By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM–One of the most influential members of the Government of Israel is never to be seen around the cabinet table, yet what he thinks and says is of great importance to the decisions. His name is Barack Obama. Prime Minister Netanyahu, anxious to keep his coalition together, often finds himself between the rock that’s Obama and the hard place personified by several of his right-wing ministers (notably Avigdor Lieberman) acting in unison or separately. I’m among the enthusiasts for the rock against the hard place.
I also believe those who say that the prime minister isn’t really capable of deciding on the basis of the merits of an issue and then try to twist the arms of his cabinet colleagues. Of course, such courageous and determined leadership is the mark of a statesman that Netanyahu doesn’t seem to be. He seems more anxious to keep the coalition together (i.e., stay in power) than act in the best interests of the country. But he can do the right thing under pressure. Two recent cases come to mind.
First, the reversal of the Likud position about investigating left-leaning NGOs. Five prominent Likud members had already indicated their opposition and said that they’d vote against the bill when it came before the Knesset, but the rest were expected to support the move by Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu which means that the bill would have passed. Netanyahu has now decided to drop the bill in order not to jeopardize Israel’s claim of being a true democracy. Lieberman is said to be fuming.
It’s not unreasonable to speculate that someone outside the government changed the mind for Netanyahu; Obama and American public opinion seem to be the obvious candidates. McCarthy style investigation of “un-Israeli activities” wouldn’t go down well in the country that once suffered from the real McCarthy.
Second, the Jerusalem municipality suddenly found reasons to delay a number of permits for Jewish building projects in East Jerusalem on some administrative pretext. Again, it’s not unreasonable to assume that part of the price for the US vetoing the UN resolution about the settlements was an unofficial undertaking by Israel to restrict settlement building. The US ambassador to the UN expressed her country’s disapproval of settlement building as she explained the veto; she may have known more than it was expedient to let on at the time.
Both steps are, of course, very good news to those of us who live in constant fear that the right fringe of the coalition will drag Israel into a mixture of fascism and imperialism.
Like most members of the Government of Israel, Obama is subject to harsh criticism. And like most Israelis who refuse to tow the ultra-nationalist line he’s at times accused of something akin to treason against Israel. I don’t think he’s losing much sleep over it while making it easier for many of us here to sleep more soundly in the hope that the country isn’t going down the drain.
The same people who sleep a little better as a result of Obama’s actions would like to urge him to get even more involved in the decisions of the Israeli government. Though he, too, depends on the support of Jewish constituents, let’s hope that they will have enough common sense to realize that his moderate, even if at times halting, steps are good for the world and, therefore, also good for the Jews.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Henow divides his year between Canada and Israel. He may be contacted at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com