Jews in Israel, throughout the world, and in America are facing a series of crises, many of which are of their own making. The Jewish people today not only have their own sovereign state, but the world also watches in awe as Israel operates as an economic powerhouse. Jews the world over generally live in greater safety and security than they have in generations. Yet Jewish leaders are demonstrating a range of behaviors that fundamentally challenge this sense of accomplishment and well-being.

Israeli political leadership has become so awash in corruption that nothing seems surprising any more. From the president to the prime minister, from the rabbinate to the military, no leader is above or beyond suspicion. It is as if the State of Israel is a banana republic and not the country, according to the World Bank, with the 28th-highest (out of 181) GDP per capita in the world. Tax commissioners are accused of malfeasance, and the Winograd Commission investigating the Second Lebanon War seems more interested in leaking its findings than in finishing a complete and timely assessment. The entire world sees an Israel barely sustaining a level of political normalcy, let alone striving to be a model of honesty and political integrity.

A further embarrassment for the Jewish community are the recent allegations by Edgar Bronfman, the president of the World Jewish Congress, that the organization’s longtime top professional, Israel Singer, had misappropriated WJC funds. The allegations are now in the hands of lawyers and will surely reach the courts. Regardless of the accuracy, it is unclear why Bronfman would make such a public denunciation of Singer, in a telephone call whose contents were splattered across the media. The embarrassing treatment of Singer threatens to obscure all the WJC accomplished on behalf of the Jewish people over the past 35 years. In addition to being an early advocate for Soviet Jewry, Singer battled for Holocaust restitution, outed the World War II record of former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, and was a moving force in the improvement of interfaith dialogue.

In the United States there is a major battle developing once again over the right for Jews to dissent from the decisions made by the duly elected democratic government of Israel. Despite the fact that some Israeli leaders accept the linkage between the U.S. war in Iraq and the threat posed to Israel by Iran, all surveys suggest that the majority of American Jews oppose the war and its handling by the Bush administration. By contrast, the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference was seen by many observers as a ringing endorsement of Bush’s Iraq policy. While Israel has the right to its foreign policy judgments and AIPAC leaders their own, some have suggested that Jews should not be seen disagreeing with Washington or Jerusalem at this juncture — forgetting that public disagreements are not threatening but honest.

Finally, there have been repeated reports in the general media as well as the Anglo-Jewish press of Jewish political donors and activists attacking aspiring presidential candidates for even suggesting that both the United States and Israel ought to develop a more nuanced policy toward solving the Arab-Israeli conflict. In essence, politicians are being given an implicit litmus test on their support for Israel. Politicians who dare to suggest that the Palestinians may be suffering are charged with being “soft” in their support for Israel. Similarly, gags are suggested for those American politicians who argue that Israel must find ways to speak with the newly formed Palestinian unity government even if it includes Hamas ministers. All of this is occurring while an Israeli public actively and publicly debates these very issues. No one in Israel, except perhaps on the extreme Right, questions the commitment to Israel of any of the Republican or Democratic presidential aspirants who may challenge the individual policies of Israel’s leaders.

Pesach is a holiday of freedom. Jews in this generation are freer today than they have been in centuries. There is no need for Jews to be defensive and politically afraid. Jews must be forceful and proud and, at the same time, should not tolerate corruption, cheating, and ugliness from any of their leaders. If Israel and world Jewry can assert their commitment to those ends, they will be far better able to address the frequent double standards and attacks that both Israel and all Jews continue to endure.