Israel’s Last Chance
Anyone looking at what is happening in the world should be anxious for Israel’s future.
How could it be that a city like New York, that has more Jews than any other, should have elected a mayor who accuses Israel of genocide? (Incidentally, when he did so, President Trump remained silent.)
According to a Washington Post poll conducted among Jews in September, many sharply disapproved of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, while 61 percent said that Israel had committed war crimes.
While Israel once viewed Diaspora Jewry as a steadfast, loyal ally, that is no longer necessarily the case. Political leaders will, therefore, wonder whether they need to take Israel into account at election time.
Anyone viewing the royal welcome that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud received when he visited Washington last week cannot have failed to notice where US interests lie. While Israel was always considered America’s staunchest ally in the Middle East, some may well be asking themselves now whether the Jewish State should still be considered an asset or viewed as a burden.
Looking at what is happening in Israel, there is every reason for concern. We have the most right-wing government in our country’s history. Likkud is not the Likkud of Menachem Begin, Limor Livnat, Benny Begin and Dan Meridor.
Menachem Begin once declared: “There are judges in Israel” (not in “Jerusalem” as if often mis-quoted.) One wonders how he would have reacted to the judicial overhaul currently being undertaken by Netanyahu’s government!
His coalition is dependent upon right-wing extremists like Bezalel Smotrich, who believes that Jewish settlement of the biblical Land of Israel is an imperative that will lead to the coming of the Messiah. There is no room there for a two-state solution demanded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as a condition for establishing diplomatic relations with our country.
If right-wing, fanatical messianism were not enough, the burgeoning Charedi sector of Israeli society, which already numbers 14% of the population, refuses with few exceptions to undertake military service.
What future can a country like that have? Will Israel become a “Jewish Iran”, a fascist state ruled by a Council of Torah Sages? Many will reluctantly choose to live elsewhere. Ynet reports that between 2020 and 2024, 145,900 more Israelis left the country than returned to it.
Many are concerned for Israel’s future and see next year’s elections, if they take place, as a crossroads in our country’s history. If a government similar to that of today is re-elected, many may choose to live elsewhere rather than go down with a sinking ship.
As a father, who made Aliyah with his family, and as a committed Zionist, whose son, Yonatan z”l, fell in battle in Lebanon, it pains me to think that Israel might well become a country for which his sacrifice was in vain.
For many of us, the elections next year may well be Israel’s last chance.