Israel Can’t Ignore Bond Between Jews, America

Anxieties linger and questions persist in the wake of the Pollard spy case. How could Israel have done it? How extensive is the damage to the American-Israeli alliance? These are disturbing questions for Israel’s friends, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. But underlying these are even more probing questions. And some of them raise themes that have been heard before. They ask about American Jews and their commitments. They summon up whispers of international conspiracies, and raise specters of divided loyalty on the part of American Jews. These questions are being asked not only by traditional enemies, seeking ammunition for their hostility, but also by friends, and especially by those puzzled about the singular relationship between American Jews and Israel. They deserve a serious and honest answer.

The love affair between American Jews and Israel has been so well documented that it is almost a cliche. Israel is a spiritual center for all Jews everywhere--the fulfillment of the two-millennia-old dream of a restored Jewish homeland. Illogical though it may seem, Jews who escaped the Holocaust, and particularly American Jews, still harbor guilt over their failure to prevent that disaster. They perceive Israel as the principal guarantor that the Jewish people will survive.

Even in America, Jews, conditioned by a 2,000-year history of victimization, feel vulnerable. This may be unjustified by objective measures: All indicators show a steeply declining curve of anti-Semitic incidents and attitudes. Yet in poll after poll, despite their extraordinary success and achievement, Jews continue to express anxiety over current and anticipated acts or expressions of hatred against them. Even Jews who have no intention of living in Israel, who in fact have never set foot in Israel, perceive Israel as an insurance policy.

Without doubt the engagement of American Jews with the Jewish state is powerful, complex and profound. But for all our pride in and passion for Israel, we are by no means blinded by our ardor. Nor is our loyalty to our own beloved country compromised. Our most enduring love affair is with this free land of America, and it antedates the very founding of the Republic. (With great pride we teach our children about the Jews who fought bitterly with Peter Stuyvesant for the right to stand guard duty along with their fellow burghers in old New Amsterdam.)

Almost always we see our two loves, America and Israel, in harmony with one another; it is inconceivable to us that the United States and Israel could be incompatible in any substantive way. American Jews do not, and cannot, countenance any behavior that is incompatible with America’s safety and security. That’s why, despite some understandable expressions of sympathy for the personal tragedy involved, there has been no Jewish rationalization of the Pollards’ behavior, and there can be none.

All of us have a variety of loyalties. I am loyal to my daughters and to my parents, but these loyalties need not be in conflict. American Jews are deeply attached to Israel, but that loyalty in no way diminishes their allegiance, love and devotion to their country. The romance of American Jews with America is perpetually vital, fresh and alive. And it is unshakable.

It is important that our fellow Americans understand this about American Jews; it is vital that Israel learn it. For us, Jewish life in America is a legitimate expression of Judaism; it is creative, vital and enduring. Most Israelis find it difficult to understand this, and certainly don’t agree with it. Having prayed for re-establishment of Jewish national existence since the destruction of the second Jewish commonwealth 2,000 years ago, Israelis are disappointed that all American Jews have not elected to join them in the building of the Jewish state. They attribute American Jewry’s failure to respond this way to a character flaw--an unwillingness to put up with hardship, to sacrifice the comforts that America offers. American Jews, on the other hand, see America not only as a blessing for the world but also as a miracle of Jewish history.

There is nothing wrong with these differences in perception. But it is quite another matter when perceptions translate into behavior that undermines the loyalty of an American Jewish couple to their own country, challenges American Jewish patriotism, and outrages and embarrasses American Jews.

The Pollard affair was possible because Israel either failed to understand or chose to ignore the bond between American Jews and America. It is essential that Israel now learn that lesson.

What occurred was unconscionable and unacceptable. The Israelis have vowed that it will not happen again. To that, all American Jews say “Amen.”