opinion
Why I’m Not Sure I’m Right
A iStock / Getty Images Plus / Ljupco
Rabbi Michael Rose Knopf
s a new far-right government takes power
in Israel, a debate among Jewish Americans
has erupted about what it means to be
“pro-Israel.” This is not new. Even before the First
Zionist Congress convened over 120 years ago,
there were multiple competing visions of what a
renewed Jewish homeland could and should be.

Debate, of course, is deeply Jewish. Jewish holy
texts celebrate diverse perspectives and productive
disagreement. However, in recent years, there
has been a concerted effort within the American
Jewish community to define “pro-Israel” in the
narrowest possible terms, casting as inherently
“anti-Israel” individuals and organizations like J
Street that publicly criticize Israeli policies and Israeli
leaders, thereby silencing and even ostracizing
legitimate critics.

In light of our people’s history of persecution, and
Israel’s role as a place of refuge and security for a
people perpetually threatened, many supporters of
Israel fear that public criticism gives ammunition to
those who seek Israel’s destruction, especially at a
moment of rising worldwide antisemitism.

But casting liberal Jewish critics of Israeli policies
as “anti-Israel” is not only contrary to Jewish values
but also contrary to Israel’s own best interests. Those
who circle the wagons in times like these by denying
the legitimacy of criticism and critics often seem to
fail to consider that Israel’s leaders, and the people
that elect them, are, like all of us, fallible; and those
imperfect leaders can act in ways that, even with the
best of intentions, jeopardize the survival of the state.

For example, Israel’s new government has
advocated for policies that undermine its
independent judiciary and that threaten the equal
rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, non-Orthodox
Jews, non-Jewish citizens and other minority groups.

These policies alarm many liberal Jews, especially in
the Diaspora, not only because they are antithetical
to Israel’s founding principles and our understanding
of Jewish values, but also because they raise serious
concerns about how Israel as we know it can survive
if it ceases to be a true democracy.

Similarly, the new government has pledged to
expand Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Many
Israeli military and security experts have repeatedly
warned that the settlement enterprise threatens
Israel’s long-term security and survival as a Jewish
democracy. Many of us criticize policies like these
as de facto annexation of the territories Israel
captured in 1967. But we do so not because we
seek to undermine Israel’s security, and certainly
not because we are “anti-Israel.” To the contrary:
because we love Israel, we fear policies like these
undermine Israel’s founding values and even
threaten its survival.

For as long as I can remember, Israel has been
an inseparable part of my Jewish identity. I loved
it before I made my first pilgrimage as a teenager,
when I first kissed the ground of the tarmac at the
old Ben-Gurion airport. I spent some of the best
and most formative years of my life in Israel. I first
met and fell in love with the woman who became
my wife while we were living in Jerusalem. Beloved
family members and some of my most cherished
friends call Israel home. As a Jew, I believe Israel is
essential, and I shudder to envision a world without
a Jewish state. As a rabbi, there is little I love more
than helping Jews deepen their relationships with
the land, people, and state of Israel.

Watching Israel being led in a direction that I
believe is both antithetical to Jewish values and
dangerous to its long-term survival has propelled
my involvement in organizations like J Street,
which expresses its loving commitment to Israel
by opposing actions that it sees as harmful and
advancing policies that it believes to be beneficial.

I am proud to partner with others who believe that
uncritical support can cause harm, and that loyalty
can sometimes require opposition.

I do not believe, however, that those who disagree
with me are “anti-Israel.” Any of us can be wrong,
and that’s exactly the point. We can interpret
the same facts differently without assuming the
other is approaching the issue in bad faith or with
malicious intent.

Throughout history, the Jewish people have been
enriched by a culture of impassioned but respectful
debate. In the coming year, I pray that we recognize
more than one way to express our love for Israel
and more than one vision for what Israel ought to
be. The global Jewish community and state of Israel
are strongest when we disagree without questioning
one another’s loyalties. ■
Rabbi Michael Knopf is spiritual leader of Temple
Beth-El in Richmond, Va. The views expressed here
are solely his own.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 13