For the last few days I have been engaged in an email debate with Yoram Ettinger about events in Israel and the reaction among Diaspora Jews. Yoram is a retired Israeli diplomat, currently the author of the weekly “Ettinger Report—Second Thoughts: US-Israel Initiative.” His missives to me included reams of data buttressing his arguments that Israeli democracy, and its judicial system, is strong and not in any danger from Prime Minister Netanyahu and his religious and far right allies.
Perhaps his data-based “reality” is accurate. For me, and for many in America and Jews around the world, however, perception trumps reality. To continue to receive unequivocal support, Israel must confront our perception and convert us into believers.
If the support of world Jewry still matters, I wrote him, then Israel has a perception problem in its apparent rightward shift in both religious regulations and norms (i.e., treatment of women on buses) and in plans for the West Bank.
Progressive Americans, especially progressive Jews, fear what could happen in Israel, as well as what could happen in America, if religious extremists upend decades-old norms. They cannot be assuaged by telling them, “It won’t happen, that the system won’t permit it.”
Almost all we hear here is Haredi intolerance of women at the Kotel, or on buses and airplanes. Or about government stipends for Haredi to study and have children with no requirement to be contributing members of Israeli society (an argument that resonates in America with our Haredi’s failure to properly educate their children).
Perception, it is often said, is reality, so Israel has a real problem that cannot be whisked away with statistics (much the same way Joe Biden cannot seem to get credit for an improved American economy as long as gas and egg prices remain high). I am sure Israeli Arab citizens—and Palestinians under Israeli rule—enjoy more freedoms and a better economic status than almost every Arab in Moslem countries, but I am equally sure they would prefer not to be living in a Jewish state.
I offered no answers to all this and more. I just have anxiety that the Israel we in America have long known and cherished is changing in ways we do not consider admirable. We are proud of Israel’s military, its technology segment, its medical, agricultural, environmental, cultural achievements and leadership. But it cannot be denied that the current government has changed our focus on the foundational aspects of what Israel means.
Biden’s Perception Problem: Apart from his failure to receive credit for an improving economy, the president must contend with an ageism problem.
Always prone to verbal gaffes and body stiffness, Biden’s misfortune is that he presides during an electronic information age that immediately and ceaselessly transmits his foibles, reinforcing the perception that he is not up to the task of governing, much less fit to serve a second term.
Donald Trump does indeed look sprier of foot, even if the would-be autocrat’s mind is fully engaged in visions of retribution.
Given a choice of Biden’s malapropisms and stiff gait versus Trump’s avowed assault on democracy, there should be no question who is the worthier candidate.
But, of course, for nearly half of America, Trump is their choice. It’s a reality that feeds the perception that we are witnessing the last days of our national motto “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many, one).
From America’s very founding, national leaders have engaged in strident debate. Compromise, working across the aisle, with the notable exception of the Civil War, for the most part has worked. But divisions, stoked by Trump and his MAGAlytes, have stifled bipartisanship.
It cost Kevin McCarthy his position as Speaker of the House because he partnered with Democrats to keep the government open for another 45 days. Of course, McCarthy was an untrustworthy ally, reneging on past deals, so Dems in the House voted against retaining him as speaker.
Who will succeed McCarthy as the second in line to the presidency? Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio wants to. Shirtsleeves and all, he’s a more divisive, reactionary character than McCarthy. Will Jordan alter his image by wearing his suit jacket in public?
Surely, the GOP can find a more appropriate candidate. Keep in mind, to be elected speaker, one need not be a member of the House. Even Trump has been suggested, though he reportedly has dissed the idea.
How about Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and governor of Arkansas and current presidential nomination hopeful? Or John Kasich, another former congressman and governor of Ohio, who sought the White House in 2016?
Ukraine Aid, Reality Not Perception: United States aid to Ukraine in its fight with Russia has totaled more than $77 billion. Opponents of the aid, almost exclusively Republicans, are determined to convey the perception that it is an indefensible, budget-breaking giveaway.
But, as Paul Krugman noted in The New York Times, “Ukraine aid amounts to less than 1 percent of federal spending (and less than 0.3 percent of G.D.P.). The military spending of that portion is equal to less than 5 percent of America’s defense budget” (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/opinion/columnists/maga-republicans-ukraine.html?smid=em-share).
What we get for our money goes beyond guns and ammo. Ukraine is degrading the Russian military, both physically and psychologically. Ukraine prevents Vladimir Putin from further attempts to recapture former members of the Warsaw Pact. Ukraine represents America’s commitment to democratic governments and its rejection of totalitarianism. All at no cost in American military lives.
Krugman said it best: “Whatever Republican hard-liners may say, they want Putin to win. They view the Putin regime’s cruelty and repression as admirable features that America should emulate. They support a wannabe dictator at home and are sympathetic to actual dictators abroad.”
