Israel's Operation Guardian of the Walls has come to a close,
assuming that the ceasefire with Hamas terrorists in Gaza holds.
For over a week, Israel fought to defend itself against 4,300 rockets fired
against unarmed Israeli civilians, who were then forced to run with their
children to the nearest bunker...So as usual, it was Israel that
faced condemnation.
But in one place this is becoming more difficult.
Last week, the EU’s foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, convened a special
videoconference of ministers in a demonstration of EU unity. The idea was
for the EU to both ask Hamas to stop firing rockets at Israeli civilians and
to urge Israel to be "proportionate" in its response and avoid civilian
casualties -- thus equating Hamas terrorists committing war crimes with a
democracy defending itself once again against the attacks.
At least that was the plan.
But EU countries have long been ferociously divided over the
Israel-Palestine question, as was clear on Sunday when the EU ambassador
to the United Nations,
Olof Skoog, delivered a statement to the Security Council condemning
the violence but was prevented from speaking “on behalf of its member
states.” Hungary, an ally of Israel, blocked the statement.
Borrell, similarly, is often forced to issue statements on
the Israel-Palestine conflict without the unanimous endorsement of the 27
member countries,
effectively leaving him to speak for himself. Without national capitals
on board, the EU is impotent on foreign policy.
This is a theme I have touched upon before -- that far from being
isolated, Israel has many allies and has formed alliances that have helped
to prevent one-sided condemnation of Israel from the European Union.
o In response to the ICC announcement that it would investigate
Israel for war crimes,
Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic
asked the court to let them file "amicus brief" opinions on Israel's
behalf.
After decades of watching the Arab countries in the UN create alliances with
third-world countries to pass all kinds of anti-Israel resolutions, this is
a welcome change of pace.
And what these European states are doing in Israel's defense is not some
kind of attempt to win the Jewish vote in their respective countries.
According to the Pew Research Center,
the total Jewish population of Europe is only a little over 1 million, which is far, far less than the growing Muslim population:
Nevertheless, there are critics of Netanyahu's policy of creating
alliances with the right-wing, and possibly antisemitic, leaders of East
European countries. Efraim Zuroff, Israeli historian and Nazi
Hunter, is
critical of Netanyahu's friendship with Viktor Orban, the Prime
Minister of Hungary.
This realpolitik of Netanyahu is reminiscent of
Theodor Herzl's own brand of practical diplomacy, when he negotiated
for the creation of a Jewish state with some decidedly antisemitic
leaders.
Alex Ryvchin, the author of Zionism: The Concise History, explained in an interview how Herzl deliberately tried to win over
antisemitic leaders to the idea that creating a Jewish state would be to
their benefit:
Herzl dealt with a lot of ardent antisemites like the Kaiser and the Russian
Foreign Minister. He felt a cold synergy between the interests of Zionism
and these rabid antisemites. Herzl thought that for the Jews to achieve the
return to their ancestral land, these antisemites who are so keen to purge
their countries of Jews would be accommodating. And indeed, many of them saw
a benefit in a movement that could absorb a large number of Jews.
In
any political campaign such as Zionism, there has to be a dose of
realpolitik--to think not only about the idealism, but also how to
practically achieve your goal. That means creating alliances with those you
find unsavory.
The danger, Ryvchin says, is to see such temporary alliances as good faith,
long-term alliances.
In order to gauge whether Herzl had any success, here is a letter he
received from the antisemitic Kaiser in 1898, describing how he considered
the possibility of supporting a Jewish protectorate in Palestine. It is
quoted from Yoram Hazony's
The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel's Soul. In his letter,
the Kaiser describes
the energy, creative power and productivity of the tribe of
Shem...addicted to social democracy and busy inciting the opposition
will move off to the East, where more rewarding work awaits him...Now I
realize that nine-tenths of Germans will be horrified and shun me if
they find out at some later date that I am in sympathy with the Zionists
and might even place them under my protection if they call upon me to do
so [the Kaiser then rambles on how Jews don't deserve further punishment
for killing Jesus]...And from the viewpoint of secular realpolitik we
cannot ignore the fact that, given the enormous and dangerous power
represented by international Jewish capital, it would surely be a
tremendous achievement for Germany if the world of the Hebrews would
look up to our country with gratitude. [p.131-132]
Meeting with the Kaiser, Herzl had no illusions about converting him into a
lover of Jews, but did get a commitment of support for a Jewish state.
Similarly, here is a letter from Wjatscheslaw Plehwe, the Russian czar's
interior minister -- and the man believed responsible for the Kishinev massacre in which 49 Jews were murdered, Jewish women were
raped and 1,500 Jewish homes were damaged. Plehwe describes the degree to which the Russian government would support
Zionism:
I had the occasion of explaining to you the point of view of the Russian
government regarding the implementation of Zionism...The government of
Russia will look upon you with favor so long as Zionism consists of the
desire to create an independent state in Palestine, and organizing the
emigration from Russia of a certain number of its Jewish subjects.
However, the government of Russia will not agree that Zionism be
transformed into propaganda for Jewish nationalism in Russia. Zionism of
this type will only result in the establishment of a separate national
group which will endanger the integrity of the country. [Hazony, p. 136]
It was the possibility of saving Russian Jews, who lived with the perpetual
threat of pogroms, that drove Hertzl to look into potential territories
other than then-Palestine, in the short term.
Eventually, Herzl realized that he was not making the necessary progress
with leaders who were fundamentally hostile to Jews, and changed the focus
of his efforts to Great Britain, where he found allies who were driven by
Christian ideals and had a genuine passion for Jews returning to their
ancestral land.
The success that Herzl was ultimately able to achieve diplomaticall rivals
Chaim Weizmann's own success which culminated in the Balfour
Declaration. The British offered Herzl a Jewish settlement in East Africa (erroneously
referred to as Uganda), leading to the following letter from Lord Lansdowne, the British foreign
secretary:
If a site can be found which the Trust and His Majesty’s Commissioner
consider suitable and which commends itself to His Majesty’s Government,
Lord Lansdowne will be prepared to entertain favorably proposals for the
establishment of a Jewish colony or settlement on conditions which will
enable the members to observe their National customs. For this purpose he
would be prepared to discuss...the details of a scheme comprising as its
main features:
the grant of a considerable area of land, the appointment of a Jewish
Official as chief of the local administration, and permission to the
Colony to have a free hand in regard to municipal legislation and as to
the management of religious and purely domestic matters, such Local Autonomy being conditional upon the right of His Majesty’s
Government to exercise a general control. [emphasis added]
Hazony explains that the Landsdowne Letter surpasses the Balfour Declaration
because the letter expressed Great Britain's willingness to agree on Herzl's
own terms that the land would be chartered with the understanding that it
would be governed as a Jewish territory,
by the Jews themselves. [p.135]
The alliances Israel has formed with some right-wing leaders are not in the
same category as the leaders of Russia and Germany that Herzl had to deal
with. Still, some do question their motives. But such alliances, as we have
seen, have helped Israel.
Ryvchin makes the point:
Monday, May 24, 2021
Elder of Ziyon
