A stalwart of Zionism caused an ideological earthquake last week when he stated that defining the State of Israel as Jewish is the key to its end. In an interview published in Ha’aretz, Avraham Burg, a former head of the Jewish Agency for Israel and a former Knesset speaker, argued that Israeli society has elements of German fascism, that the Law of Return should be reconsidered and that Israelis who are able to obtain foreign passports should do so.
Leftist Israeli academics and intellectuals have made such statements in the past, but the fact that these words came from the mouth of a man born, fed and bred in the elite of the Zionist establishment created an uproar in the country. Some were angry, others were frightened, but observers from across the political spectrum agreed that Burg’s comments marked a watershed moment in the history of Zionism.
“Burg is in the line of the great leaders of Zionism,” said Yoram Hazony, who founded the Shalem Center, a right-leaning research institute in Jerusalem. “For him to come out against the Law of Return, to abandon Herzl and to compare Israeli laws to Hitler’s laws, it’s like the pope announcing that he has already converted to Judaism.”
The son of Yosef Burg, a National Religious Party founder who participated in the creation of the state alongside David Ben-Gurion, Avraham Burg was one of the few soldiers to publicly oppose the first Lebanon War. He became one of the most powerful members of the Labor Party, serving for 10 years as chairman of the Jewish Agency and as speaker of the Knesset from 1999 to 2003.
While Burg’s comments last week were widely portrayed as having crossed an ideological barrier, he has previously criticized the State of Israel in what was perceived as a post-Zionist fashion. In 2003 he wrote an opinion article titled “The Zionist Revolution Is Dead,” originally published in the Israeli mass daily Yediot Aharonot and subsequently in the Forward. In the piece, he claimed that moral and political corruption had bankrupted the ideology.
But in his interview with Ha’aretz, and in his just-released book, “Defeating Hitler,” the former Knesset speaker goes one step further in attacking the ideological foundation of his home country, questioning whether the Zionist revolution could have ever succeeded and whether a Jewish and democratic state is possible. Israel is spiritually dead, said Burg, who now resides in France, and it is only a matter of time before the best and brightest quit the Jewish state.
“People are not willing to admit it, but Israel has reached the wall,” Burg told Ha’aretz. “Ask your friends if they are certain their children will live here. How many will say yes? At most 50%. In other words, the Israeli elite has already parted with this place. And without an elite, there is no nation.”
The Forward welcomes reader comments in order to promote thoughtful discussion on issues of importance to the Jewish community. In the interest of maintaining a civil forum, the Forward requires that all commenters be appropriately respectful toward our writers, other commenters and the subjects of the articles. Vigorous debate and reasoned critique are welcome; name-calling and personal invective are not. While we generally do not seek to edit or actively moderate comments, the Forward reserves the right to remove comments for any reason.
To post a comment, click to login:
Copyright © 2012, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Israel suffers an unusual share of double standards, as we all know. This phenomenon of judging Israel differently than one would judge others is also a Jewish phenomenon. In other words, a Jew (or an Israeli) living in America, for example, would never see the American experience as a "failure" because of political or military woes. The American experience includes science, culture, society, employment - in addition to political failures, going to war, racial tensions, etc. All in all, despite problems or setbacks, an American is happy with his life and society. However, when dealing with Israel, even a Jew might judge Israel with the one-dimensional tool of the conflict. Since the conflict is so frustrating and seemingly unsolvable, some come to the conclusion that Zionism is a failure or that Jewish statehood was ill-conceived. The conflict is indeed very interesting, and so we busy ourselves with it - but it is only one aspect of our life in Israel. Israel is also Hebrew literature and culture. Traditional Torah life is thriving, as well as secular Jewish expressiveness. Jews marry other Jews, and their children all receive a Hebrew education. People are simply happy here. As Yehuda pointed out, the population is only growing - and within a generation or so a very clear majority of Jews will be living in Israel. Why? Apparently, our woes - just like the woes of others - are not the essence of life. The desire to live in a Jewish society, successfully creating our own unique culture, is the essence.
Burg has articulated what I have felt for some time. In my youth I devoted all my attention and funds to Israel and total faith and belief in AIPAC. Now I support everything that strengthens Jewish life in America.Tt's a tragedy to see the State of Israel succumb not by might but with a whimper.
For me, the beginning of the end of the State of Israel began in the summer of 1984. "Operation Freedom for Galilee" was in full swing. Thousands of Lebonese non-combatants had already being killed. And there I was in the middle of Jerusalem without any money because a bank holiday had caught me by surprise. I first tried to get a loan from the hotel clerk, offering to have him hold a traveler's check as security. No, he couldn't do that. I then asked him if he could exchange a ten dollar bill. No, he couldn't do that. Finally, I asked him to give me five shekels (about one dollar) so that I could take a bus to visit Yad Vashem. No, he couldn't do that. Defeated, I walked outside. There, in the early morning sun were three Palestinian men getting ready to do a day's work landscaping at the hotel. We greeted each other and then I explained how the banks were closed and that I needed five shekels to take a bus to Yad Vashem. Between the three of them, they pressed me take twenty shekels saying, "You're going to have to eat today, you know." My heart was melted. They had nothing to gain and expected nothing in return.
Although Mr Burg is a former speaker of the Knesset, still, I don't think his ideas should be taken too seriously. There are many amazing aspects to life in Israel, and one of them is the fact that the population is NOT leaving - despite a century of struggle. About half of the Jewish people lives in Israel, and it is the ONLY Jewish community in the world whose numbers increase year by year. All of us in Israel remember the pre-1967 joke: "The last one out should turn off the lights..." Yet, it's just not so. The Yishuv of 1920 was about 60,000; in 1948 it was about 600,000 - and today the Jewish population of Israel is approaching 6,000,000. If Mr Burg indeed feels that the "elite" is leaving, as reported in this article, then he really doesn't have a clear view of reality. As far as his belief that “The Zionist Revolution Is Dead” is concerned - well, again it's not too serious. You can have a debate with your taxi driver about the weekly parasha, little children babble in Hebrew, Jewish education is universal, Jewish identity is self-evident and primary, and everyone is involved in the main story of modern Jewish history - not as an observer, but as a participant. It's really a miracle.
Considered a paragon of democratic development, the USA can count among its historic plateaus: 1. Slavery 2. Segregation and persecution of blacks 3. The use of the FBI and the justice system to punish and execute political and racial outcasts. 4. Punishment by means of isolation of the Japanese minority during World War2. 5. Denial of the vote to women. 6. Punishment of abortion. 7. The McCarthy era. 8. The Vietnamese War. The list can go on and on. Yet the USA had strong enough institutions built into its democracy and a people who persevered in seeking the right path. Israel is no different in that respect. Illogical and hurtful periods have seeped into our existence as a state. Gradually, these problems are addressed and corrected. Avraham Burg's problem is that he lacks historical perspective. Also lacking by him is the determination held by most Israelis to move forward without destroying the framework of our small State.
The seminal statement in Orly's article is: "...Burg, who now resides in France...." Cela explique tout.
I'm rather certain that Burg lives at Nataf in the Jerusalem hills, not in France. What was in the news recently was that he has French citizenship, and he was seen standing in line by the French embassy in Tel-Aviv in order to vote in the recent presidential elections. It is worthy of emphasis that his opinions shouldn't be taken seriously at all. He wishes to define Zionism as evil - yet he fought in court that the Jewish Agency provide him with a car and driver for life. He had ambitions to be the prime minister, yet he calls upon Israeli citizens to seek out foreign citizenship. He wants to reconsider the Law of Return, yet he had headed the Jewish Agency (hence the car and driver for life) whose purpose is to bring Jews to live in Israel in accordance to the Law of Return. Simply, he could be likened to one who wishes to study medicine yet doesn't believe that people should be cured of anything. We all remember that he announced in the Knesset that Prof Rubinstein had died and asked the members to rise in a minute of silence (Prof Rubeinstein is quite alive to this very day). Burg just doesn't check things out, and his opinions are simply nonsense.