opinion
Israel: The Jewish State and
the State of the Jews
Ralph Grunewald
Hans Pinn/Israel Government Press Offi ce
W e are living in unprecedented times here in
Israel, and we are witnessing history being
made. Before moving to Israel, I devoted decades
of my life as a professional in the American Jewish
community, served on the boards of local and
national Jewish organizations, and was an activist
in my community. My wife and I moved to Israel in
2021 and chose to realize the historic dream of our
ancestors to live as citizens in the Jewish homeland.

Israel is the Jewish state, but it is also the state of
the Jews — a nation for which untold generations
of Jews have yearned. We conclude our Passover
seders with the affi rmation: “Next year in Jerusalem,”
and we face toward our ancient capital city when we
pray. Our prayer books are infused with references
to Zion, to Jerusalem and to the land of Israel.

Israelis have much to celebrate as we are about to
mark 75 years of independence. We are the start-up
nation, we have a thriving economy, we have made
peace with many former enemies, we have a strong
military and intelligence community that keeps us
safe, and we provide aid and relief to victims
of natural disasters in far-off lands. As was the
dream of Israel’s founders, Israel has gathered Jews
from across the globe, both as a haven for those
seeking refuge, or like me, as a place to live out my
commitment to Zionism. We have realized the dream
embodied in our national anthem, Hatikvah: “l’hiyot
am chofshi b’artzaynu — to live as a free people in
our own land.”
Yet we Israelis also face enormous challenges.

We are a nation divided along racial, religious,
ideological, ethnic, economic, political and cultural
lines. We are a nation that has yearned for peace
with our Palestinian neighbors, but we have tragically
not yet found the means or willpower to live together
peacefully, side by side, with them, nor have we
ensured their human dignity and national aspirations.

We have leaders who are self-serving and corrupt,
and who care more about their political careers than
what is best for the nation. Americans can surely
relate to many of our challenges.

While we are blessed with a thriving civil society,
we recently stood on the edge of a precipice
of a constitutional crisis, not unlike what could
have happened in the USA on Jan. 6, had the
insurrectionists prevailed. Unfortunately, the current
pause in the fi erce protests that have erupted in
response to the Netanyahu coalition’s plans for
David Ben-Gurion signs Israel's Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948.

judicial reform is just that: a few weeks of calm as we
celebrate Passover, our day of remembrance for the
fallen soldiers who gave their lives to protect us, and
to celebrate 75 years of independence.

In 1948, David Ben-Gurion and the other co-signers
of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed
a remarkable document permeating with Jewish
values. In part it reads: “… [Israel] will foster the
development of the country for the benefi t of all
its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice
and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it
will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion,
race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion,
conscience, language, education and culture.”
Those words are inextricably rooted in our Jewish
values and teachings. “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof —
justice, justice shall you pursue” is but one of
countless Jewish teachings that guide us as a
people. There was never any doubt in the minds
of Israel’s founders that this nation would fl ourish
as a democracy, a hallmark of which is a system of
immutable checks and balances.

I am immensely proud of the enormous array of
Israelis — young and old, rich and poor, secular
and religious, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi, native-born
Israelis and immigrants, high-tech and low-tech
workers — who protested this government’s actions
over many weeks and months, even on Saturday
nights, before the start of the work week. It is
deeply heartening and reaffi rming to witness this
remarkable expression of Israelis who love their
nation and who understand that democracy requires
an independent judiciary, a system of meaningful
checks and balances, and the reigning-in of those
who seek to subvert these values.

As the state of the Jews — which represents our
Jewish values — Jews from around the world have
a right and a duty to raise their voices in protest.

The crossing of these red lines must empower Jews
worldwide when any Israeli government seeks to
erode our fundamental Jewish values and darken
the vision of Israel as a light unto the nations
rooted in democracy, justice and freedom for all its
inhabitants. ■
Ralph Grunewald served in senior professional
positions with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,
the American Jewish Committee, Hillel International,
The Israel Project and the Jewish Federation of
Howard County, and is founding chair of the Jewish
Electorate Institute.

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