Netanyahu’s challenge in addressing Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech this month to the US Congress poses complex challenges for Israel. Not just to the Biden administration; not only to Donald Trump; not only to the West, which is beset by violent antisemitic demonstrations organized by Hamas and its supporters.

And the speech poses a serious challenge to the US Jewish community which opposes Israeli interference in US internal affairs.

An article by Ehud Barak, Tamir Pardo and company in the New York Times was not aimed at Diaspora Jews but to the political identity of Israeli Jews. The authors fear that a good speech will strengthen Netanyahu and therefore they demand that Congress cancel the invitation.

My decision to address this issue was influenced by several completely different vectors. It started when I read Avi Gil’s new book, “Where is the Head?” It is an engrossing, apparently fictional thriller that creates a surprising framework for a thought-provoking plot regarding Jewish affinity.

Gil, a former director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a top Israeli diplomat. After retiring from public service, I was honored when he agreed to join the founding team of the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI). To this day, he continues to contribute significantly in the field of geopolitical analysis and policy planning. Recently, he has been “sinning” by writing fiction. His third book recounts the adventures of a unique action team formed to make a dramatic move to curb the loss of unity in Israel and the Diaspora.

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A non-fictional warning light was turned on by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism (ISGAP) when it discovered that the Bafrayung Fund, headed by Rachel Gelman, is among the main donors to the Westchester Peace Action Committee (WESPAC), which supported anti-Israel groups and Hamas-inspired demonstrations on campuses across the United States. I do not personally know Rachel Gelman, but I know her parents well.

Suzy and Michael Gelman are prominent leaders and major philanthropists in the North American Jewish Federations system, chaired the Jewish community of Washington DC for three terms, are active on the board of trustees of the Jewish Agency and were among the founders of Birthright Israel. I am familiar with their warm Zionist and liberal affinity. Their perceptions are typical of many North American Jews attached to Judaism and the Jewish state.

As I understand it, Suzy and Michael have established a philanthropic foundation in which their children can do whatever their hearts desire. The apple turns out to have fallen as far from the tree as a golf ball flying out of bounds.

However, the wake-up call came from a friend (someone who has dedicated most of his life to the prosperity of the Jewish community of New York) who told me that there are Jewish leaders encouraging members of Congress to leave the hall during Netanyahu’s speech and join the demonstrations against him outside the Capitol.

“When Israel wobbles, all of Judaism trembles,” said my friend. “Many American Jews fear Trump and worry that Netanyahu will play into the Republicans’ hands. They hate Israeli meddling in American politics, even if they admit that the US administration does not hesitate to step into the Israeli political arena. The US is a superpower. Not everything that the administration allows itself is also allowed for an Israeli politician.”

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During the speech, hundreds of thousands of Hamas supporters are expected to demonstrate outside the Capitol, chanting “Palestine from the river to the sea.” It will not be a rose garden. Jewish leaders of major American Jewish organizations say that Jews who intend to join the demonstrations and encourage Democrats to boycott Netanyahu’s speech are a handful of progressive activists who draw inspiration from and are helped by a handful of Israelis (some of whose identity was revealed in the New York Times article).

Israel’s supporters do not believe that many Jews will join the Hamas call “Palestine from the river to the sea,” and take solace in the fact that during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in 2015, only around 60 Democratic congressmembers boycotted the event; they believe the picture will be similar in 2024.

Unlike in 2015, the leadership of both parties signed the invitation to Netanyahu, so a significant Democratic presence is expected.

For decades, American Jews have provided Israel with a safety net. They have largely become a strategic asset. World War II gave birth to a deep frustration that stemmed from their powerlessness to help their brothers in Europe, who were led like sheep to the gas chambers. After the war, American Jews came to their senses and organized themselves.

On the eve of the Six-Day War, Levi Eshkol sought to characterize the State of Israel, which had not yet turned 20, as Shimshun der nebeckhdikehr — poor Samson. Israel was a young country facing an existential threat, strong in spirit and determined to exist, ready to fight against enemies who sought its extermination.

The Jews of the world stood by the Jewish state as one. They came to volunteer in kibbutzim and moshavim to free up the reservists from the burdens of their daily lives. The power of the Jewish community in the United States gained momentum after the Six-Day War.

The unequivocal victory of the IDF against Egypt, Jordan and Syria added to American Jews’ national pride. Their strengthening in American society — politically and economically — added to their power and influence. The Jews, who had been excluded from leading universities, private country clubs, hotels and resorts reserved for WASPs only, became more and more welcome. The success of the State of Israel also contributed to this transformation.

The same WASPs who moments earlier had opposed the reception of Jews in their clubs, began to take pride in brides and grooms of Jewish origin. Many of them, including American presidents, became grandparents to Jewish grandchildren.

This success worked in favor of Israel. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Israel was undergoing one of its most difficult times, then-National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger had a decisive influence on the American airlift sent to Israel, which changed the battlefield’s configuration. 

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In the early 1990s, China, countries that had broken free from the Soviet bloc and a significant number of third-world countries established relations with Israel because they believed that the road to Washington passes through Jerusalem. This was despite the fact that the White House at the time acted against the reelection of Yitzhak Shamir, who was considered a right-wing, nationalist and rigid leader.

This was mainly thanks to the unity of the Jewish people and the prosperity of the Jewish community in the United States, along with its visionary leadership headed by the iconic Max Fisher and a thriving Israel. Jews who occupied senior positions in the government were able to identify not only the common values but also the tangential interests the two countries shared and strengthen their relations.

Oct. 7 changed things. Israel’s position as a regional power is eroding. The rift, the demonstrations in Israel, the shuffling on the battlefield and the rise of antisemitism are damaging.

Netanyahu must take advantage of the opportunity in Congress to strengthen the unity of the Jewish people; to recall the apples that have fallen far from the tree back to the roots; to tiptoe smartly between Biden and Trump. He must make clear to the Americans and the free world that even though the Israeli Samson had a haircut on Oct. 7, he is not a nebbish; that Israeli soldiers fight bravely and the IDF stands resolutely at the head of the Western front against the radical axis of evil led by Iran, Russia, China and North Korea. 

And, the critics at home.

They should be a little more patient and shoulder a bit more responsibility if the Jewish state is still dear to them.

Avinoam Bar-Yosef is president emeritus of the Jewish People’s Policy Institute (JPPI) and a former diplomatic correspondent and Maariv Bureau Chief in Washington.