I begin with my alienation because it helps to politically frame the event I went to last night, called “Why We Need a Liberal Israel Lobby,” at the 92d Street Y, which is a Jewish space. There were five Jews on the stage, most of them on “the left,” and yet I felt my views were only partially represented. The person who voiced my views most was Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street, and the lesson of this story is what a difficult job J Street will have if it confines its efforts to Jewish communal life. It can’t, and it won’t; and last night demonstrates why it can’t do so.
The hall was crowded with about 300 people, and the discussion was remarkable for three statements. One, Ben-Ami’s sense of isolation from the organized Jewish community. Two, Eric Alterman’s profession of dual loyalty. And three, the panel’s agreement that the Chas Freeman case has had a large effect.
One. The speakers were liberal lobby supporters Alterman of the Nation, Ben-Ami of J Street, and Michelle Goldberg, a writer on religious themes. Their opposition came from Rabbi Steve Gutow, who was representing the ancien lobby, as the director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. The panel was moderated by Jane Eisner of the Forward, who I found to be largely supportive of Gutow, though this may have reflected her responsibility as moderator; in general, though, I was surprised that she seemed blindered to the spiritual crisis that Israel is in today.
The general thrust of the night was that liberals are deeply disturbed by the new face of Israel and feel unrepresented by American Jewish organizations, meaning AIPAC. In a word: We want peace, and they support the Israeli right wing. Goldberg summed this up best. She identified herself as a Zionist and said she is horrified by what is happening to Israel. “This is the last chance to save Israel.” The left’s “invidious” claim that Israel is South Africa may become “apt” in years to come, she said, because you can’t reconcile democracy with a government comprising Avigdor Lieberman. And if American Jews had only spoken out more forcefully against Lieberman, they would have had an effect.
Right on the heels of this discussion, the Y is hosting a talk with award-winning documentary filmmaker Oren Rudavsky; Abe Foxman, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League; Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens; and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, Fordham Law School professor, to discuss “Why Zionism Has Become a Dirty Word” on March 24.
