I.
Sign of Things to Come
I cant begin to capture what its like when 7,500 pro-Israel activists gather in a single room (two football fields long) and scream, cheer, stand and clap as speaker after speaker demonstrates that political eloquence is not a lost art.
Speaker after speaker: such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, Secretary of State Clinton, US Senators Graham (R-SC) and Schumer (D-NY).
And that best kept secret in the Jewish leadership today well, not exactly a secret Howard Kohr, who talks with a blunt edge, intellectual sophistication, and inspiring cadence.
All this is only half.
When 7,500 Jews gather in one place, Jewish geography and poignant encounters are virtually limitless.
I had a sign even before I got there.
Many cabs at Reagan Airport wouldnt accept credit cards, and Im just standing there watching all the cash-paying customers ride away, when, before I know whats happening, a person urges me to share a cab because were both heading to downtown DC.
Except, she wasnt.
She spotted my yarmulke and figured I was a rabbi. She had just returned from Milwaukee, caring for her mother with cancer. Shes Catholic. A rabbi had stopped by in the hospital and comforted and counseled her extensively.
She was unbelievably grateful.
She would pay the rabbi back in some way and I just happened along.
She directed the cab to my hotel and wouldnt let me pay the fare.
II.
Last conference before Iran gets a nuclear weapon?
The roll call took at least 30 minutes and thats calling out the names as fast as three alternating readers could possibly articulate them.
Names called out were members of Congress over half of the entire US Senate and House of Representatives plus diplomats from 55 countries, plus White House staff, plus former Congresspeople, all of whom were in attendance at the plenary with the prime minister of Israel. John McCain . . . Arlen Specter . . . Barbara Boxer . . . Olympia Snowe . . . *
Not to mention though their names were not called 1,300 students from 370 college campuses, including 213 student body presidents, and the presidents of College Democrats and College Republicans.
Is this the last AIPAC conference before Iran has a nuclear weapon? Sen. Lindsay Graham asked in an extremely pointed, plenary speech.
The only Iraqi war veteran in the Senate (a Republican) is co-sponsoring a bipartisan letter with Sen. Charles Schumer (a Democrat) to President Obama, urging him to impose US sanctions on Iran immediately and unilaterally (i.e., outside the UN).
We must not allow Iran to developed a nuclear weapon. All options must be on the table you know what I mean.
Sometimes its better to go to war than to allow a Holocaust to develop a second time.
I hope and pray we can do something else.
People ask him, said Graham, whether a military strike isnt highly dangerous.
A military strike, he said, is more effective than dealing with Iran after it has a nuclear weapon.
Besides:
Iran should not have one plane that can fly and one boat than can float. It needs to be a decisive attack.
Is Obama up to the job?
[Domestic politics aside,] President Obama is my president and I stand by him. And if it becomes necessary to use military force against Iran, I will stand by him. Its a tough job to be president in these times.
Translation: Israel, and the pro-Israel community, have finally succeeded in convincing at least some higher-ups that Iran is a lot more than Israels problem.
When it comes to national security, no Democrat is my enemy. We are all Americans.
We will do what we have to do to make sure there is no second Holocaust!
Standing, cheering ovation.
III.
No poverty in Israel
Something unconsciously jarred when I approached Malcolm Hoenlein between sessions. He is the executive vice-president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. I later realized that it was his somewhat unshaven face.
It turned out that he had just gotten up from shiva for his mother the day before. Dead at 94, she escaped from Germany in 1938 and left behind 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all observant, noted Hoenlein with pride.
You would think that Hoenlein has more than enough to do coordinating 51 major American Jewish organizations, but he has also undertaken two personal projects, as he calls them.
One is Meir Panim, an Israeli non-profit that counteracts poverty in Israel.
I had major arguments with [Ariel] Sharon, Hoenlein recalls.
Sharon denied there was poverty in Israel. I told him that it was unconscionable that 60 years after the Holocaust thousands of Jewish kids in Israel went to sleep hungry every night.
If you the government arent going to do anything about it, then at least dont stand in our way.
Our meaning private volunteer efforts, such as Meir Panim, of which Hoenlein is a major organizer.
One day Sharon told me, its the government’s responsibility. Bingo! Finally he admitted there was poverty in Israel.
Hoenleins other personal project is to identify and memorialize every synagogue destroyed in Kristallnacht (Nov. 9, 1938). A typical estimate is 265. But the research project he heads has so far identified over 1,400 synagogues destroyed.
The goal is a book with a brief description of each synagogue.
Among the intended audience: each member of Congress.
Alan Solow, an early backer of Obama and now the lay chairman of the Conference of Presidents, told the huge crowd:
There is an insidious and growing threat to delegitimize Israel across the world, in the media, in alleged institutions of higher learning.
And there is lawfare waging war against Israel via the law, such as denying entrance to Israeli leaders to England on the grounds that they are war criminals.
We must not let this charade continue, said Solow. We must say no!
IV.
Going on the Offensive
Howard Kohr, executive director of AIPAC, is a treasure of the Jewish people.
He is an impatient man. impatient with the status quo.
This year is the largest AIPAC policy conference ever.
Rest assured, he will not rest on that laurel.
It is time, he said, to go on the offensive.
It is absurd for pro-Israel activists to accept as normal for Israel to be treated abnormally.
The US must demand that Israel be admitted as a full member to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which coordinates economic policy in the developed world, because Israel is start-up nation.
The US must admit Israel into the reconceived, post-Cold War NATO, because Israel has survived decades of war and terrorism.
The US should demand no less than an Israeli seat on the UN Security Council, ending the discrimination against Israel at the UN, because this is all part of shedding our defensive mentality and going on the offensive.
The US should make it clear that no is not an acceptable answer to Obamas call in his speech to the Arab world last June to make gestures of acceptance of Israel treating it equally. There must be a price to be paid for no, said Kohr, such as rejection by the World Trade Organization of Arab states if they boycott Israel.
To Kohr, even more important than going on the offensive are the fundamentals.
One. Most important, America must lead the world to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. No other issue must distract from this.
Two. Dont accept the reductionist view that the America-Israel relationship rests on resolving the problems between Israel and the Palestinians. We must refute that.
Three. The $3 billion in United States security assistance to Israel is good for the US and for Israel. The US is not in the gift-giving business.
Four. Jerusalem is not a settlement. [Standing ovation.] Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. [Huge applause.]
V.
Bibi owes us $1,800
Charles Schumer, co-sponsor of the bipartisan letter to Obama urging immediate sanctions against Iran, is not impressed with Prime Minister Netanyahus show-and-tell, at least back when he was Israels finance minister.
Iris and I invited Bibi over to our place after Shabbat. We had deli. I asked him about the Israeli economy.
He reached over and took a two liter bottle of Pepsi. He unscrewed the top, put his thumb in and then shook it up.
I mean, he really shook it up.
Then he said: The Israeli economy looks quiescent, stable but when you let it loose, it will explode.
Then he took his thumb out of the two-liter bottle.
I mean, it exploded all over the place. Up to the ceiling. All over the guests. It drenched the draperies.
It cost us $1,800 to clean up the mess!
And another story:
Bibi came to the US to meet with the joint leadership of Congress to talk about Iran.
Israel has a mortal fear of a nuclear Iran, Bibi said, and everything must be done.
The leadership did not get the urgency.
I watched the look on Bibis face.
I said to my colleagues: There were many Jews in the United States in the 1930s. Hitler was a rising power. Too many people said, Be careful [dont overreact]. Hes just saber-rattling. Mein Kampf? Nothing bad will happen.
Even Sol Bloom [a very influential Jewish congressman of the day] tamped down the fear.
And we paid the price.
And ever since then, the Jewish people have vowed, Never. Never. Again.
Bibi came over to me and said, thank you.
We must never repeat the complacency of the thirties. This is what motivates Bibi, and this is what motivates me.
Diplomatic efforts [to engage Iran] have failed! We have come too close to continue them! The US must hit Iran first with unilateral sanctions.
I am deeply concerned about the security of Eretz Yisrael.
A final story:
I will tell you about my name.
My ancestors were guardians of the walls in Chortkov, in Galicia.
When they came to the US and said their name in Yiddish shoimer, guardian it was written down as Schumer.
For as long as I live, and as long as I have the privilege of serving the people of New York, I will be a Shomer Yisrael, a guardian of Israel.
Am Yisrael Chai! [Thunderous applause.]
VI.
Hillary Clinton
So much for what the pro-Israel activists and their political sympathizers say. What about the people who more directly wield the power, people such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
Please welcome AIPAC national board member . . .
Please welcome AIPAC national chairman . . .
The voice over the sound system welcoming these national AIPAC leaders echoes throughout the two-football-field-long hall.
These are the leaders selected to introduce the senators, the secretary, the prime minister and other prestigious speakers. Loudly and clearly, the message is conveyed that here is a board with prestige and centrality in American Jewish life. The largest single gathering of American Jews speaks to the power and purpose of these leaders.
And so, Lee Rosenberg (Rosie), the incoming chair of AIPAC, touts Hillary Clintons pro-Israel credentials:
successful lobbyist for Magen David Adom to be accepted by the International Red Cross in 2006;
rejecter of US participation in the UNs Israel-bashing, Ahmadinejad-showcasing Durban II in 2009;
vetoer of every UN attempt to adopt the Goldstone Report in 2010, which criticizes Israel for defending itself against Hamas rockets in 2009;
promoter in 2010 of a $225 million increase in US security assistance to Israel (and requester of still an additional $225 million for 2011);
visitor to Israel beginning 30 years ago.
Also, denouncer of the Netanyahu governments plans to build 1,600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, focus of the tension between the US and Israel on March 22, 2010, as Clinton enters the hall to speak.
She is welcomed enthusiastically.
She does not cut to the chase.
She salutes Lee Rosenberg (youre going to be a great president for AIPAC); she salutes the US-Israel relationship (when we strengthen Israeli security, we strengthen the United States security); salutes Obamas commitment to Israel-Palestinian peace (if you doubt his willingness to stay with a job, look at health care); re-salutes the US-Israel relationship (for me and for Obama, our commitment to Israels security is rock solid, unwavering, enduring and forever [thunderous applause] . . . more than a policy position, for me its a personal commitment); salutes Americas commitment to ensuring Israels qualitative military edge; salutes the Obama administrations willingness always to stand up for Israels right to defend itself; saluted her own version of homespun familiarity with Israel (I dont think Yitzhak Rabin ever forgave me for banishing him to the White House balcony when he wanted to smoke).
But there is tension between Israel and the US, which Clinton addresses directly.
She refers to her previous praise of Netanyahu for his halt to new construction in the West Bank for 10 months and notes that she praised him not only to his face but also in Cairo and Marrakesh.
However, she gives credit were it is due and tells the truth when it is needed.
And the truth, in her view, is that Israeli building in east Jerusalem stops the Palestinians from engaging in peace negotiations. The building undermines trust. Objection to Israeli building in east Jerusalem would not necessarily be the American judgment in a final agreement its about getting to the negotiating table.
Israeli building in east Jerusalem gives the Palestinians a reason not to come to the table, even for indirect talks. That is the view of the American Secretary of State.
VII.
Demography, Ideology, ?Technology
Clinton distinguished between the building in east Jerusalem and the rededication of the Hurva synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. She called the Arab characterization of that as an Israeli design on the nearby Muslim holy places an act of pure incitement.
It is critical to meet the Palestinian trust issue concerning building in east Jerusalem and to get negotiators started for three larger reasons: demography, ideology and technology, which she called unforgiving dynamics.
That is, the status quo cannot be sustained. Its impossible.
By demography, she believes that growth in the Palestinian population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea will eventually force Israel to choose between being a democracy and being a Jewish state.
One or the other, not both.
Without their own state, either the Palestinians will be given the vote and will vote Israel out of existence, or the Palestinians will be denied the vote and Israel will cease to be a democracy.
Clinton cited no evidence for an inevitable advance in Palestinian numbers, a widely held belief that has been challenged in recent demographic studies and projections.
By ideology, Clinton refers to the growth of the rejectionists, who reject Israel, and whose growth is not in Americas interests.
She said that when she was First Lady she traveled to parts of the world far from the Middle East, where the Middle East was rarely mentioned. Now, as Secretary of State, when she is far from the Middle East, the issue is raised. We cannot stop this mass communication.
By technology, Clinton refers to better rockets, better guidance systems and longer range, which make Israel unsafe.
Our message to Hamas:
Renounce violence, recognize Israel, abide by previous, signed [Israel-Palestinian] agreements.
Then suddenly Gilad Shalit must be released immediately! [Loud, standing ovation.]
On Iran, she defended the administrations delay in imposing new, crippling sanctions on Iran because they will be more effective if multilateral. Russia, she says, has moved in that direction, while more work needs to be done with China.
Clinton defended the Obama adminisrations attempt to engage with Iran to offer it benefits for meeting its international obligations, because this has stripped Iran of its excuses.
She did not address the Graham-Schumer letter urging President Obama to impose unilateral American sanctions on Iran now.
VIII.
Benjamin Netanyahu
The prime minister of Israel has his own story about names.
One of the greatest lies, he said, is that the Jews are foreign colonialists . . . on their own land.
The connection between Jews and the land of Israel cannot be denied. My first name is Benjamin. The first name of my friend, the president of Israel, is Shimon [Peres].
Four thousand years ago, Benjamin and Shimon and their 10 brothers roamed the hills of Judea.
The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago and the Jewish people are building it today.
Jerusalem is not a settlement.
It is our capital. [Standing ovation, cheering.]
He said that current building in east Jerusalem doesnt hinder a two-state solution because everyone knows all those neighborhoods will be in Jerusalem as part of any settlement.
These neighborhoods, referring to Ramat Shlomo, Neve Yaakov, Ramot, Gilo, French Hill, Ramat Eshkol and others, are just beyond the 1949 armistice lines and within five minutes of the Knesset neighborhoods in which one-half of the Jewish population of Jerusalem now lives.
On Jerusalem, my government has maintained the policy of Golda Meir, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin.
Netanyahu is repeatedly quotable:
On Iran:
A radical Iran armed by nuclear weapons would bring an end to the world of nuclear peace of 65 years. The world will never be the same. It would be a threat to the whole world. We expect the world to act swiftly to thwart this danger, but we always reserve the right to self-defense.
On Hezbollah:
Hezbollah says: If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them around the world.
On anti-Semitism:
The most pernicious form of anti-Semitism [is the view]: If only Israel would go away, the problems of the world would go away.
This doesnt mean Israel is above criticism. Self-criticism is a national trait. In the Knesset, every week is health-care week.
Double standards:
There is a triple standard: one for dictators, one for democracies, and one for Israel.
On Palestinians:
We dont want to govern them, dont want to rule them. We want them to live in security and peace.
We have removed road blocks, check points. We have helped spur an incredible boom in the Palestinian economy. It didnt come about out of sheer air. Thats been our policy. And an unprecedented building moratorium on new [Israeli] construction in the West Bank.
On negotiations:
President Abbas, come and negotiate peace! Thats so elementary and so obvious. Youd think the leaders would come.
On the UN:
. . . the grotesquely named United Nations Human Rights Commission.
On the Goldstone Report:
I thank Obama and Congress for their efforts to fight this lie.
On the murderers square in Ramallah:
The Palestinian Authority [headed by Abbas] did nothing when the square was named after the murderer [of 37 Israelis, including 12 children, and an American citizen, Gail Rubin.]
[You cannot expect that] Israel makes all the concessions and the Palestinians make none.
On explaining Israels security concerns:
. . . the difficulty in explaining the security problems of Israel to the United States, which is 500 times as large as Israel.
On the ground:
We must have security arrangements on the ground, not on a piece of paper. We dont want to make the same mistake in the West Bank [that we made in Gaza and Lebanon].
The main security problem with Lebanon is not the Israel-Lebanon border, but the Lebanon-Syria border [through which Iran smuggles weapons to Hezbollah].
The main security problem with Gaza is not the Israel-Gaza border but the Gaza-Egypt border [with its 1,000 tunnels for smuggling weapons].
That is why Israel must have troops on the eastern border of a Palestinian state.
On best friends:
Vice President Biden said Israel has no better friend than the United States. I say it, too.
On militant Islam:
Militant Islam does not hate the West because of Israel, it hates Israel because of the West. Militant Islam preceded Israel by 1,000 years.
Finally, on his speech, which began two hours later than scheduled:
I think it was Woody Allen who said: I spent a lifetime trying to come late to a Jewish event, and never made it . . . I came on time!
