George Soros and Dangerous Political Currents
By ZALMAN SHOVAL
New York Sun - Opinion Section
November 30, 2006
International money-manager and philanthropist George Soros hitherto has not been known as overly concerned with the fate of the Jewish state. But this now has changed — though in a somewhat perverse fashion.
As noted in The New York Sun, the Financial Times, and other news outlets, Mr. Soros is considering giving his support to a new initiative for an "influential alternative" that would be "a powerful voice to lobby for peace with the Palestinians." It could come to be seen as a counterweight to Aipac and other Jewish organizations.
For some obscure reason, there is no mention of a similar effort to create "a powerful voice" to lobby the Palestinians for peace with Israel. The insinuation is clear: The reason peace hasn't arrived isn't the Palestinians' refusal to compromise on anything or to adhere to the international "roadmap," their violation of every single agreement signed in the past, the ongoing terrorism against Israeli civilians, or even their rejection of the Jewish people's very right to a state in any part of its historic homeland — but is due to Israel's unyielding positions.
Never mind that Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak offered far-reaching concessions, territorial and otherwise, in the Oslo, Hebron, Wye, and Camp David agreements, or that Ariel Sharon withdrew from the entire Gaza Strip, planned further withdrawals on the West Bank, and accepted the two-state solution. The last, by the way, a majority of Palestinians and their present Hamas-led government opposed.
"We deeply care for Israel," pronounces one of the sponsors of the initiative, an adviser to Bill Clinton when he was president, explaining that Israel's security depends on ending the Palestinian conflict peacefully. This may or may not be so — but what the gentleman seems to ignore is that Iran, for instance, which represents the real threat to Israel's security and perhaps very existence, doesn't give a hoot about the Palestinians. But again, the clear implication is that the onus of proof rests squarely with Israel.
Except for Mr. Soros, most of the other names mentioned in connection with the intended group may not mean very much to the average reader, but they include several people who were active in the past in the Israel Policy Forum and other organizations with a left-wing slant that during the Clinton administration unsuccessfully tried to sidetrack Aipac and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Some of them are undoubtedly well intentioned, though blinkered as to the realities in the Middle East.
In the past, one of their main allies was Israeli politician Yossi Beilin, whose agenda also included downsizing the above organizations — Rabin and Mr. Barak quickly put an end to that — and who reportedly is involved in the present effort. Not surprisingly, most, if not all, of the people involved have distinct partisan views with regard to American politics, and it may not be entirely accidental that their initiative took off when the fortunes of the Democrats seemed to be on the rise.
All this wouldn't be worrisome — pluralism has always been a major element in Jewish public life — if it weren't for the fact that some of the people involved in the new effort have been identified, perhaps unintentionally, with blatantly anti- Israel positions — like Mr. Soros's vocal criticism of Israel in last summer's Lebanese war. Even more disturbing, with possible long-term implications for both Israel and American Jews, is that all this is taking place on the background of a concerted effort by both extreme left and crypto-fascist circles in America to vilify Israel and its supporters on a wide range of issues.
There was the arguably anti-Semitic paper, with a book soon to follow, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt of, respectively, the University of Chicago and Harvard. The paper claimed that the power of the " Israel Lobby" is damaging America's "real" interests. In addition, more than 150 academics, former diplomats, and officials have published a letter alleging that teachers and various academic institutions that have been "insufficiently" supportive of Israel were subjected to pressure by state legislatures or private donors. The letter, also signed by some Jews, reminding us of those other prominent Jews, who during the Holocaust urged President Roosevelt not to increase the quota for Jewish refugees, included a sentence that could have been co-authored by Pat Buchanan.
"When did we last hear from candidates for public office who did not profess fervent attachment to the State of Israel?" the letter stated, as if this were in some way morally or politically reprehensible. The hidden hand of the Jews again!
Students of history will not be surprised by all this. Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt and those who identify with their views are an updated version of the pro-Hitler Charles Lindbergh and the virulently anti-Semitic Father Coughlin who in the late 1930s and early 1940s, accused "the Jews" of dragging America into the war against Germany. Today, there are those who impute, against the facts and all logic, that the Jews were responsible for getting America into the war in Iraq.
A special role must be reserved for Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser, who during the recent Lebanese war called Israel's response to Hezbollah's attacks "morally unjustifiable," comparing America's supplying arms to Israel with Iran's supplying arms to Palestinian terrorist organizations. He added, so as to make himself clear: "Bush should say either I make policy on the Middle East or AIPAC does." It seems Mr. Brzezinski never heard of Winston Churchill saying that he refuses to equate the arsonist with the firefighter.
Fortunately, neither the majority of the American public nor most of Mr. Brzezinski's fellow Democrats would agree with his views, but it would be a mistake to make light of the dangerous currents trying to reshape American politics and public opinion against Israel.
Mr. Shoval, Israel's ambassador to America between 1990 and 1993 and from 1998 to 2000, is president of the Israel-American Chamber of Commerce.
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