Over the past three years, the people and State of Israel have been forced to contend with an array of massive challenges posed both by external enemies intent on our destruction and bitter internal strife that threatens to rip the very fabric of Israeli society into separate camps.
Even as I write these words, through the windows in my Jerusalem office I can hear the protesters calling for the end of the war in Gaza, to stop the firing of the head of the Shin Bet (Shabak) and the dismissal of the attorney general, alongside the passionate demands to bring back our hostages at all costs. One can tragically, yet easily, assume that we have returned to the types of bitter divisiveness that defined Israel in the months before Oct. 7.
Certainly, some of this debate is related to the events of that horrific day and the resulting war. But other issues can be traced back to an even deeper discussion focused on the very identity of our nation that has, to some degree, existed since our founding in 1948. These issues include the division between religion and state; the fragile and sometimes unclear relationship between the governing authorities and judicial system; and the contentious question surrounding Haredi enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces or National Service. They are among other matters that remain unresolved, yet are the source of boiling tension.
As all this is occurring, elections are underway across the Jewish Diaspora for the delegates to our national institutions. Here, too, I am troubled to witness a deeply disturbing tone in comments and chats throughout social media. Radicalized speech is dominating these platforms, whereby whoever yells the loudest is perceived as bearing the ideological might. People are being openly castigated with a focus on the “dirty laundry” of competing slates and minimal effort to highlight the merits of the parties.
I am forced to acknowledge that the fingerprint of the last three years of Israeli tension is being all too easily imprinted on global Jewry. These tensions have spilled into synagogues, schools and decision-making bodies of all types of organizations and institutions in the Diaspora. To dismiss the intensity of these debates would be extremely irresponsible and even dangerous.
In the wake of Oct. 7, we know that Diaspora Jewry has become another front in this war. In many places, our brothers and sisters worldwide are fighting for their physical safety and are being threatened to the point where community events are being canceled or forced underground.
Violent antisemitism is no longer a rarity, even in nations where Jews long felt entirely comfortable. A byproduct of this is that Jews everywhere feel a sense of solidarity with Israel’s fight and, in many ways, we can all empathize with a war for our very safety and existence.
My genuine fear is that “exporting” Israel’s internal tensions abroad will detract from the critical attention these communities need to focus on those challenges and, perhaps, even translate to all-out tensions within those communities not dissimilar to what we are experiencing here.
In addressing this challenge, our national institutions have a critical role to play. While Israel’s democratic infrastructure must apply its tools to best address these challenges, national institutions must be prepared to ensure that the unity of the Jewish people remains resolute.
As the representative of World Mizrachi, I view it as a supreme value that these bodies represent all denominations, streams and perspectives that make up the diverse community of world Jewry.
Achieving that vision demands the involvement and unity of all elements of the broader Jewish community, with all its diverse perspectives and differing ways of life, levels of observance and beliefs.
At this critical time in our nation’s history and on the eve of these important elections, we need to reinforce our commitment to that unity. We must leave the political debates that are painfully dividing Israel as matters of internal Israeli debate.