- A prominent member of America's Orthodox community, who
was also a Senate staff member for three decades, spoke out last night
against American Jews who publicly criticize Israeli policies.
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- "An American who wants to take sides should make
aliyah (immigrate to Israel)," said Rabbi Dr. David Luchins, a national
associate vice president of the Orthodox Union (OU) and a national officer
for the Jewish Council of Public Affairs. "Their kids should serve
in the army. It's better for American Jews to stay out of Israeli politics."
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- Luchins carefully emphasized that "every Jew has
the right to pray and pay for their side, whether it's Americans for Peace
Now or Americans for Likud," and said he was not speaking on behalf
of the organizations he serves. However, the former senior aide to Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan added that it's "devastating" for American
Jews to criticize Israeli policies in front of U.S. politicians or in ads
in The New York Times.
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- Underlying love
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- Taking a public stance against Israel is a "serious
mistake," Luchins said in his speech at Jerusalem's OU Israel Center,
because when American Jews write critical letters to their congressmen
or protest Israeli policies, the average American does not perceive their
underlying love for Israel.
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- "When the rallies happen in New York against the
pull-out from Gush Katif," he predicted, "the headlines will
say, `American Jews protest against Israeli policy,' and the average American
will read: `American Jews protest Israel.'"
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- He also said that often, American and Israeli politicians
make subtle, internal agreements between themselves, which they do not
present to the public. A politician's publicly stated opinion about a peace
proposal, for example, is sometimes a carefully planned diplomatic "charade,"
he explained. By writing critical letters or holding rallies, American
Jews "sometimes mess up those charades - very badly."
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- Luchins also criticized American organizations that attempt
to exert financial pressure on Israeli politicians.
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- "An Israeli Arab or a non-Jewish immigrant from
the former Soviet Union has more of a say than the most ardent American
Zionist who comes here 35 times a year," he asserted. Comparing Israeli
politics to a baseball game and Israeli citizens to the teams, he told
the audience that, "American Jewish Zionists have box seats, and we
have the right and obligation to support our team. But we are not playing.
Only the members of the team, even those who are benched, have the right
to take part in team meetings. We fans talk strategy, but the only ones
with the right to decide matters are the team members."
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- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/458858.html
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