don’t have time to do a google search on this. Perhaps someone like Richard could fill us in on this.
I agree with you on everything else that you said. Also, a good book to read is “The Lemon Tree” by Sandy Tolan, which is about a Jewish family from Bulgaria that was given a house in Israel in 1947, as the Palestinian family like many others was forced to flee. The Jewish families who were given these houses were falsely told by the Israelis that the Palestinians simply abandoned those homes. Years later the daughter Dalia from the Jewish family and the son from the Palestinian family became friends. The Jewish ended up making the house an “Open House.” It’s a wonderful story! I actually had a nice email conversation with Dalia. Check out these TWO links http://sandytolan.com/the-lemon-tree AND http://sandytolan.com/the-lemon-tree/open-house-ramle
Jill, I read a couple of polls a while back showing that a majority of Palestinians support a two-state solution. I don’t have time to search now. Certainly the Palestinian Authority under Abbas supports this, and I already mentioned what the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Heneyeh said. But then again, if this dispute isn’t settled soon support even among the Palestinians for a two-state solution will dissolve.
Jill and All, Regarding the Israeli Arabs, it concerns me that they are never included in the Israeli coalition governments. Certainly if they were, that would help pave the way for peace. So to me Israel is a theocracy the way it’s set up. I still go along with a two-state solution, but the time may come where I won’t if this dispute isn’t settled soon as I said.
@Walter – Interesting. Here’s an article this week at Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/177757) which talks about what you state, but I think it’s best to clarify that there currently are 12 Israeli Arabs serving in the Knesset, but they’ve not been invited to join a coalition of any type – correct? I’m not very learned on this so any additional links or clarification you’re willing to take the time to give would be helpful.
Given that Livni’s efforts failed to produce a gov’t and that’s why they have an election coming up, it’s an interest point to examine. I’m against Netanyahu and his plans – I would think most Israeli Arabs would be as well. Contemplating some kind of alignment with Kadima – wow – think that might bring Sharon back to life? :)
@Walter re: support for two-state – I don’t doubt that at all, I’m only saying that when I was there and visited w/the Mayor of West Bartaa in the Triangle, he made it very clear that he and most Israeli Arabs he knew would never consider being under a Palestinian gov’t even with two states. He also spoke at length about his son, who is in his 20s and in university in either Tel Aviv or Haifa – I forget which – considers himself 100% Israeli but wants, as that Newsweek column suggests, complete parity with Jews in Israel. That is a civil rights battle which, again, going back to that Newsweek piece, really does have to succeed in Israel in order for its national building to progress.
@B.BarNavi
“Just because the Jewish state is engaging in some pretty despicable acts..”
Is it despicable for Israel to defend it’s own citizens? How about fighting Hamas which is hell bent on killing Jews? R’ Yoffie? Oh my! One mistake after another…
Jill, Thanks. I read the Newsweek article. I neglected to mention that there are Israeli-Arabs serving in the Kenesset, but they’ve never been invited to serve in the coalition governments. Unfortunately the ultra-orthodox religious parties like the Shas do serve in the coalitions. It’s the Shas Party that insists on the Israeli government allowing the building of more and more Jewish settlements in the West Bank. For anyone who thinks that Israel is 100% right in its actions, how can anyone expect there to ever be peace and security for Israelis or anyone else?
@Noah:
Do you call systematically destroying every piece of infrastructure in Gaza, killing over 100 women & children & 500 overall a “defensive” act?? If so, your priorities & judgment are seriously askew.
When you reduce the fact that infrastructure and civilians have been blown up down to purely abstract acts of countering-attacking Hamas in self-defense, of course it’s justified. But then that’s ignoring reality.
Israel CAN AND SHOULD defend itself without resorting to such DESPICABLE actions.
Yasher Koach to Rabbi Waskow. He never ceases to amaze me (in a good way).