editorials
T his year, as we mark Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s
Independence Day on April 26 (5 Iyyar), we
join the people of Israel and supporters of Israel
around the word in celebration and introspection.

We celebrate the Jewish state’s amazing growth,
successes and achievements as we marvel at the
vibrancy, creativity and grit of the “startup nation”
that blossomed in the desert. At the same time, we
worry about the profound political and societal rifts
that now divide the people of Israel in a way and
with an intensity we have not seen before. These
fundamental internal differences raise concerns in
Diaspora communities and among friends of Israel
around the world. In the eyes of many, the divide
threatens the continued vitality of the Jewish state’s
democratic enterprise.

Although Israel has faced all sorts of challenges
in the past, this is the third time that a threatening
cloud of this significance has hovered over a Yom
Ha’atzmaut celebration. The first was the original
Independence Day on May 14, 1948, when Israel was
under withering attack from all of her neighbors. The
second was on the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967,
when Egypt and Syria were gearing up for war and
the U.S. was warning Israel not to shoot first. In both
cases, Israel overcame overwhelming challenges
and survived. And thrived. We pray for the same
result now.

The Israel we celebrate this year is a much different
Israel than in 1948 or 1967. Today’s Israel is militarily
strong, economically successful, a world high-tech
innovator, at peace with many of her neighbors
and largely in control of the Palestinian population
in the surrounding territories. The Israel of 1948
and 1967 would hardly recognize what the country
has become.

The other difference is that the earlier threats
to Israel’s existence were external. This year’s
threat is from within. It is our hope that just as the
people of Israel joined together to overcome historic
external challenges, they will find a way to work
together to resolve today’s internal disagreements.

The path forward will not be easy. But so long
as approaches toward resolution recognize the
sincerity of opposing views even while respectfully
disagreeing with them, a path toward resolution can
be found.

As part of that process, modest compromise is
in order and should be embraced. For example,
Yom Ha’atzmaut is immediately preceded by Yom
Hazikaron, the sacred Memorial Day for Israelis
who died in the country’s defense. In the face
of ongoing protests against the government, an
opposition member of Knesset called for a pause in
the demonstrations on Yom Hazikaron, so all could
join together and honor the dead. Then a member
of the government circulated a proposal calling for a
halt to protests on Yom Ha’atzmaut, as well.

As of this writing, Israel’s opposition has not agreed
to the requested pause. They should. Everyone
should join in commemorating Israel’s fallen heroes
and in celebrating the anniversary of the unparalleled
country they want Israel to be.

Happy birthday Israel! Am Yisrael Chai! ■
Israeli Youth Trips to Poland
O n March 22, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen
and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau
announced an agreement to resume Israeli youth
trips to Holocaust sites in Poland, pending approval of
the deal in the Knesset and Poland’s Parliament. The
announcement was designed to end the suspension
of the trips announced last year during a series of
diplomatic clashes between the countries arising
primarily from Poland’s effort to highlight German
crimes against Poles during World War II rather
than focus solely on Poland’s atrocities during the
Holocaust. Under the proposed deal, new sites will
be added to the students’ itineraries, including some
that document Nazi crimes against non-Jewish Poles.

And each delegation of students would get a Polish
guide (in addition to their Israeli leaders) at the sites
their tour visits.

The deal – which reportedly will require every trip
to visit one of 32 sites recommended by the Polish
government — has been criticized by a wide range of
Israeli educators and politicians, and by Yad Vashem,
Israel’s main Holocaust memorial and museum.

According to Yad Vashem, the Polish government’s
12 APRIL 20, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
list contains “problematic sites inappropriate for
visiting on educational trips.”
There is also concern over the deal’s terms and
its wording — particularly the explanatory language
inserted by Poland that can be construed as equating
the Holocaust with other atrocities. Critics argue
that the trips should remain focused solely on
the Holocaust — a degradation of humanity without
parallel. Others express concern that some of
the sites on the Polish list ignore documented
aspects of direct Polish involvement in the Nazi
effort to wipe out the Jews and commemorate
victims of
Communist persecution
that include Polish militia fighters and others who
murdered Jews.

Supporters of the proposed deal say the
sites recommended by the Polish government
include sufficient choices for organizers to avoid
controversial places, and that the deal represents an
acceptable compromise.

And then there is the political angle. Israel’s
government wants to normalize relations with
Poland which, until several years ago, was one of
the most pro-Israel countries in the European Union.

That relationship started to unravel in 2018 after an
increasingly nationalistic Poland passed legislation
that outlawed blaming the Polish nation for any
role in Nazi crimes. Israel’s then-foreign minister,
Yair Lapid, called the law antisemitic. When Poland
would not back down, Israel suspended the youth
trips. In Israel, political opposition to rapprochement
continues, with now-opposition leader Lapid calling
the deal “a national disgrace.”
Both sides in Israel appear to agree that the
high school trips are an important tool to teach
young Israelis about the Holocaust. With that
objective in mind, if acceptable sites are included
in the list of 32 designated by Poland, Israeli tours
can insist on visiting one of them. And if the Polish
guides say anything unacceptable to the Israelis,
those guides can be replaced. As long as Israeli
personnel retain control over tour agendas, programs
and trip administration, some accommodation
should be able to be reached to enable resumption
of the trips and normalization of an important
political relationship. ■
Photo by Tiia Monto / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Israel at 75