-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,783231,00.html
Comment Now every Jew must decide The Israeli right is calling for the chief rabbi's resignation. Advocates of peace must defend him Jonathan Freedland Friday August 30, 2002 The Guardian The chief rabbi has made waves before, but never like this. His comments to this newspaper - noting that the conflict with the Palestinians was forcing Israel into positions "incompatible" with Judaism's deepest ideals and "corrupting" of Israeli culture - have reverberated far beyond Britain's Jewish community. They have provoked outrage in Israel and fierce debate across the diaspora. One Jerusalem rabbi, Sholom Gold, told the BBC that Jonathan Sacks's statements were so far beyond the pale, he was now "irrelevant" in the world Jewish community. Yesterday's edition of the hardline Jerusalem Post ran an editorial with the simple headline: "Resign, Rabbi Sacks." It will be of little comfort to him, but the scale of this row is testament to the chief rabbi's standing in the Jewish world. There are not many diaspora clerics whose pronouncements would lead the morning news bulletin on Israel radio - as the Guardian interview did on Tuesday - even fewer from a community as small as Britain's. But Professor Sacks's standing as a first-class scholar and, crucially, his reputation as a passionate advocate for Israel, ensured that his words carried an extra punch - making them all the more shocking to those who now condemn him. Those critics' complaints are worth tackling head on, for two reasons. First, they are grossly unfair to him and usually involve a stubborn refusal to look at what the chief rabbi actually said. The Jerusalem Post, for instance, claims that Prof Sacks has "forgotten that the state of Israel is at war". Of course, he has done no such thing. In my conversation with him, the chief rabbi stressed repeatedly that Israel was "forced" into its current stance by a war it would rather not fight. That was clear in the comments we published, but also in his description of Israel as "a country that has been on the frontline against war and terror incessantly for 54 years". Every time Israel had reached out to make peace, he said, the Palestinian response had been violence. He cited Israel's June 1967 offer to return all the territories it had just gained in war. The reply was the famous three Nos of the Arab League in September 1967: no peace, no negotiation, no recognition. If only the Palestinians would reverse that habit and end the violence, said Prof Sacks, it could all be so different. "If I was advising the Palestinians right now, I would ask, 'what is it that will get you to your destination quicker than anything?' And my answer would be, peaceful protest. Adopt the tactics of Gandhi. I would say: 'Guys, I know Israelis, I love them deeply and if you want to make an impact, peaceful protest will get you there in a week instead of a lifetime.'" So Jonathan Sacks does not need to be tutored in the pro-Israel line. He knows Israel has to defend itself and he knows from whom. And nor does he have to be lectured by his critics on the view that Israel is fighting hard to remain "compassionate, humane and committed to human rights". That's what he said, adding his belief that "the ethical tradition of the Israeli army, which is one of the most reflective of all armies", would survive. This, then, is the first reason to defend the chief rabbi: his critics are attributing views to him that he does not hold, seeking to cast him as an enemy of the Jewish state when he is the very opposite. As a statement from his office insisted yesterday, it's "clear to anyone who reads the actual Guardian interview... that the chief rabbi expressed passionate support for Israel". But the second reason to back Prof Sacks goes far deeper than the matter of his own reputation. He stands for the simple principle that one can be a friend of Israel and offer a heartfelt warning for its future, all at the same time. He wants Jews and Israelis to see the risk they run if this conflict goes on much longer - the risk not to human life, but to Jewish values. And this is what Rabbi Gold and his ultra-right friends cannot bear to hear. On this they are in complete denial, refusing even to acknowledge that a challenge to Israel's moral integrity exists. Witness the Jerusalem Post: "Rather than 'corrupting' us, this war of self-defence has brought out some of our finer qualities, such as patriotism, national pride and a willingness to make personal sacrifices on behalf of the common good." The chief rabbi had the courage to see through such self-delusion, and to state the uncomfortable truth about the occupation. "I can't believe that Jews, having been through all we've been through, actually want to rule over another people," he said. He went on to quote the great Jewish sage, Maimonides: "'Israel did not long for the Messiah so it could rule over other nations'. If that was good enough for Maimonides, it's good enough for me." This is why the Israeli right is so keen to trash Jonathan Sacks - because they cannot bear to hear a Jew of such standing torpedo so completely their claim to the occupied territories. No wonder the ultras want to brand him "irrelevant" or oust him from his post. He now poses a moral challenge to their project. When I put to him a statement by the ultra-right leader of Israel's National Religious party, calling Israel's Arab citizens a "cancer" to be removed, Sacks's response was instinctive and immediate: "God forbid". So advocates of peace need to put aside their grumbles that the chief rabbi took this long to speak out, and rally to his side. If they do not, and his enemies succeed, no mainstream leader will ever dare raise his voice again: dissent will be deemed out of bounds, an excommunication offence. This support should be more than tactical, for a great moral principle is at stake. I suspect history will judge the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza very harshly, asking which Jews and Israelis saw its folly and which did not. Jonathan Sacks made his choice this week, and came down on the right side of the line. Now the rest of the Jewish world has to decide where it stands. 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