editorials
Engage With Israel’s New Government
n Dec. 21, shortly before the expiration of
Court, when the court rules that a Knesset
the midnight deadline to do so, Benjamin
law is unconstitutional.

Netanyahu informed Israeli President Isaac
Each of these concerns is legitimate. We
Herzog that he had the support of 64 of
share them. And we encourage forceful
the Knesset’s 120 members to form a new
engagement with Netanyahu and govern-
government. ment leadership to explain the depth of
Expected to be the most right-wing gov-
concern in the Diaspora on each of the
ernment in Israel’s 75-year history, the
issues. Israeli leaders need to understand
incoming coalition has generated apprehen-
the importance of avoiding a serious rupture
sion, consternation and opposition among a
in the relationship between the government
signifi cant sector of Diaspora Jewry. Very
of Israel and its Jewish brothers and sisters
little of that concern relates to historical
around the world.

two-state solution or regional peace issues.

We believe in dialogue. We believe in the
Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right) assigned the task of forming
Instead, the focus has been on possible new
thoughtful exchange of ideas. We believe in
a new government to Likud party head Benjamin Netanyahu on
policies of the government, many of which
the value of working through diff erences. And
Nov. 13, 2022.

could have signifi cant impact on Diaspora
just as we oppose Israel’s adoption of policies
Jewry. that will negatively impact our community,
Half of the new coalition members (32) come the clause that extends the right to make aliyah we cannot support a unilateral severance of dia-
from Netanyahu’s Likud party. Eighteen come to any person with at least one Jewish grandpar- logue with Israeli government offi cials by our com-
from the haredi Orthodox Shas and United Torah ent. Second, the haredi eff ort to impose more munity just because we disagree with their public
Judaism parties. The remaining 14 coalition seats restrictive policies on religious life in Israel, positions. We support comprehensive, bilateral
are held by three far-right factions that joined including more limiting standards for conversion engagement.

together for the November election and have now and prohibiting pluralistic prayer at the Kotel,
It is for that reason that we question the wisdom
separated to their original party status. They are along with new rules barring public transporta- of the reported declaration of hundreds of American
Religious Zionism, led by Bezalel Smotrich; Otzma tion on Shabbat and the imposition of restrictive rabbis who last week promised to block Israeli govern-
Yehudit, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir; and Noam, led by kashrut certifi cation standards. Third, the devel- ment offi cials with whom they disagree from speak-
Avi Maoz. As news emerged that the three leaders opment of policies that will negatively impact the ing in their communities. Our tradition embraces
had negotiated signifi cant ministerial positions in LGBTQ community, infringe on women’s rights the concept of comprehensive debate even in the
the new government, concern within Israel and in and further hamper Palestinian residents in the face of deep disagreement. Our tradition embraces
the Diaspora has intensifi ed.

West Bank. And fourth, a change to Israel’s judi- engagement, forceful argument and persuasion.

Concern has focused on four areas: First, threat- cial system to allow a majority of the Knesset We encourage the threatening rabbis to reconsider
ened change to the Law of Return — to remove to override a decision by the Israel Supreme their approach. JE
George Santos Should Resign
B efore and during his recent campaign for offi ce,
incoming Republican Rep. George Santos of
Long Island, N.Y., claimed to be “half-Jewish.” He
also claimed to be a “Latino Jew.” He said that his
maternal grandfather was originally from Ukraine and
fl ed to Brazil to escape the Nazis. He also said that
his grandparents converted to Catholicism during
the rise of Nazism in Belgium after fl eeing Joseph
Stalin and the Soviet Union. “It’s a story of survival, of
tenacity, of grit, as we like to call it,” he said, and he
told prospective voters how proud he was of it.

On Monday, as Santos backtracked on numerous
other claims he has made regarding his educational
background, employment history and involvement
in charitable work, he clarifi ed his connection to
Judaism: He now says that he is Jew-ish. And he says,“
I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic.” But since
he believed that his maternal family had some kind
of a Jewish connection, he felt that he was entitled
to say he is ”Jew-ish.” And he can’t understand
12 DECEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
why anyone would think such a claim is worthy
of criticism.

Monday’s concessions by Santos were prompted
by numerous reports — bolstered by detailed
analyses from several genealogists and historians
— that Santos’ campaign claims of Jewish lineage
were not true. They also say he fabricated his
family’s history with the Nazis. He now admits
that he lied about several aspects of his own
history. In Santos’ fabricated resume, he graduated
Baruch College in New York City, he was a “sea-
soned Wall Street fi nancier and investor” (having
worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs) and
achieved success in his family-owned real estate
business and leadership in a successful animal-res-
cue charity. None of that was true. And to make
matters worse, other records indicate that during
the time Santos claimed to have attended Baruch
College, he was with his mother in Brazil, where
he confessed to involvement in fi nancial fraud and
was later charged in a case that prosecutors say is
unresolved. Santos is a colorful fi gure. He says of himself:
“I’m a free thinker. I’m Latino. I’m gay. I’m Jewish.

I do what I want. I don’t fi t in the boxes that they
want me to fi t in.” But when voters went to the
polls in November to elect a representative in New
York’s redrawn 3rd Congressional District, which is
home to a sizeable Jewish population, they elected
a man who is clearly not the person he repeatedly
claimed to be.

Santos’ victory helped deliver a narrow
Republican majority in the House, and his success
was celebrated as “the full embodiment of the
American dream.” Santos now admits to being a
fraud. His American dream has become an expand-
ing nightmare. He will do himself and the voters in
New York’s 3rd Congressional District a service by
resigning from offi ce. JE
wikicommons / Kobi Gideon
O