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What American Jews Can Do to Help Keep the Zionist Dream Alive

(Mosaic) Joseph Lieberman - The reestablishment of a sovereign Israel after two millennia could never have happened without the initiative and leadership of men and women who stepped out of the crowd to change history. In particular, one thinks of the vision and courage displayed by Theodor Herzl and by the Zionist pioneers who turned his vision of a mass return of the Jews to their homeland into magnificent reality. As a country surrounded by hostile neighbors, Israel has had to develop its own defenses, and it has done a brilliant job of it. The country's economy is world-class - ripe with globally significant innovation and entrepreneurship. And Israel's diverse population miraculously speaks the same language as did its ancient forebears: the first society in history to be reincarnated both nationally and linguistically. These days, many are worried that bipartisan American support for Israel is collapsing. American presidential candidates are threatening to withhold American aid, in language better aimed at a recalcitrant puppet than at a strong, trusted, and unfailingly staunch ally of the U.S. A latter-day version of anti-Semitism, directed at the Jewish state and in practice at all Jews, has resurfaced in Europe and has even raised its head in America, to the point of thoroughly infecting advanced sectors of American opinion and, lately, penetrating American electoral politics itself. The rising generations must be educated to confront the poison of anti-Jewish animus lest it spread to engulf them. It is up to everyone who cares about Israel to respond with frankness, vigor, and pride to anti-Semitism wherever, whenever, and by whomever it is promoted. Miracles like Israel are not self-sustaining. They need continuous human support and unhesitating human action. "If you will it, it is no dream," Herzl said. It's for us now to keep the dream alive. The writer was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut (1989-2013) and Democratic candidate for Vice President in 2000. This is from his remarks at the Herzl Conference on Contemporary Zionism in Jerusalem on October 30
2019-11-08 00:00:00
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