The desire on behalf of Jews living outside the land to support Israel is strong. However, it is disheartening when the country has seemingly lost the will to support itself
Although it is very difficult for those living in the United States to gauge Israeli public opinion, recent conversations with friends in Israel have troubled me a great deal. It seems that it is easier to support Israel while living in the Diaspora than while living in Israel itself.
I have never served in the Israeli armed forces and therefore the chances that I may have to die for Israel are relatively small. For those living in Israel the story is very different. Some feel that they no longer want to fight for Israel. They do not consider that they are defending their land and argue that the lives of IDF soldiers are being offered upon the altar of senseless political escapades by shortsighted politicians.
This underlies the difference in perspective between Diaspora Jews and Israeli Jews. Israelis have a passive Jewish identity; the fact that they live in Israel alone underscores their Jewishness. What can be more Jewish than living in a Jewish state and fighting in its army?
Diaspora Jews have a greater dilemma; since they are living in a gentile country they need to actively pursue Jewish identifiers. This can take on a number of different guises.
For some synagogue membership is enough. Others are not comfortable with the concept of religion and would rather see Judaism as a culture. Their Jewish identity is therefore satisfied by belonging to the local Jewish Cultural Center or by donating money to the local Jewish Federation.
Supporting Israel as part of Jewish identity
For many Diaspora Jews, however, supporting the State of Israel is a major contributing factor to their Jewish identity. This support usually plays itself out in a number of ways including donations to Israel, vacationing in Israel and arguing Israel’s case to friends, colleagues and the media.
The problem that we are facing however is that support for Israel in Israel itself seems to be waning. This does not mean that Zionism is not alive and well in some quarters of Israel – it certainly is. However those who are most imbued with its fervor are the young religious Zionists who were evicted from their homes in Gush Katif and who stand to be ousted from their homes in the future elsewhere in Israel.
Mainstream Israel, seems to be turning its back on the very philosophy that allowed for it founding, and there are many examples of this. However it was most recently demonstrated during the latest war against Hizbullah.
The ‘stop and start’ way the war was waged (with contradicting statements from the Israeli government like: we are expanding our invasion of ground forces to the Litani river/we have postponed the expanded invasion, the Prime Minister wont accept the UN proposed cease fire/he accepted it, we won’t stop until the kidnapped soldiers are returned/we have ceased fire although there is no sign of the soldiers being returned), clearly indicated that the Israeli political leadership was itself not convinced that it had a right to fight this war.
The war was not conducted with the confidence and conviction needed and the result was a humiliation for Israel – the soldiers are still being held by Hizbullah and thus the aims of the war were not achieved.
So it seems that while the Israelis have lost confidence in the righteousness of their cause and are not really prepared to do what it takes to fight for it, Jews in the Diaspora are left with serious dilemmas on multiple levels.
The desire on behalf of Jews living outside the land to support Israel is strong. However, it is disheartening when the country has seemingly lost the will to support itself. When one hears from Israeli soldiers that they no longer wish to fight and when one sees the same attitude from the political echelons in Israel, all of us – Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora – need to do some serious thinking.