Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 10, 2015

Don't Be Fooled by Hasbara or Saber-Rattling

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A Twisted Truth: Will Israeli voters look beyond fear and propaganda?

I am not writing this letter to the people who will most likely read it: Ashkenazi liberals, Tel Avivians and a handful of Anglo-born, National Religious folks who enjoy getting angry with leftists. I am writing to the largest sectors of Israeli society: Mizrahim, the middle class, those who are Masorti (traditional) but perhaps not Dati Leumi (national religious). In other words, the people Americans Jews have the least connection with, and the ones who actually decide Israeli elections.

I know its a bit of a pipe dream to think youll ever read this. But Im writing it anyway, because I want you to know what Americans actually think about Israel, and why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus policies have made things so much worse here.

You see, the Americans you hear from are not representative of actual Americans. Sheldon Adelson runs a whole newspaper (Israel Hayom) to push his point of view. Ninety percent of Netanyahus primary election funding comes from Americans. And, of course, you see plenty of silly American tourists in Israel, with their shorts and hats.

But this is just one fringe of American society. The Jews you see and hear from are the most Zionist, patriotic ones. Like me, they were raised on a diet of pro-Israel hasbara; I bought trees to plant in Israel, I learned about the founding of the state, I believed that Zionism brought a people without a land to a land without people.

Many of these people still believe that. I admire their ahavat yisrael, their love of Israel, but they are only a sliver of America.

And if you really care about the future of your state, you need to understand how the rest of us the vast majority of Americans think before you cast your ballot.

I know this election, for you, is a lot about the Iranian threat, and whether Netanyahus tough policies are better than the alternative. You know that Netanyahu has alienated the Obama administration; the question is whether its worth it, because only this strong policy can deter Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Read this article:

A Letter to the Israeli Voter

Category: Ashkenazi
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