Israelis are Drinking the Tea

As much as Jewish American liberals like to wince at their perception of racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic WASPy, and as Barack Obama would call them, "gun toting" Tea Partiers, it appears that the trend supercedes the love of Jesus, country music, and pulled pork.  Now, Israel's right wing is starting their own Tea Party.  And in case you're wondering whether or not Obama had anything to do with this one, the JPost, has described the Israeli Tea Party as one that "promises to be just as patriotic, provocative and antagonistic to Obama as [the]American version...".

Why are some Israelis in a rush to dump their leaders overboard? According to Michael Kleiner, former Likud legislator and "driving force" behind the Israeli Tea party,

"We believe President Obama is trying to force us to do things that most Israelis believe are very dangerous... We are being blackmailed to sacrifice our security and vital interests by another country, which is unprecedented."

Their discontent is far from off-base. As Caroline Glick recounted less than two weeks ago:

On Tuesday State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was asked, "Do you [i.e. the administration] recognize Israel as a Jewish state and will you try to convince the Palestinians to recognize it?

As Rick Richman at Commentary's blog noted, Crowley repeatedly tried to evade answering the question. Reporters were forced to repeat the question six times before Crowley managed to say, "We recognize that Israel is a - as it says itself, is a Jewish state, yes."

As for whether or not the administration will try to convince the Palestinians to recognize the Jewish state, Crowley could not bring himself to give a simple affirmative answer.

Crowley's refusal to give straight answers to straight questions about US recognition of Israel as a Jewish state shows that Israel has never faced a more unfriendly US administration. After all, recognizing Israel as a Jewish state means recognizing that the Jewish people are a nation, and as a nation, the Jews have a right to self-determination in our national homeland. So recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is recognizing Israel's right to exist.

Glick goes on to do more than advocate that Netanyahu steer clear of Obama's Middle East policies; she cites poll numbers that overwhelmingly prove that Israeli and American Jews, along with American voters at large, are relatively on the same page when it comes to the Obama Administration versus Israel.
Citing A survey of American Jewish opinion published this week by the American Jewish Committee:

78% of American Jews voted for Obama in 2008
51% approve of his performance in office today

49% of American Jews support Obama's handling of US-Israel relations
45% disapprove

62% of American Jews approve of Netanyahu's handling of US-Israel relations
27% disapprove

Glick goes on to cite another poll "...carried out from October 3-5 by the non-partisan McLaughlin and Associates survey research group for the pro-Israel Emergency Committee for Israel. It is the most in-depth poll of US sentiment towards Israel in recent memory. The poll broke down respondents by political affiliation, geographical area, religion, race, age, education level, sex, income level and ideological outlook."
Check out these results:

93.5% of Americans believe that the US should be concerned about Israel's security

77% of Americans believe the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish State

50.9% of Americans are more likely to vote for a staunchly pro-Israel candidate
25.2% are less likely to do so.

53% of Americans say they could not vote for an anti- Israel candidate even if they agreed with the candidate's positions on most other issues.

42.7% of Americans believe that the president's Middle East policies harm Israel's security
29.6% believe that they are improving Israel's security situation.

51.6% of Americans believe that Obama is less friendly towards Israel than his predecessors have been.
35.4% believe that he is as friendly towards Israel as his predecessors were.

69% of Republicans are more likely to vote for a pro-Israel candidate
40% of Democrats are.

15% of Republicans are less likely to vote for a pro-Israel candidate
33% of Democrats are less likely to vote for a candidate who strongly supports Israel.

5% of self-described liberals are pro-Israel.

This morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe a series of commentators and wonks were discussing the fact that America is at a political crossroads of sorts, where the traditional definitions of "left" and "right" are no longer the same things as they were 40 or 50 years ago. The observation is correct. We are entering into a period that no longer looks at Republican or Democrat, or even Likud or Labor-- this is the era of Capitalists versus Socialists, of Republics versus Communist states, and nowhere is this more clearly illustrated that the relationship between America and Israel.

Average voters, the non-politicians who are the most affected by policy and the most likely to pay for the politicians' mistakes, are tired of being pushed (again, to quote President Obama) "to the back of the bus".  Now, thanks in large part to that endless resource known as the Internet where nobody (and no agenda) can hide, the truth is out in the open for all the voters to see and hear in an environment where they are free to respond.  And freedom is contageous.  Goodbye, old-world political hierarchies; this is Politics 2.0.

Tea, anyone?

So, where do you stand politically, anyway?

I hate pigeonholes. 

I hesitate to title myself into any political category or party for the same reason I never took to goose-stepping in college; I don’t follow the crowd and never will.  But, to understand where I’m coming from, there are probably some basic principles you ought to know:

I am a Zionist.  This means that I believe that Israel is a Jewish State, and as such, the Jewish people have an inherent, G-d given right to the land.  How they decide to exercise and/or vocalise that right is their choice.  Whether I agree with them or not does not matter.  What does matter is that we have the right to exist and to be loud and proud about it.

I am Jewish.  I go to Temple for the High Holidays and try to make a Shabbat every now and then.  I was an active member of Hillel.  But Jewish, for me, goes beyond religious practice and effects every aspect of my life and being.  I don’t eat pork.  My husband separates milk and meat, so when I’m with him, cheese steaks are out the window.  I spent a weekend helping to wire up a Ram Kol at a Labor Zionist youth movement summer camp.  I also marched in the Israel Day Parade in New York.  My current reading list includes To Jerusalem and Back by Saul Bellow and Founders and Sons by Amos Elon.  I employ Yiddish frequently and try to study Hebrew fervently.  Most of all, I seek to honor G-d with all my heart and treat my neighbor as myself, because that’s the Jewish thing to do.

I will never BOO another Jew.  Recently a bunch of right-wingers boo’d at a group from my above-mentioned left-wing camp.  For some reason, these right-wingers (who, I’m fairly sure, were more religiously observant than a bunch of vegetarian Obama fans from New York City) decided that their own political positions superceded the Biblical call for Jewish unity.  Apparently, in their fervor to keep Israel and Jerusalem united, these politicos decided that sinat chinam [baseless hatred] was an acceptable weapon in their ideological battle.  You know–the same stuff that resulted in the destruction of the Temple and the …loss of Jerusalem. 

Hmm….

I don’t agree with every opinion vocalized by my fellow Jews.   But I’m not going to allow our differences to result in the destruction of our unity.  We’ve been a minyan of stiff-necks since Sinai.  After 5,000 years, I think we can learn to get along; don’t you?

G-d is the Supreme Authority over everything, including us.  I’m one of those wacky Joos who actually reads the contract before she signs it.  I own a Bible.  I reference it frequently.  I try to apply the principles therein to my daily life, without the intervening commentary or guidance of a Rabbi, Cantor, or religious official of any kind, for three reasons:

1.  I have a brain.  I like to use it.

2.  I dislike middle men and authoritarians.  Besides, as my grandfather always said, when I reach Heaven, the conversation is going to be one-on-one anyway.

3.  I can.  It really is as simple as that.

Human beings try and create power structures in and of themselves to control the chaos on this planet.  Some work better than others.  G-d works best.  And, usually, the political structures that recognize this simple fact in some form or fashion are the ones that function the most successfully.  Go figure.

I am an individual.  I believe in individual liberties.  I dislike bloated governments trying to legislate my life and the lives of others. 

I believe the most successful way to live your life is to know G-d, know yourself, and know the world around you–in that order.  This is done through education and education comes through many channels: family, school, individual study, friends, travel, experience, to name a few.  Embrace them all–wisely.

For a situation to be handled correctly in part, it must be viewed through the lens of the whole.  As my mother has said, we are all links in a chain.  You can’t address one broken link without looking at how that repair will help or harm the rest.