CAN "ZIONIST JEWISHNESS" BE MAINTAINED IN THE FACE OF WORLD REALITIES: THE UNSPOKEN CONTRADICTIONS

It is interesting, to say the least, that the "new" Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu, is insisting on Iran recognizing the State of Israel as a "Jewish State."  Why the focus on race, ethnicity or biological descent?  There is a complex dynamic that is tearing the Jewish community apart, a people with such a great spiritual tradition and moral heritage.

In the first place, "Jews want to be Jews," in contradistinction to every other "people group" on the earth, supposedly due to historical precedents of persecution, such as the Holocaust, hence, in order to "preserve" Israel as a "Jewish enclave" wherein Jews from all over the world can escape to, in case of persecution.  And in the second place, there appears to be another movement in both Jewish thinking and practice that causes Jews in Israel to struggle against requirements of justice, constructive liberty and equal protection of the laws for its Arab residents and neighbors, while Israel aspires to be a representative democracy.  Is it what is being declared here by Mr. Netanyahu?  A "Jewish democracy," for "Jews only?" 

For example, Israelis object to Iran's research on nuclear technology while Israel joined South Africa, during the Apartheid era, in the pursuit of collective nuclear research.  Now, there is talk of Israel aspiring to belong to the European Union due to already existing trade relations.  What compels Israelis to seek relations with people other than their neighbors?

Jews in Israel have great reservations and deep apprehension regarding complete integration in the world community and the Middle East, their own neighborhood, which cause the manifestation of great contradictions in the lives of Israelis.  It is because the system of proportional representation could not produce a political majority that Netanyahu was recalled and asked to form a "new government."  Are Israelis "morally bankrupt?"  No.  But I sense that the majority of Israelis know this situation is untenable and will demand a change in approach towards the peace process, including adopting the "two-State solution." 

The remaining question is, then, given all the advances in understanding and knowledge we have gained for the past sixty years, is it necessary for Jews to continue to promote ethnic separation, biological esotericism, and racial isolation in order "to survive?"  These are great myths propagated in order to obtain policy agreements and financial support for "Jewish-ness causes," which require vast monetary expenditures that are already overloading Israel's militarized economy.  The purpose of human living is not "to survive," but to constructively prosper to the highest level of our potentialities.  Jewish families and their children deserve much better than just "surviving" in a perpetual "state of war."

Events that precipitated World War II, and the deaths of millions of Jews who were deported to concentration camps, were deplorable and are still condemnable.  But Israeli Jews cannot have it both ways - isolating themselves as a "Jewish enclave" with specific ethnic-based interests in policy and advocacy, and at the same time, seeking a sort of associative rapprochement with Europe, which, if materialized, would further isolate Israel from the rest of the world, and further alienate Israelis from their own Middle East area. 

How can Israelis continue to entertain esoteric isolation with the misguided expectation that this cultural stance promotes their coveted interests?  The horrendous drains on Israel's real interests are not only financial, but they also involve terrible human costs.  For example, fathers and mothers of Israeli children expect, as a matter of course, that their young men and women will bear machine guns, without being able to exercise freedom of choice in the matter.  Military service has become a forced obligation rather than a much dreaded necessity of last resort.  Is it an impossible dream to envision that one day soon Israel will thank Almighty God for instituting a "volunteer army," as we have in America?  Common defense, out of last-resort necessity, in opposition to a "Sparta-like" status of continued war-path mobilization!  Then, would not Israeli fathers and mothers prefer to have greater choice in making more life-affirming plans for their sons and daughters who are currently exposed only to loss of life most of the time?

In a "two-State solution," Jews have nothing to fear from "forced association."  This is a matter of civilized living and collective security in a region whose people have suffered for too long while yearning to lawfully live and prosper in peace of mind and tranquility of heart to enjoy the "good things in life," even an evening promenade in one's local neighborhood without expecting a bomb to explode.

As mentioned above, Israelis had sought association with Apartheid South Africa in the pursuit of nuclear power research, and now, Israel is seeking rapprochement with the European Union, on an ethnic and commercial basis, at the same time, requiring that Iran abandon its nuclear aspirations and that Iranians accept Israel as a "Jewish State." 

A "Jewish State" seeking integration in the European Union as a member nation!  It is as if Israelis are officially seeking "mental escape" from the Middle East, to dissociate themselves from their neighbors ethnically, while at the same time, pursuing enlargement of physical settlements for the geographical physical State of Israel.  Is a "divided psychology" the fate of all Israeli young people who are bound to mature to inherit the nation's leadership -  being physically in the Middle East but coveting "belonging," "attachment," "entanglement," "commitment," somewhere else, with some "other people?"

What kind of changes might the world anticipate regarding "Israeli membership" in the European Union, were that to be materialized?  Excessive diversion of resources to a militarized economy is counterproductive to nation-building in Israel, a condition which might emerge in European Union member nations, were they to have a "new relationship" with Israel, a nation apparently engaged in "escaping" peaceful relations with its neighbors.  Instead of America being in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, the world might then expect European Union member nations to assume a "new role," a military one, in accordance with the "new reality" of Israel as a "member nation."

As a fact of historical development, due to oftentimes "unplanned" world movement of the Jewish people, Jews have integrated very well in America and other democracies, especially in Europe, wherein they are citizens who continue to make comprehensive contributions to overall nation-building. 

However, these world movements of the Jewish people were based on compelled "Exodus," which satisfies rationalizations for the very premise on which the existence of the State of Israel is based.  But in feeding the contradictions that cause Israel to seek rapprochement with the European Union, Israel would have unwittingly given incentives to its citizens to seek citizenship, residency or affiliation within other member nations where greater opportunities exist for comprehensive prosperity, without the forced obligation of military conscription.  

For, Israel is continuously giving proof to the rest of the world that it seeks relations with people other than its neighbors. By that, Israel, as if "compelled from within," seems to be unconsciously prodding its citizens "to court future Exodus" to other countries, the same, wherein originated catalytic conditions compelling "historical Exodus" that served as precursors for the movement to establish the State of Israel.  In addition, with AIPAC and other ethnicity-driven lobbies, Israelis in the State of Israel appear to be seeking the world-wide founding, in the minds of all Jews, a "state of Israel," a standing, internalized attitude, of possessing isolated interests external and contradictory to the extant, free and prosperous country-of-citizenship social and economic conditions that already animate their daily lives.  Furthermore, in seeking international recognition and approval for a specifically "Jewish State," Israelis are unwittingly motivating Arabs to pursue extreme Islamic views, even within the spectrum of potentially collaborative relations.

The majority of Americans continue to dedicate tremendous efforts in understanding the deepest concerns of the Jewish people in general, and of Israeli Jews, in particular.  It is long overdue that Israelis and Arabs who share the same geopolitical interests in collective security be constructively engaged in common talks regarding the establishment of a State for Palestinians, in peaceful and constructive relations with the State of Israel. 

The Holy Bible, in Genesis, written by Moses with God's inspiration, states that Adam and Eve are our common ancestors.  Abraham is our common "father of faith." Abraham and Sarah fathered Isaac - one of his sons was Jacob; and Abraham and Hagar, fathered Ishmael.  So, as all human beings are related by common ancestry, Jews and Arabs are brothers and sisters.  As the Holocaust cannot be denied, nor can these facts of history.  Jews, Christians and Arabs, all have a common spiritual heritage from which to extract positive and constructive benefits that transcend the earthly chains that had formerly kept all in bondage to armed conflict and economic strife.

May the peace of Christ's love be with you, Thanks.  LEO