The Aftermath of the Israeli Election and the Dismay of the American Jewish Left - Part I

(Note.  A post on the recent election in Israel (Israel Votes - And The Issues Are Similar To Here In The US) was written on November 6.  As discussed in that post, the conservative religious parties fared well in the election.)

In the November 4, 2022, Los Angeles Times was an Op-Ed co-written by David Myers (described as a professor of Jewish history at UCLA and president of the New Israel Fund) and Daniel Sokatch (CEO of the New Israel Fund).  I should preface my remarks by noting that I have previously had an email exchange with Professor Myers.  I also make mention of some of Professor Myers' opinions in my posts of 6/13/10 and 2/12/17.

Myers and Sokatch bemoan the rightward tilt of Israel's Jewish population.  They say that about 62% identify as right-wing, up from 46% in 2019.  "Especially depressing" to them is that 70% of young Israeli Jews identify as right-wing.  

But this one paragraph tells us all we need to know about Myers and Sokatch, and many left-wing American Jews:  "Israel has maintained an illegal and immoral occupation of Palestinian land since 1967.  And it has never reconciled its self-definition as a Jewish state with its professed desire to offer full equality to all its citizens, especially its large Arab minority, which makes up a fifth of the population."  The writers are particularly concerned about the likelihood (now a reality) of Itamar Ben-Gvir ("the avowed disciple of the hate-filled racist Meir Kahane") and Bezalel Smotrich ("a rabidly anti-LGBTQ rabble rouser") becoming part of the Netanyahu government.

But let's start with the idea of "Palestinian land."  What land is that?  In 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition the land of the British Mandate into a Jewish State and an Arab state.  The Jews agreed, but the Arabs never did.  When the Arabs attacked the new Jewish state, in a war lasting from 11/30/47 through 7/20/49, they did not succeed in destroying Israel.  When the war ended there was no peace treaty outlining the boundaries of two states.  Rather, there was an "armistice," a cease fire, the boundaries of which came to be known as the 1967 borders.  

During the "Six Day War" of 1967, the Arabs again failed to destroy the Jewish state.  Israel, on the other hand, won control of all of Jerusalem, the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), Gaza and the Golan Heights.  At the time of the armistice in 1949, Egypt controlled Gaza, Syria controlled the Golan Heights and Jordan controlled the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem.  But those Arab countries lost the 1967 war.  In other words, Arab countries controlled the land people like Myers and Sokatch call "Palestinian land."  Only after Israel controlled that territory did it become "Palestinian" land.    

Israel is the Jewish homeland.  I cannot tell if Myers and Sokatch have a problem with that.  One would never know from their piece that Arabs are in the Knesset, in the judiciary and were members of the outgoing government.  One might not know that in Israel Arabs are doctors and lawyers and in other professions.  But it's also true that after last year's fighting between Israel and Hamas (the current rulers of Gaza), Israeli Arabs attacked Israeli Jews in various cities throughout Israel.  Whatever justification that these Israeli Arabs may have felt, it is clear that many Jews no longer felt safe from their neighbors.  It should have surprised no one that the left-wing government gave way to a conservative government.  That would be a natural reaction when one's safety and security is at risk.  

It is no longer a surprise to me that people like Myers and Sokatch do not acknowledge the countless times that the Arabs have, in fact, been offered a state, and have rejected it each and every time.  The first rejection, again, was in 1947.  So this rejectionist attitude has been going on for 76 years.  Myers and Sokatch do not mention the non-stop terrorist attacks on Jewish Israeli civilians, nor the thousands of rockets launched from Hamas.  I would ask Myers and Sokatch if 22 Arab countries is fine with them, but a single Jewish country is not.