Jerusalem – World Jewish Congress President, In Second Public Rebuke, Asks If Israel ‘Is Losing Its Way’

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    World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder in Leipzig, Germany, Aug. 30, 2010. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)Jerusalem – The president of the World Jewish Congress issued another rare rebuke to Israel on Tuesday, panning the recently passed nation-state law, calling out the country’s Orthodox monopoly and accusing the Netanyahu administration of damaging “the sense of equality and belonging of Israel’s Druze, Christian and Muslim citizens.”

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    Writing in The New York Times, Ronald Lauder, a usually vociferous defender of Israel, listed a number of recent incidents — including the arrest of a Conservative rabbi for conducting weddings and the exclusion of same-sex couples from a newly passed surrogacy law — that he believes “are creating the impression that the democratic and egalitarian dimensions of the Jewish democratic state are being tested.”

    “Israel is a miracle. The Jews of the diaspora look up to Israel, admire its astonishing achievements and view it as their second home. However, today some wonder if the nation they cherish is losing its way,” he wrote.

    Asserting that Zionism traditionally merged Jewish nationalism with universal humanism and the values of the enlightenment, he said that the Israeli government “appears to be tarnishing the sacred value of equality,” causing many supporters to “feel it is turning its back on Jewish heritage, the Zionist ethos and the Israeli spirit.”

    “The issue at hand is first and foremost a moral one, but the new nation-state legislation may also have severe national and international repercussions. In Israel, it will heighten the sense of polarization and discord,” Lauder wrote. “Abroad, Israel may find itself associated with a broken values system and questionable friends. As a result, future leaders of the West may become hostile or indifferent to the Jewish state.”

    Lauder also critiqued the Israelis for “unintentionally undermin[ing] the covenant between Judaism and enlightenment” and by doing so “crush[ing] the core of contemporary Jewish existence.”

    The op-ed is his second this year openly critical of Israel. In another New York Times piece published in March, Lauder broke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in pressing hard for a two-state solution — a significant stance because the cosmetics billionaire has the ear of President Donald Trump, who has spoken repeatedly about unveiling a Middle East peace proposal.

    A number of Jewish organizations in the Diaspora have been critical of the nation-state law and other indicators of what they see as a drift away from democratic values. The Jewish Federations of North America and The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, two organizations that provide major funding to projects in Israel, both criticized the nation-state law in recent weeks.

    Netanyahu’s aides have defended the nation-state law, saying that while Israel already had laws to protect individual freedoms and minorities, there were none specifically defining the Jewish identity and purpose of the state.


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    7 Comments
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    grandbear
    grandbear
    5 years ago

    It is american jewry that has lost its way. Assimilation has destroyed the cohesion of the jewish nation Most of american jews have not learned their history or culture, they’re too busy with contemporary society and cant relate to WW2 and the destruction of their roots

    Speaksoftly
    Speaksoftly
    5 years ago

    Can someone please explain this brouhaha? The foundational claim to the land of Israel is primarily Biblical, while politically it is the Balfour declaration. The Balfour language calls for ” a homeland for the Jewish people”, while Biblically, our claim to the land is only valid when the precepts of the Torah are observed.
    It may not be politically correct to state the obvious, but the Torah is not couched in universalist, humanistic terms. It demands loyalty to a set of standards that are aspirational but exacting as well. While it is not up to us to judge the actions of others, it would be less then truthful to state that all actions or behaviors are equally valid or desirable. Private behavior is NOT the same as public policy. One can only hope that G-d sees this honest attempt at building a nation of diverse viewpoints, with fealty to its Biblical principles, while respecting the private lives of its citizens. Would that He would finally send us a leader, Moshiach, who could heal the fracture lines and establish a lasting peace for all.
    Mr. Lauder has done yeoman work in helping maintain Jewish identity through innumerable wondrous acts of philanthropy. No one should question where his heart is. But everyone can be fallible, even if only a little bit. Perhaps, in a world of rising antisemitism, it is time to say: We have a Jewish state and we will not apologize for believing in a code of behavior that has informed the worlds ethos for millenia. Am Yosroel, veTorah Chai!

    5 years ago

    Israel is NO MIRACLE. Israel is a sinful State that is existing against our holy Torah. The Diaspora Jews are not looking up to Israel. We wanna disassociate ourselves from Israel. We are proud American Jews under the flag of the USA. Israel is a pain for every erlicha yid. They only provoke antisemitism and are not Jews that observe what Hashem commanded. Its all a hoax.