I suspect you also recognize very well the threats to Israel’s existence and the invective toward her from much of the Arab world. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}But I didn’t see that recognition in your opinion piece (“Why I attended the J Street Conference, April 2, 2015). You teeter on the edge of suggesting that Israel is, in fact, not a democratic state, although (notwithstanding Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reprehensible comments on election eve) indeed every citizen of Israel is free to vote. You quote approvingly a statement at the J Street conference “calling for the end to the occupation,” as if this were a choice which any truly democratic government of Israel could manage and maintain the support of their citizens.
You spent a year in Israel which looked — I assume fairly — at the conflict. Jonathan, Israelis have looked at the conflict for their entire existence. You suggest that we should “become better informed about all sides of the conflict.” The Israeli electorate IS better informed. They are the anxious parents and friends of the soldiers (a phenomenon I am sure you appreciate), and the soldiers themselves who put their lives on the line, because that conflict still exists, because that conflict must be managed as long as it cannot be solved. And, as you know, in spite of this, the Israelis have elected a Knesset which is not going to make the kind of concessions which would quickly bring an end to the occupation.
Why do you believe they would do that? Do most Israelis WANT to maintain an occupation which forces them to put their children at risk? You are not afraid of bringing an end to it. But they are, and with good reason. The region is a shambles. Rabid hatred for Israel (and Jews everywhere, of course) fills the Arab street. Did your year in Israel inform you of this? Did they show you the vicious cartoons and sermons of the Arabic press? I assume you left before this summer’s battles in Gaza, so they didn’t take you to the places where Hamas members planned to exit from tunnels in order to carry out massacres of Israelis. You know that this could only have happened — and thank God it did not — because Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2006. Does this make Israelis want to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria?
Of course there are Israelis who do not share our vision of a two-state solution. But most Israelis would be fine with it, when they have a credible and empowered partner who also accepts a two-state solution. I take serious the rhetoric and threats of those who insist that there can only be one state, and it will not be a Jewish state. So do most Israelis.
If you ask me, I think Mr. Fingerhut made a mistake by not coming to speak at your conference. If you invite me to speak, I’d be happy to come. I’ll share my vision and hear yours and perhaps find out more about how you hope to achieve your goals. And I’ll never give up hope for peace for Israel; as you point out, that is Israel’s anthem, Ha-tikvah, the hope. But I am far from convinced that the two-state solution is achievable under today’s circumstances, when Jew-hatred is part of the curriculum in Palestinian schools. I no longer believe it will happen in my lifetime. You are much younger; I hope you will live to see it.
Rabbi Daniel Horwitz lives in Houston. He served as rabbi of Congregation Ohev Sholom from 1986 to 2004.{/mprestriction}
