Loving a Flawed Israel

It’s never enjoyable to see Israel in crisis. But this one is especially difficult.

Over the last 75 years, most of us have become accustomed to watching as the Jewish state has faced a seemingly endless series of trials and tribulations. But until now, the protagonists have come from the outside. Arabs and Palestinians, Iran and Syria and Lebanon, Hamas and Hezbollah, sometimes Russian or Turkish or European antagonists have all posed threats at one time or another. But Israel, with the strong support of the United States and its Jewish community, has almost always prevailed.

But this fight is different. Now the danger comes from the inside, and an internal menace is much harder to identify, let alone defeat. Israel is not in civil war (at least not at the time that this was written), but never before has the Jewish state been so deeply divided against itself. And for those of us whose love for Israel comes from across thousands of miles and many generations, demonstrating that affection has never been more complicated. Regardless of where you stand in this ugly brawl over judicial appointments, the makeup of the Israeli government and ultimately the nation’s democratic foundations, the question we all face is whether and how to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to a Jewish homeland.

The easiest part of this challenge is whether to stand with Israel, and the answer is that we must. Voicing your opposition to an Israeli politician or policy with whom you disagree is entirely appropriate. When a friend or family member whom we love does or says something to which we object, it is our obligation to steer them back toward safer and better ground. We have that same obligation to a country that we love: our responsibility is to point out where they have faltered and lift them back onto their feet. 

Looking away and ignoring a loved one’s failings is not love: it is abandonment. We can no more abandon our homeland than we can ignore a child or a sibling or a close friend in need who has strayed and desperately needs our guidance to recover what they’ve lost. Listen to the words of Yossi Klein Halevi, the American-born Israeli author and noted Netanyahu critic.

“What, you’re only going to be with us when we give you nachas? You’re only with us when we pull an Entebbe. That’s the measure of the relationship?” Klein asked in a recent interview with journalist Jodi Rudoren. “The measure of the relationship is: Are you with us when we disgrace the Jewish people? And that’s when you stand up and say: ‘No, Israel is too precious.”

When you criticize a person – or a country – that you love, you must do everything possible to demonstrate that your disappointment is borne from your love. 

But when you criticize a person – or a country – that you love, you must do everything possible to demonstrate that your disappointment is borne from your love. We wouldn’t embarrass a friend or family member in front of those who wish them ill. Similarly, we must the extra effort to make sure that the world’s most virulent anti-Zionists take no false comfort from our internal disagreement. No matter how angry we become at one another, allowing the most committed Israel-haters to co-opt our political discord and use it to strengthen their fight against the Jewish state is something we must avoid at all costs.

Danny Danon, the head of World Likud and a strong Netanyahu backer, put it this way: “I can tell that our enemies don’t make the distinction between left or right, and those supporting the reform or are against reform,” he said. “I think we should have that responsibility to try to keep the disputes under control.” 

Two of Israel’s leading patriots, who occupy opposite ends of the current debate, are giving us two pieces of valuable advice. First, they remind us that loving Israel should not prevent us from criticizing it. Second, that criticizing Israel can not allow us to provide an opportunity for those who hate it.

Together, they tell us that we can protest Israel. But we should do it while we carry an Israeli flag. Let’s listen to both of them.

Dan Schnur is a Professor at the University of California – Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. Join Dan for his weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” (www.lawac.org) on Tuesdays at 5 PM.