Statements

Three days after the Israeli elections, it is a time of licking wounds for the Israeli left.

Notwithstanding Kadima's one-seat advantage over the Likud, 28-27, there is certainly no reason for Kadima or the center-left to celebrate, as the final results put Israel's right-wing in firm control of the Knesset, with 65 out of 120 seats. These results do not bode well for either peace or civil rights in Israel.

Meretz USA is deeply dismayed by the decision of the Israeli Central Elections Committee this week to disqualify two parties that represent many of the country's Arab citizens in Knesset. 

Should these twin decisions be upheld in court, the banning of Balad and the United Arab List/Arab Renewal Movement from competing in next month's elections would not only be a black mark on Israeli democracy, but a self-destructive act of utter folly that will drive an even sharper and more dangerous wedge between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities.

We therefore look with hope to Israel's High Court of Justice to remain a bastion of Israel's democratic tradition, and to overturn this abysmal decision.

As we recall from American history, wartime creates a breeding ground for suspicion and hostility towards minorities who are regarded as a fifth column for the enemy.

The Meretz USA statement issued at the start of the week has drawn some intense reaction. Most comments, including many from Israel, were extremely supportive - praising the statement's boldness, its willingness to remain a voice of reason, and its contribution of practical ideas for establishing a more stable cease-fire.

Some others, many from outside the Meretz USA circle, were less pleased. One or two, who seem to feel that Israel can do no right, argued that we were too harsh on Hamas. Conversely, several complained that we should have limited ourselves to criticizing Hamas, and that our statement did not sufficiently stress our feelings of solidarity with Israel.

Please continue to write us: We welcome all these comments, as together we seek to navigate an immensely complex Middle East situation that imperils Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state.

As we approach the first Shabbat of this "First Gaza War" (as some have dubbed it), our hearts are indeed with the people of Israel at this difficult hour - especially those being terrorized by Hamas rockets. But while our hearts are troubled, despair is not an option, and we must continue to focus on helping Israel to disentangle from a conflict that has weighed it down far too much for far too many years.

Meretz USA is proud to take part in this gathering of "Jews Uniting to End the War & Heal America." The US misadventure in Iraq has not only been a bloody disaster for the Iraqi people; it's also been bad for the US, bad for Israel and bad for the Jews. As a progressive Zionist organization, Meretz USA wishes to address how bad the war has been for Israel and the American Jewish community.

The five-year US occupation of Iraq has harmed Israeli interests - emboldening the enemies of Israeli-Arab peace and impeding the progress of peace talks between Israel and its neighbors. With America bogged down in Iraq, the war has expanded the influence of Iran in the region, as well as its rejectionist allies within Lebanon and Palestine. Additionally, the occupation has created new US-Syria antagonisms that have prevented Washington from taking any positive role in the reemerging peace process between Damascus and Jerusalem.

The past 9 months have been the beginning of a transition for Meretz USA in a variety of ways - philosophically, programmatically and in terms of how we run the organization day-to-day.

Philosophically, 2008 has been a year in which we have tried to "push the envelope" by daring to challenge the standard paradigm of American Jewish-Israel relations. Rather than accepting the paralyzing argument that Jews have no right to criticize Israel in public, we have begun to encourage American Jews who care about Israel to talk directly to Israeli decision-makers and let them know what we think about their policies.

For years, Meretz USA has been an invaluable source of information, opinion and analysis about Israel and the Middle East. We have hosted lectures and conference calls with prominent figures on the Israeli left. We publish our thoughtful quarterly magazine, Israel Horizons, and a biweekly e-newsletter. We host the Meretz USA blog. We issue press releases and statements, and we continue to conduct our unique annual weeklong seminar in Israel, the "Israel Symposium".

But the one thing we haven't done enough is to let you, our supporters, make your voices
heard on the issues we progressive Zionists care about so deeply.

This is about to change.

Starting today, Meretz USA is launching a new initiative that will let you direct your concerns about Israel straight to the people that matter most: the Israeli decision-makers who are determining that country's future. Take Action Today!

Dear Friends,

For years, Meretz USA has been an invaluable source of information, opinion and analysis about Israel and the Middle East. We have hosted lectures and conference calls with prominent figures on the Israeli left. We publish our thoughtful quarterly magazine, Israel Horizons, and a biweekly e-newsletter. We host the Meretz USA blog. We issue press releases and statements, and we continue to conduct our unique annual weeklong seminar in Israel, the “Israel Symposium”.

But the one thing we haven’t done enough is to let you, our supporters, make your voices heard on the issues we progressive Zionists care about so deeply.

This is about to change.

Starting this summer, Meretz USA will be launching a new initiative that will let you direct your concerns about Israel straight to the people that matter most: the Israeli decision-makers who are determining that country’s future.

Meretz USA invites you to join us in a new Zionist discourse. When additional West Bank settlements are built, we will let you tell Israel’s Housing Minister what you think about these obstacles for peace. When members of Knesset try to pass laws that institutionalize discrimination against Israel’s Arab citizens (as they did only recently), we will initiate a campaign that allows you to tell the bill’s sponsors that we can’t rightly defend a policy which severs Zionism from democracy and equal rights.

Of course, we also look forward to campaigns that express support, not only disappointment. If an Israeli Prime Minister bravely moves to dismantle unauthorized West Bank outposts, for example, we’ll want him (or her) to know this step has the support of thousands and thousands of concerned American Jews.

Prime Minister Olmert recently called for a “new paradigm” in the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. Well we agree, and we are guided in this regard by the clarion words of the late Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg:

“The American Jewish community is torn right now between its love of Israel and its distaste for Israel's policies. We who love Israel have an obligation to say what we believe... We have long lived with the notion that Israeli governments, from right to left, have tried to inculcate in us - that they determine policy, and we are privileged to say amen on cue. This nonsense is now bankrupt.”

Keep your eye out for our leadoff campaign calling on the Housing Minister of Israel to stop building in disputed territory around Jerusalem, and when you receive it, we encourage you to sign on, and then share it widely with your colleagues, friends and family.

It is time for progressive American Jews who care deeply about Israel’s future to tell its leaders what we think – not count on our government to do so on our behalf. It is time to engage with Israel, not turn our backs in despair. It is time for a clear, unapologetic progressive Zionist voice!

Sincerely,

Meretz USA