Israel’s hawkish strategic affairs minister was met with a chorus of boos at the annual dinner of the Zionist Organization of America when he invoked his government’s recent partial moratorium on Jewish settlement expansions in the West Bank.
The jeers continued even as Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon, a former Israeli general and current senior Likud party leader, made it clear that the freeze did not affect any ongoing projects or public works.
But when Ya’alon declared, “This, of course, doesn’t mean that we compromise on the right of the Jewish people to live in any part of Eretz Israel,” the crowd cheered.
The incident at the December 13 dinner came shortly after a speech by Morton Klein. The outspoken national president of the 112-year-old group won some of the biggest cheers of the night when he directly challenged recent concessions made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward the peace process. The cheers continued as Klein questioned the very value of the process itself.
Klein was careful not to criticize Netanyahu. And the Israeli leader addressed the group via a two- minute videotaped greeting. But the contrasting reactions to Ya’alon’s brief mention of Israel’s effort to accommodate American and world pressure, and to Klein’s speech, raised questions about the prime minister’s standing with his right-wing base here, even as he faces similar resistance in Israel.
In his address, Klein decried as “racist” calls for a settlement freeze on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The territory, which militant settlers view as rightfully Israel’s to rule, is seen, with Gaza, as the area for a Palestinian state by those who accept a two-state solution. At least conditionally, Netanyahu now counts himself among these.But Klein dismissed Palestinian claims to the land in question. And he argued that continued threats to Israel’s security by Palestinians disqualified them from the right to a state.
As for the peace process itself, “Israel can and will survive without peace, as they have done since 1948,” Klein told his dinner guests.
In a later interview Klein bluntly criticized Netanyahu’s nods toward the peace process.
The Israeli leader’s partial moratorium on expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank “sends a clear and erroneous message that the Arab-Israeli conflict is due to Jews living in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem,” he said. Netanyahu may hope that the freeze will shift the blame for a lack of progress to the Palestinians, “but I think he’s wrong about that,” Klein said. “The world only now will pressure Israel more.”
Klein added, “We’re against discussing a Palestinian state until they show how they’re becoming part of the civilized world.” He predicted that Netanyahu’s conditional acceptance of a Palestinian state — announced in a June speech at Bar-Ilan University — would backfire. “I think what Bibi’s doing will not bear fruit,” Klein said.
The $500-per-plate gala, held at Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt hotel, attracted some 700 people, according to Klein. One of its main purposes was to bestow an award for Zionism on Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire CEO and chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Adleson is a major Netanyahu supporter. Yet it was Klein’s stand that Adelson praised in his own talk. “Each time he opened up his mouth, I thought it was me talking,” he said.
A spokesman for Adelson stated later that his support for Netanyahu “has not changed.” But Klein disclosed that Adelson will travel to Israel soon to lobby Netanyahu against the settlement moratorium.
Gala attendees were concerned about the settlement freeze, but many were more eager to blame the President Obama than Netanyahu.
“He’s squeezing Israel,” Herbert Wolfzahn, a ZOA member, said of President Obama. “It’s our land, and Obama would like to see it judenrein,” he said, using the Nazi term for land that had been cleansed of Jews.
Another ZOA member, Ora Kesselman, said that the organization’s role was to defend the Israeli prime minister from negative American influence. “We want to make sure Netanyahu will not cave to pressure,” Keffelman said.
Some nonmembers attending were more willing to criticize Netanyahu. Helen Freedman, executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel, which advocates permanent Israeli rule of all of the West Bank and Gaza, said she never had high hopes for the current government.
“The Bar-Ilan speech and the mention of a Palestinian state was of course a sound of alarm about what was to come. This freeze just reinforced it all,” she said.
But at least one attendee thought the boos directed at Ya’alon were unnecessary. “It’s not permanent,” Jason Liebowitz said of the freeze.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com
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There are a number of inaccuracies and significant omissions in the above article about the ZOA gala annual dinner, which I was privileged to attend. First, General Ya'alon was NOT "greeted" with "a chorus of boos" and there were no continuing jeers. Midway through General Ya'alon's speech, when he mentioned the settlement freeze, there were several boos from one table, which ended immediately. The General received a standing ovation for the remainder of his speech. Second, the article omitted Republican Congressman Eric Cantor's stirring keynote speech, in which he spoke about how too many of us are ignoring the increasing dangerous attacks on Israel and Jews throughout the world. Third, ZOA President Mort Klein's speech did not address "Palestinian claims." Rather, Mr. Klein explained why Jews have the legal right to the West Bank, based on the writings of eminent legal scholars and a review of the history of the region, including the San Remo conference. Fourth, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke for longer than 2 minutes. Fifth, the article failed to mention physician Miriam Adelson's award for her outstanding pro-Israel activities, Jeff Jacoby's journalism award, and Conference of Presidents Executive Director Malcolm Hoenlein's speech about Jewish unity. Sixth, other prominent attendees went unmentioned, including the President of Hadassah, three past chairman of the Conference of Presidents, and a past director of AIPAC. Last, but not least, the article omitted Sheldon Adelson's moving speech about his father's love for Israel and never-achieved desire to visit Israel, and how this inspired Mr. Adelson's (enormous) contributions to help young people visit Israel. Mr. Adelson's speech brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience.
Elizabeth Berney, Esq. Great Neck, New York
DE Teodoru Sat. Dec 19, 2009 As a refugee from a Communist country I am forced to remember how many of us felt when Soviet Jews who had prominently stood alone against the Communist regime were received at Soviet Jewery Inc programs here, in Wash DC and in Berkley Calif by long time anti-Communists. At one occaision a prominent and most humanitarian Nobel laureat reacted to the absence of invited Black Community leaders: "These schwartzas got so much support from me and now when we need them they don't show up. No more will I do anything for them." Of course, this was a promise not kept. And, the Russian guests in no way missed them. Later, when I discussed the possibility of a rift over that absence with one of the Russians, he laughed and said: always our kith and kin abroad who have it real good are suffering a certain guilt because they have it si good and did so little while we who had it so bad did so much so they express it bey becoming more by the book than a rabbi. But that's only the wine of the occaision speaking so they can make us think that they've always been loyal to our plight.
I thought that quite sagecious. In the same way, this hyper-reactive position taking on Israel by American Jews has to do with trying to get some of the glow without having been there but only on the basis of some chromosomal commonality and by behaving more radical than the guests. Luckily, the polarizing is soon fogotten in practice and people continue to dialogue their differences.
Alas, FORWARD now feeds the polarization by characterizing J Street's position on Iran as LEFT moving right and then the Zionist reaction at ZOA as "from the righty" booing and jeering at Yallon as if Right moving ore right still. Come on, it's as if you reported that someone passed a gas during the silence from the audience while the speaker was speaking. What would be the point? Everything is reported as if some sort of solemn ceremony were at issue when in fact, in politics and foreign affairs, the proforma stuff is irrelevent and good journalism would not polarize its stories around the passing of gas or anything of that ilk. Ironically, the real debate between the shades of Zionism are not elaborately expounded in these accounts and the important views and reactions around the speech were not reported either. Lately, one learns more from the "opinion" sections of FORWARD than from the "news" section. Has Murddock also taken-over the FORWARD? I ask because I never in the past saw it as so tabloid as recently, though its opinion section is far more thoughtful. Rather, it is in its opinion pages that one got the most balanced articles.
Is the FORWARD trying to create or feed polarization where there really should be none? Afterall, J Street and ZOA are BOTH ZIONISTS! The debate is over how will Israel survive in the Middle East LONG TERM. The ZOAers are generally older than the J Streeters so that raises the question of whether there's a generational conflict there? Whatever the case, FORWARD as a NEWSPAPER, Jewish or not, has an obligation not to align its stories in a polarizing way. Rather, it should objectively provide analytic information as to where these groups have common ground and where they diverge. To polarize them as right-left in the very headline to the reports of J Street and ZOA stories is, well, tabloid and not in the FORWARD traditon, in my view. Afterall, FORWARD is not COMMENTARY!
I have seen this in many ethno/cultural and religious publications where the newspapers polarized the community groups in their reporting and as a result polarized themselves and as a result withered and died over time, the community losing a critical element that kept it united and vibrant accross generations. I only put my two cents in as one accepted, integrated and educated in the NY Jewish Community since coming to America and since then a reader of the Forward.
Ms. Berney,
According to my audio recording of the event, Netanyahu's pre-taped address lasted for 2:40.
Josh
There are several problems with this news article. First, if Israel keeps the West Bank then Israel must eventually give West Bank residents the right to vote and to have Israeli citizenship. The main justification to me for the two state solution is to keep Israel from having an Arab majority. The second point is this, 'Who governs Israel?' Is it governed by the Israeli electorate, who actually chose Livni, or is it run by NY Jews and the ZOA ? Bibi is accountable to his own electorate and only he really knows the international pressure on Israel.
Unfortunately, the answer to the above writer (Joe)'s apt question regarding who really governs Israel seems to be the "international pressure on Israel" which Joe referred to. For instance, despite the Israeli electorate's clear mandate to the right to oppose further concessions, pressure from Obama and others (Ackerman also states that he opposes the settlements) apparently led to the misguided settlement freeze.
The freeze will do nothing to promote peace, is inhumane to Jewish families living in overcrowded conditions, and harms America's real interest in having a strong, reliable Mideast ally.
The additional outside pressures to dismantle settlements are extremely dangerous. The "settlements" are actually established Israeli towns and cities near the "green line." They only cover approximately a minuscule three per cent of the West Bank, and are clearly not an obstacle to peace. It would be a humanitarian disaster to dismantle these towns and cities: hundreds of thousands of Jews would be left homeless, while the Palestinians would gain additional highly strategic areas for launching rockets and other terrorist attacks.
It is thus critical for ZOA and Israel's Jewish and Christian supporters in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere to counteract inappropriate pressures, and to point out that the real obstacle to peace is continuing anti-Israel incitement and terrorism.
Elizabeth Berney, Esq. Great Neck, New York
Josh Nathan-Kazis is just another reporter in the string of The Forward's liberal roots of anti-settlement ranting and raving. Eric Cantor appearing isnt mentioned... but booing is... Conference of presidents and AIPAC past leaders arent quoted, but a random individual speaking against BB is. No one praised Yigal Amir within a 500 mile radius of the building to quote ? Absurd liberals.
I thought I was a Zionist, but according to the ZOA and folks like Elizabeth Berney of Great Neck, I am not. I do not think Israelis should be living in Hebron, Shiloh, and other communities far from the Green Line. I hope Ms. Berney and the ZOA is right - that Israel can continue to exist in a constant state of war. But in my heart I know they are tragically wrong - that Israel cannot remain a Jewish, democratic nation if it does not leave the West Bank and Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, and once and for all, that the Palestinians and Israelis come to a two state agreement.
When we read Ezekiel and Isaiah we see G-D criticize and pours scorn on the actions of the leaders in Judah and Israel. As G-D has done through out all our generations that have headed for this time today. G-D'S words,....are not containd in any one generation. For G-D is past, now, and what is to come.... Mankind are contained in generations. G-D called to prophesy our spiritual responsibilities.
Read all of Jer. 31....note the new creation of G-D. Then note the diffrence between the verse were G-D writes on Israel heart and mind and in their inward parts, what this group of people would not do for the love of G-D.
Read Psalm 51....read those who turned and offered up a free-will offering to do the will of G-D in their lives in all they do and say. Note....the inward parts and the hidden part.
Read Ps. 118...and see the LORD'S gate....and the rejected Stone, that many seen down through out our generations that have put sin out and G-D of Host in. read Gen. 28 see the house of G-D. that is the Stone , and the hidden part. Open the eyes of your hearts.
G-d Bless Mort Klein, ZOA, Z-Street, and G-d CURE J-Street and the Kapo Rabbis for Obama.
We and Israel will survive, in spite of these enemies.
Teodoro spurts again.
For the record, J Street is NOT Zionist nor Pro-Israel.
But an argument can be made for it being part of Stormfront.org, David Duke's crew, or their allies over at International Solidarity with Fascists and Islamic Nazi killers.
Liz and Hymie - keep up the good fight. Unfortunately something that would have been tolerated as much as Jews for Jesus 20 years ago seems to permeate the brain-dead skulls of the Jew-in-name-only Leftard with this Judenrat Strasse fixation.
And by the way, Jews for Jesus are better Jews than the pathetic self-haters who are involved with J Street.