A Lesson from the Jerusalem Post Conference

The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s right-of-center news media, held its first conference on Sunday, April 29, in NYC where sparks flew between the panelists that were members of Israel’s former left-of-center government and the present members of Netanyahu’s right-of-center government.

The day-long conference brought together a long list of impressive Israeli government, diplomatic, and military officials, and featured some of the newspaper’s best editors and journalists, along with Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz. These VIP’s were obviously meant to balance the opposing points of view in speeches and panel discussions. Instead, the audience of about 1,200 guests representing both sides of American Jewish politics witnessed opening remarks by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that set the stage for what was to follow…the airing of some of Israel’s internal political conflicts in front of a mostly American audience.

This was a huge distraction from the purpose of the conference, which was to be discussions on Israel-US relations, the socio-economic issue of a new Jewish Diaspora, and the delegitmization of Israel by many in the global media.

The first panel, titled “Securing Israel’s place in the new Middle East: What can be done?” was overshadowed by Olmert’s allegations that some of his ministers went about sabotaging his negotiations with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

The friction continued as this panel was questioned about Iran and what Israel should do to stop the nuclear ability to strike Israel. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Gilad Erdan, presently the Environmental Protection Minister, got into a war of words that were highlighted by Dagan calling Erdan “a liar” and Erdan’s punctuating remark “I prefer that heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet will not do damage to our efforts….and go out and say you should be doing this or that” in his apparent response to both Dagan and former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin’s recent public critiques of their administration’s handling of the Iranian threat.

But, it was JPost’s Senior Contributing Editor Caroline Glick, a Chicagoan who made Aliyah in 1991 who addressed the topic of US-Israeli relations head on. After sitting on stage appearing totally disengaged from the political barbs that were being traded on stage, she spoke boldly about the huge disconnect that she hears on the streets of Israel between the Israeli Jewish citizens and the American Jewish community as it relates to believing in President Obama’s support for Israel.

Ms. Glick stated that it seems that this credibility gap began in Cairo with the President’s speech to Arabs, followed by his demand for settlement freezes in the West Bank and recently allowing Turkey to stop Israel from becoming part of NATO. This was then countered by Olmert as he pointed his finger in her direction and at the other “right-right-of-center” panelists stating that “it is not in Israel’s best interest to criticize any American President.”

But one thing they seemed to agree on…that the world needs to be convinced that Iran’s nuclear program is not just a threat to Israel, but is truly a threat to the global community. With this in mind, the consensus seemed to be in favor of a very strong Israeli approach that keeps the military option on the table and Israel remaining the master of its own destiny. However, the majority agreed that an American led international coalition would be a more persuasive line of attack to convince Iran of standing down.

During the Q&A that followed the morning’s discussion one question seemed to rock the panel. A gentleman from the audience posed the following question and asked for a yes or no answer: “If Israel were to give the Palestinian Arabs all that they desire, including all of Jerusalem and other Israeli cities; removal of the settlements under dispute; hand Arabs the natural resources of the land; supply them with medical, technological, military and nuclear capabilities; and the ‘right of return’…would the Jewish people be able to live there in peace?” This is where Caroline Glick’s recent commentary ‘Elephant in the Room: Jewish Hatred’ became apparent. The panel refused to answer the question and quickly dismissed the man in favor of the next person on line. Surely this question, as unrealistic as it may be, truly hits at the heart of the Israeli/Palestinian/Arab dispute…that the hatred of the Jewish People is such that there may never be enough that they can do to bring security and a right to live and prosper in the place they call their homeland Israel.

The other two discussions that took place in the afternoon were also quite passionate as panelists spoke about the international Jewish community that is presently facing a new Diaspora as Jews try to escape the growing global anti-Semitism/anti-Zionism and the battle to counter the media’s public relations war to delegitimize Israel.

As a first-of-its-kind conference, this was successful in that it brought together so many illustrious leaders and other great voices in support of Israel who expressed their views on the most important issues facing Israel today. However, there was one important lesson to be learned from this conference…one not to be repeated if this is to become an annual event. When it comes to the international stage, like a conference in NYC, it is wise to keep internal politics away from the podium so as to present a strong, united Israel to the world. This was best summed up by Professor Dershowitz in his morning presentation “Come united” and reiterated by Isi Leibler, former Leader of the Australian Jewry and now a JP columnist when he chastised Olmert: “A former prime minister of Israel took everything in the book to criticize the present government” during his afternoon discussion.

Leibler’s advice that “There’s a lot we have to learn about a certain amount of restraint and dignity” is advice we here in America should also be taking as our internal politics has taken such an ugly turn and stains the dignity of our country.