Let’s try a little end-of-the-year game. I’ll mention a name or phrase, and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
Ready?
Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer. Jimmy Carter. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University.
How about: Hamas. Sderot. 1939.
Too easy?
Alvin Rosenfeld. Tony Judt. Norman Finkelstein.
I think you get the picture.
Like any year, 2007 had its highs and lows, but for Israel and the Jews, there was more to worry about than to cheer. So with that note of caution, here’s my list of the top half dozen Jewish issues of the last year:
1. Academic Meltdown: The fact that respected academics Walt and Mearsheimer could publish a best-selling book blaming the “Israel Lobby” (never precisely defined) for America’s troubles in the Middle East was one of several signs that the U.S. could be following Europe’s frightening lead: the delegitimization of Israel via the university.
In France and England, the now open questioning of Israel’s right to exist began on the academic level and filtered down to the rest of society. We’re not there yet, by a long shot. But when the Walt-Mearsheimer argument is treated with respect rather than contempt, when former President Jimmy Carter goes around the country promoting his book equating Israeli policies with apartheid, and when the hate-filled president of Iran is invited to speak at Columbia University, there is reason to worry.
We must redouble our efforts to counter the anti-Israel attitudes of many academics teaching about the Middle East on campus, including more than a few who are Jewish.
2. With God on My Ticket: There is almost a year to go before the ’08 presidential election, but so far religion has played a disturbingly major role. Mitt Romney has had to defend being a Mormon, Baptist minister Mike Huckabee has had great success wearing his faith on his sleeve, and the other candidates — Democrat as well as Republican — have heard the calling as well, falling all over themselves to describe the role of religion in their lives.
What used to be private is now public. No wonder atheist writers, such as Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, are striking back at a nation puzzled as to who is Jesus’ favorite candidate and fearful of a worldwide war over Allah’s intentions.
3. Israel’s Morale Busters: The citizens of the Jewish state aren’t looking for heroes these days. They’d settle for people in the highest office not deserving of jail.
Still frustrated over the ’06 war in Lebanon and the continued captivity of three of its young soldiers, Israelis confronted a president accused of rape (who stepped down to avoid prison), a prime minister facing multiple charges of illegal business dealings and at least one chief rabbi urged to resign.
Sadly, given Israel’s backward political system, there are no fresh faces on the horizon to improve the prospects for cleaning house.
4. No Nukes Isn’t Necessarily Good News: The recent U.S. intelligence bombshell suggesting that Iran is not actively pursuing nuclear weapons was a stunning setback for those who fear an Iranian attack on Israel.
Some Israeli political and military leaders insist the American information is naive and off base, but the damage — at least in the short term — has been done, and talk of imminent military action against Tehran is off the table. Diplomatic efforts for tougher sanctions imposed on Iran face an even tougher battle in the new year, even though the National Intelligence Estimate report showed they had been working.
5. Last Push for Peace: The good news about Annapolis is that so many countries came together to support a new round of Mideast peace talks; the bad news is that there is no indication of any profound change in procedure to make this effort more successful than past ones. Most sobering is the sense that if the latest round of talks fails, there may be no more efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
6. Communal Confusion: Jewish organizations were beset with scandals and internal conflicts this year, most notably the World Jewish Congress, which saw its top three officials leave office. New president Ronald Lauder pledges reform, but there are no visible results to date.
Then there was the rift between the Israeli and American branches of ORT, accusations that the Claims Conference has not done enough for Holocaust survivors, and reports that March of the Living was spending funds in questionable ways.
Federation campaigns are flat in much of the country, and United Jewish Communities has undergone major personnel and policy shifts in search of an inspirational spark.
It’s not surprising then that younger Jews are distancing themselves from Jewish organizational life.
The list goes on, looking back at notable and less notable names of the past year.
There was the Preacher Who Loves Us (Too Much?): Pastor John Hagee, the evangelical primetime speaker at the annual AIPAC conference who doesn’t want to compromise on Israeli land, not to mention his End of Days beliefs.
There were the Bad Boys Who Tattled on Orthodoxy: the brilliant academic Noah Feldman, still smarting from an alleged put-down by his Modern Orthodox high school for marrying out, and writer Shalom Auslander, spilling his angry (and sometimes funny) guts about growing up Orthodox in Monsey.
We marveled at the generosity of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who have raised the bar of Jewish philanthropy to new heights; took pride in the appointment of Michael Mukasey, a Jewish attorney and judge from New York as attorney general; felt comforted that a young Muslim would step up and defend young Jews being beaten on a New York subway; and mourned the loss of Liviu Librescu, the Israeli American engineering professor (and Holocaust survivor) who died saving his students in the horrific shooting at Virginia Tech, where 32 were killed.
I wish the above list could have been more upbeat, but let’s hope 2008 will be more positive and inspiring.
Happy New Year.
Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week, where this column previously appeared.