Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Israel losing its appeal for Jews

Dov Weisglass, an Israeli lawyer who was bureau chief to former
Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, admits that he is losing sleep
over deteriorating relations between Israel and the world.
Weisglass, who was considered a pivotal channel of communication
between the Israeli government and Jewish communities around the world
during Sharon's tenure, stated that changes in ties between Israel and
Jews around the world would cause a fundamental transformation in
Israel's standing in the world.
In Israel, some believe this is a result of alterations in the
lifestyle of Jews around the world in comparison to those living in
Israel. Others fault the actions of the ruling political elite in
Israel, who appear to be willing to sacrifice Israel's ties with
Jewish communities around the world for narrow domestic political
gains.
An important development that widened the gap between Israel and Jews
around the world, especially in the US and Canada, is the Knesset's
approval of legislation on the definition of "Who is a Jew", which
regulates conversion into Judaism. American Jews, who represent the
largest Jewish community outside Israel, strongly condemned the
legislation and some leading American Jewish figures threatened to
abandon their support of Israel and protection of its interests.
The legislation resulted in a violent backlash because it permits the
Chief Rabbinate, Israel's official religious authority, the sole right
to decide on the requirements for someone to convert to Judaism.
American Jews are sensitive to this issue because the Chief Rabbinate
is influenced by an extremist Jewish doctrine known as Haredi, which
embraces more hardline interpretations in deciding "who is Jewish". It
is also very exclusive in choosing who may convert to Judaism, and
does not recognise anyone who converted with a reformist or
conservative rabbi (who form the majority of rabbis in the US and
Canada). Accordingly, the Chief Rabbinate would virtually strip all
American Jews of their religion.
While Haredi Judaism recognises only Jews who are born to a Jewish
mother, the results of a recent study in the US revealed that 50 per
cent of American Jews marry gentiles, which means they are not
recognised as Jews according to radical doctrines. Many leaders of the
American Jewish community believe that the legislation delivered a
stab in their back even though they play a pivotal role in protecting
Israel's strategic interests. They are indignant that the legislation
only passed to appease hardline Haredi parties participating in the
coalition government in Tel Aviv. Party followers mostly refuse to
serve in the army and live in isolation from Israeli society.
Meanwhile, there are many indicators that Israel is no longer
appealing for Jews around the world. According to figures from
Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, Jewish immigration to Israel
has dropped markedly to 18,129 immigrants every year -- the lowest
level since 1988. Although the US is home to the largest number of
Jews in the world, the average number of American Jewish immigrants to
Israel is 2,600 per year, while Jews from former Soviet states have
dropped to 6,600. The latter were used as the main source for creating
a new Jewish demographic presence in occupied Palestine.
The issue is compounded by signs that Israel's status among Jews
around the world, especially in the US, has dropped. According to a
survey by the office of the Israeli prime minister, 50 per cent of
American Jewish youth do not care if Israel ceases to exist while only
20 per cent of Jews in former Soviet states uphold Jewish rituals. All
these factors have caused the Jewish Agency responsible for relocating
Jews from around the world to Israel to take an unprecedented decision
to revise its priorities. The agency's board meeting which recently
took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev decided to drop its number
one priority of sending Jews to Israel to be second to improving ties
between Jews around the world and Israel.
Another clear indicator to unravelling ties between Jews and Israel is
the conference held in Moscow in April, sponsored by hundreds of young
Russian Jews who had emigrated to Israel at the end of the 1980s but
returned to Russia after economic and security conditions improved.
One of the most prominent conclusions at the conference was that Jews
around the world could live without Israel, especially after personal
disappointments they experienced during their stay in Israel.
Ironically, a number of Israeli public figures attended the conference
although they were aware of the conference's agenda. These included
former Knesset member Dalia Rabin, daughter of former Israeli prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Yael Dayan, daughter of former Israeli
defence minister Moshe Dayan.
One of the developments which is worrying Israeli decision-makers is
the liberal inclination of American Jewish youth, which diminishes
Jewish support of Israel. Jewish academic Guy Bechor, professor at
Harvard University, asserts that the majority of young American Jews
are liberals who reject Israeli aggression against the Palestinians on
principle. They even rally against it inside the US. In an article on
the Hebrew-language website Gplanet, Bechor states that the war on
Gaza in late 2008 and the crimes committed against Palestinian
civilians were a turning point for most young American Jews. He
asserts that the majority of this group "is ashamed of mentioning
Israel and prefers not to speak of it".
In a recent article published in The Nation, two Jewish researchers,
Adam Horowitz and Philip Weiss, argued that this change in the
attitude of young American Jews, especially among college students,
towards the Palestinian cause became pronounced after the war on Gaza.
"Every student at any university campus in the US who does not
identify himself as a sympathiser with the Palestinians is branded [a
racist]," which caused Jewish students to "eagerly shed the shame
which Israel has brought upon them as Jews."
One of the elements that strengthened the demand for a "homeland" by
the Zionist Movement was that this "nation" would be a safe haven for
Jews after being persecuted in Europe, especially at the hands of the
Nazis and rising anti- Semitism. Today's drop in immigration numbers
to Israel and rise in the number of people leaving the country implies
among other things that this principle is no longer true.
Avraham Tirosh, former secretary of the Israeli government, explained
this reversal by saying that in the eyes of the majority of Jews
around the world, Israel has become "an endangered state, its
existence ambiguous, and is more frightening for Jews than anti-
Semitism in their own countries." Tirosh relayed what he often heard
from some Jewish leaders in the US: Israel needs the Jews in the
Diaspora more than those in Israel.
Weisglass agrees that Israel's stature is diminishing in the eyes of
American Jews, especially the young who no longer view Israel as a
place of residence, or a spiritual and ideological epicentre, or even
a destination for tourism.
Israel is no longer a safe haven even for a large number of Jews who
were born and grew up there. According to official Israeli figures,
750,000 Israelis have left Israel to live in the US, Canada and
Europe. What is more indicative of unsafe living there is the rush by
Israeli citizens to acquire foreign passports to use in times of need.
The numbers have been so great that Knesset Speaker Rubi Rivlin wrote
a stinging article about the phenomenon, its dangers and "tragic"
implications for Israel.
The dangers of a clear disconnect between Israel and Jews around the
world are many and serious, most importantly the demographics
resulting from a retreat by Jews from immigrating to Israel. The
Zionist project was based on two basic principles: controlling
Palestinian land and relocating Jewish immigrants. When immigration
figures drop, the ability to control the land becomes weaker, but it
also means that Israel will become more dependent on non-productive
Jewish groups such as Haredi followers who embrace two main tenets:
procreation and abandoning trade while living on state subsidies
furbished by pressure from their parties who participate in coalition
governments. Meanwhile, most of them do not serve in the army.
The anger of American Jews about "Who is a Jew", as well as changes in
the attitude of Jewish youth there, imply a strategic danger because
it deteriorates the support and unlimited backing by American Jewish
organisations which everyone in Israel agrees represents one of the
mainstays of Israel's existence because of the ability of these groups
to influence Washington's foreign policy, specifically in the Middle
East. These developments are unfolding at a critical time for Israel,
whose stature amongst the world's nations dropped after its war on
Gaza in 2008 and in the wake of the Freedom Flotilla massacre.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1018/re6.htm

 posizioni piu' guerrafondaie.
beh, ciccio, l'Italia sta per fare default, chiudono fabbriche e lo
stato taglia il welfare a tutto andare, e non si fa niente, quando
mezza Europa è in piazza un giorno sì e l'altro pure, e in più di un
caso con una situazione economica molto migliore della nostra. A noi
ce piace annà controcorente...(cit.)