May 15, 2008

Writing in Slate about the new dovish and self-described “pro-Israel” lobbying group J Street, Shmuel Rosner, Washington correspondent for the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, says it’s time to dump the term “pro-Israel.”

“The problem,” he writes, is that term “has been used so often — to describe so many conflicting positions — that it has become practically meaningless, more confusing than clarifying.” Rosner’s point is that when two groups of activists advocate wildly divergent solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and yet still consider themselves “pro-Israel,” the word has lost its meaning.

Maybe so, but a group like J Street, which stands for an assertive American involvement in bringing about a two-state solution, will need to call itself “pro-Israel” so long as its opponents question not just its policies, but its very commitment to the security and future of a Jewish state. Debate on specific policies dies when one side accuses the other of being “anti-Israel.”

“Pro-Israel” establishes a baseline, which J Street defines nicely when it talks about “U.S. support for Israel as a Jewish and democratic state” and “maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge.”

Israel at 60 is itself a wild and woolly democracy, with as many opinions as there are citizens. If we agree that there is more than one way to be a Jew, we must agree that there is more than one way to be for Israel.

• Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com