A very different American Jew, an Israeli Jew

Jews share ‘Never Again’ sentiment after the Holocaust
U.S. ships ‘progressive’, Israeli ships ‘unwilling to go to war’, turning right
One voice resisting Netanyahu’s “incapacity of the judiciary”

Natalie Portman (42), who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the movie ‘Black Swan,’ is a Jew born in Israel and immigrated to the United States at the age of three. Portman was named the 2018 winner of the ‘Genesis Prize’, which is called the Jewish Nobel Prize. It is an award given annually by Israel to one of the world’s Jews who has made outstanding achievements. Director Steven Spielberg and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg were awarded, and the prize money was $1 million. However, Portman did not attend the ceremony in April of that year, and she revealed:

“Israel was founded exactly 70 years ago as a refuge for Holocaust refugees. But today there are people who suffer from (Israel’s) atrocities, which are contrary to Jewish values. I want to resist violence, inequality and abuse of power because I care about Israel.”

At that time, Israeli forces suppressed Palestinians protesting in front of the ‘separation wall’ surrounding the Palestinian Gaza Strip with live ammunition, killing 37 people.

Portman’s refusal to receive the award was an event that brought attention to the difference between Jews in the United States and Jews in Israel. When it comes to Jews, the image of them as victims of the Nazi genocide was strong, but after seeing Palestine as well as Israel, which had turned into perpetrators of oppressing religious and racial minorities, I realized that there was a big gap even among Jews.

There are about 6 million Jews in the United States. It is equivalent to 7 million Jews in Israel (total population 9.7 million). The difference between the two groups was starkly revealed in the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump (Republican Party) and Joe Biden (Democratic Party). According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, an American polling agency, 75% of Jews in the United States supported Biden. Trump support was only 22%. Opinion polls conducted in Israel around the same time found the exact opposite. 63% of Israelis supported Trump, compared to only 19% for Biden.

Even when Trump sided with Israel by relocating the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jerusalem, a conflict zone with the Palestinians in 2018, American Jews objected, saying, “It is a violation of international law and will stimulate Arabs to incite anti-Semitic hate crimes.” did.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce the Middle East Peace Initiative, which calls for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of a full Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, in January 2020. The Palestinian Authority strongly protested, saying it rejected the unilateral peace plan. Washington = Shinhwa Newsis

In May 2021, Israel retaliated extensively against a rocket attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, resulting in the deaths of more than 300 Palestinians. At the time, public opinion was strong in the United States condemning Israel’s excessive retaliation. As the movement called ‘Palestines’ lives matter’, modeled after ‘Black Lives Matter’, spread, Jews in the United States joined in large numbers. In response, Israeli far-rightists sarcastically said, “I live in the United States, I am not threatened by terrorism, and I am not doing military service, and I am idle.”

Jews brought to the Auschwitz concentration camp established by the Nazis in Poland in the early 1940s during World War II. Archives of the Federal Republic of Germany

Going through the Holocaust, Jews shared the sentiment of ‘Never Again’ that the suffering should not be repeated. However, after Israeli independence in 1948, this strong consensus was expressed completely differently as they adapted to different environments.

If the Jews who settled in the United States evolved into a group that pursued progressive values ​​such as human rights equality while retaining their minority identity, the Israeli Jews who were willing to go to war to secure territory among Arab countries became ethnocentric and conservative. . Israel also made efforts for peace, such as signing the ‘Oslo Agreement’ recognizing mutual existence with Palestine in 1993.

Despite these differences among Jews, the US and Israeli governments have maintained a special relationship. However, as the far-right Benjamin Netyanahu administration pushed ahead with the recent ‘disabling the judiciary’ task, the rift between the two countries is also growing. Biden said, “I am very concerned. They cannot continue on this path,” Netanyahu responded, saying, “We are a sovereign country that cannot be shaken by foreign pressure.”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu moves with his staff to attend a cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on the 19th of last month. A few days ago, Defense Minister Yoav Galland announced that he would resign if he went ahead with the “disabling the judiciary” bill. Prime Minister Netanyahu eventually sacked Galland. Jerusalem = AP Newsis

In Israel, which is a parliamentary cabinet system, the government and the parliament are virtually one body, so the judiciary, which examines whether bills or policies are unconstitutional, has been in charge of checking. Many say that the judiciary played a significant role in maintaining democracy in Israel, where ultra-orthodox Jewish vested interests are still strong and where far-right parties can gain power at any time due to frequent clashes with Arabs.

The Netanyahu administration, which has been taking a far-right provocation against Arabs since taking power at the end of last year, and its plan to remove the power of the judiciary can be seen as a stepping stone to push ahead with hostile policies toward Palestine, such as the expansion of Israeli settlements, and to shrink democratic forces in the country.

In Israel these days, more than 500,000 citizens come out to anti-government protests and shout ‘Democracy’. There is a high public opinion that Netanyahu’s attempt to deform and shake the separation of powers must be stopped somehow. Ironically, American Jews and Israeli Jews have now begun to speak in one voice.

zoom inCitizens wave Israeli flags as they are hit by police water cannons at a protest against the “disabling the judiciary” bill in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the 27th of last month. Tel Aviv = AP Newsis

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.