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WHY EACH OF US SHOULD CONSIDER GOING TO AIPAC'S ANNUAL POLICY CONFERENCE IN MAY 2009 |
Dear Friends:
For an ever-growing number of people associated with our community,
participation in our congregation's annual delegation to AIPAC's Annual Policy
Conference in Washington, D.C. has developed into a primary expression of their
support for the State of Israel. This year's
conference is being held from May 3 - 5, and it is vital that our delegation, as all others nationally,
include as many individuals as possible.
Here's why: (1) It is an election year and both parties and their candidates
must be reminded of the broad-based and deeply rooted support for Israel
emanating from its friends in the United States; (2) The issue of Iran's nuclear
threat to Israel and to the world at large needs, more than ever, the public
outcry and indignant protest of the American Jewish community to help to
reposition the issue back to its due prominence on the world's political stage;
(3) Israel's leadership must see a display of strong American Jewish support so
that it can undertake measures it, and it alone, deems necessary for its
national defense and for the protection of its citizens from the daily Kassam
bombings that the Palestinians are raining down on southern Israel; (4) Israel
must see the same outpouring of American Jewish support so that it feels
sufficiently unbound and self-secure to respond however it deems necessary and
most supportive of its short-term and long-term strategic and security-related
interests, as proposals are presented and considered in the course of the
ongoing peace negotiations brokered by the current American administration.
With more immediate regard to all of the above, and for many of us, one most
significant question still remains very much unanswered as Israel continues to
pursue peace with enemies who seek its destruction. However, this question must
be answered by the citizens of Israel - and not by those of us residing outside
of Israel - since Israelis will reap the greatest rewards and suffer the most
serious consequences for answering it correctly or otherwise: Does Israel indeed
have willing and capable partners among the Palestinians' leadership who are
representative of the Palestinian population at this time and with whom Israel
might negotiate, conclude, and implement a comprehensive and final agreement for
peace?
While I am far from convinced personally that the answer to this question is
"yes," I believe wholeheartedly in the sacred principle that it is the
citizenship of the State of Israel, through its democratically elected
government (far and away the only true democracy in the Middle East), that must
make such determinations. Our role as American Jews ought therefore remain, as
ever, as follows: (1) We must do our very best to ensure that the citizenship of
Israel and its elected representatives are aware that they do not have to bow to
Western pressure to make compromises in their noble pursuit of peace that are
unreasonable in light of Israel's legitimate needs for short-term and enduring
security; (2) We must do our best to make our sentiments as a strong and
uncompromising American Jewish community, in this regard, known to our own
governmental officials here in America; (3) We must make every effort to build
coalitions with like-minded American citizens of all races and religions -- all
in support of Israel's right, as a free and morally sound (and in so many ways,
morally leading) nation among nations, to define its own national interests and
to protect its citizens.
I believe in Israel and I believe in America. As a Rabbi and as a Jew, I pray
for the safety and security of each, our homeland and our country. However, at
this moment in the respective and collective histories of both the Jewish People
and Western Civilization, our prayers might only be answered to the extent that
we are willing to take meaningful action in the real world that aligns with the
hopes and aspirations that we feel and express in the course of our prayers. We
have faced such moments in the past and we have met our obligations as a People
with greater or lesser effectiveness. At this moment and in our era more
generally, for the sake of the Jewish People most immediately and for the
world's sake not long thereafter, we have, as our greatest responsibility, to
proceed with strength and conviction as unyielding and impassioned advocates on
behalf of the State of Israel and its very unique relationship with our own
country. Our own personal sacrifices to this undertaking are but financial and
time-related at most. We must act now - with commitment and with a sense of
immediacy. We should do so proudly, both as Jews and as Americans, in a
coordinated effort, for the sake of our homeland, but, just as much so, for the
sake of our country.
For American Jews, this responsibility begins with membership in, support of,
and participation with AIPAC. Each of us should consider very seriously
registering for and attending AIPAC's Annual Policy Conference in Washington,
D.C. in early May of next year. AIPAC is the heart and soul of the American
Jewish Pro-Israel Movement. Its participants advocate for a strong, mutually
beneficial relationship between the United States and Israel, two countries who
share as no other two countries in the world the highest virtues and most noble
values of, and commitments to, democracy, individual liberty, a free market,
technological innovation, and humanitarian concern. Each of us must make our
support for Israel count, and AIPAC is the place to start.
I hope that your schedule will allow you to join our delegation in May and I
look forward to working with you evermore on behalf of Israel's security and our
own. Please call my office at (310) 377-6986 (ask for Pat) for assistance with
registering for the conference, making hotel arrangements, or supporting AIPAC.
Pat will give you the web-site and phone numbers that you will need and she will
direct more specific inquiries to me personally.
B'Shalom -- With Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,
Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader