At the last shlichim (Israel emissary) convention, I was introduced to an amazing family, the Tzemachs. They are an Israeli family who decided to temporarily close their family business, take a year off and use their private money to go on a journey around the world. But it’s not just a family vacation they are taking. In each country they visit, they are meeting with people from every community — primarily non-Jewish — to talk about their lives in Israel.
The Tzemachs grew tired hearing that Israel is the world’s “bad guy,” and decided it was time to show the world the truth about who we Israelis are. The truth is, we are not a bunch of ruthless warriors, we are people just like you — families mostly — who go to work, meet our friends for coffee and do other normal, everyday things like people do all over the world.
As excited as I was to hear about the Tzemachs and their year-long mission, their quest brought up some nagging questions. Why don’t the English or French or Americans need to do things like this? Why do we Israelis need to explain ourselves, to make sure that the world gives us “permission” to exist? And finally, do we really need to defend ourselves to the world?
After reading a lot on the matter, I discovered the ugly truth: Yes, Israel does need to defend herself. We are not like the English, French or Americans. In spite of the fact that all three of these countries had their share of oppressing people in other countries, as well as people who lived within their own borders, no one ever questioned their right to exist.
Yet here you have one tiny, Jewish state that gets all the attention when it comes to how it treats people. Many believe Israel is the cause of all the problems in the world, as if all of the world’s problems began only 63 years ago. The world press, from my point of view, is very one-sided when focusing on Israel. This leads people around the world to create a strong opinion about a country that they, in fact, know very little about.
Delegitimization of the state of Israel is not a new phenomenon. What is new is the fact that, instead of being a target only for Arab nations and third-world countries, people from western countries now oppose Israel’s existence. What troubles me most is that some of these Israel opponents are Jews.
The state of Israel wasn’t born from the Holocaust. It is actually the opposite: the Holocaust happened because we didn’t have a Jewish state to protect our people.
The Holocaust is proof that we should not have to justify our existence to anyone. Jewish people deserve a country just like any other people in the world, and the only legitimate place for us to do that is the land of our ancestors, our history and our heritage. In other words, the Land of Israel. From our perspective in Israel, it makes sense we are there. From our perspective, we do not have to justify ourselves. But with today’s world politics and perceptions, the reality is, we do need to justify our existence as a state.
This sad reality puts the pressure on all Jews, everywhere, to ensure the existence of the state of Israel will never be a question. Left wing, right wing — your specific beliefs don’t matter. What does matter is the existence of the state of Israel. Israelis and Diaspora Jews alike … it is a big part of our Jewish identity that we need in our lives.
I ask all of you to take action against the delegitimization of Israel. Speak out, learn more or join my Israel Advocacy group. You can connect to the advocacy group on Facebook (Israel Advocacy KC) or text advocacykc to 51818 to get updates on Israel. I also welcome you to contact me in person at or 913-327-8124.
