Conference Explores American Jews’ Thorny Ties to Israel

The man with the beard and bushy eyebrows handed out pamphlets inside a West Los Angeles ballroom Sunday advocating worldwide intolerance against the “Islamic-Arab totalitarian enemy” in the Middle East.

When a Jewish American woman huddled over her morning coffee and bagel refused to accept the propaganda, he barked at her.

“Come on!” he said. “Keep your mind open. We’re supposed to be sharing ideas.”

The irritated woman walked away.

That exchange set the tone for an all-day symposium on Israel’s future that was attended by more than 300 people inside the Olympic Connection conference hall.

Sponsored by the Jewish Federation, the often contentious conference explored the complex relationship that Jewish Americans have with Israel, a country reeling from political instability as it heads into its national election May 17.

On a morning filled with gossip over incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eroding political base--his party has recently suffered several defections--representatives of Los Angeles’ about 600,000 Jews grappled with how to help Israel enter the new century on solid ground.

“Israel’s threats are both immediate and long term,” said Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills), who joined media experts, scholars and political pundits at the conference.

Panel discussions over how to make Israel stronger oscillated between sober analyses of negotiations with the Palestinians to heated debates over religious and secular policies in the 50-year-old country.

Most agreed that Israel should accept that it will never reach full harmony with its Arab neighbors and therefore must work toward some kind of livable compromise, backed by solid military defenses.

“We live in a very tough neighborhood,” said Israeli Consul General Yorum Ben-Zeev.

Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jordan Frankl said to the crowd of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews: “It’s important we remember what Israel is all about.”

The country of more than 6 million faces open hostility from neighbors such as Iran, Iraq and Syria, all of whom are developing weapons of mass destruction perceived by the Jewish community as imminent threats to its people. Israel also has many domestic problems.

Besides discussing issues such as the Wye River agreement to give Palestinians more land in the West Bank, panelists explored class, gender and ethnic tensions affecting Israeli citizens.

Conflicts among the different factions of Judaism in Israel are a concern, panelists said, but other problems exist, such as substandard schools for the country’s growing Ethiopian community.

“More than 45% of the Ethiopian students in Israel lack books and the proper supplies from Israeli schools,” said Barbara Ribakove Gordon, director of the New York-based North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.

Though such internal issues may seem far removed from the concerns of a Jew in Los Angeles, several at the conference argued that it is their responsibility to work toward eliminating those problems.

Scott Krieger, of West Los Angeles, said: “If they understand these issues, people can influence our elected officials from making crucial mistakes in policy. . . . It is part of your life, even if you’re not Jewish.”