Zionism of Yore

Emboldened Israeli Right Presses Moves to Doom 2-State Solution

After President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has seized momentum to strengthen Israel’s rule of the West Bank. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/world/middleeast/israeli-jerusalem-west-bank.html.  NYTimes, Jan. 2, 2018

   This article reminded me of a cover of a 1946 or 47 NYTimes magazine, depicting members of the Haganah marching diagonally across the entire page. Especially, I remember my reaction to it: apalled. I had been a Zionist since I belonged to the Habonim when still in Heidelberg, so that was not it. But I had not expected a Jewish Palestine to be a military state. What I there saw did not cohere with the kind of Zionist I was.

   Later on I acted on my convictions. When Begin and the Likud became the Israeli establishment, I stopped making donations to Israeli causes that were involved with its government. Now, alas, very much alas, even the organizations I had supported have become “patriotic” in ways I disapprove. So, the end of the year didn’t see my small contributions to Israeli causes. That action may mean nothing to them, but it means something to me.

   My Zionism did not have Netanyahu in mind, but I still hope that Israel can rise above the ways of nations (not a flattering tag), but if not, Jews will have achieved one goal many have been after: to be like everone else. Not my ambition, but I recognize it as legitimate. Emboldened Israeli Right Presses Moves to Doom 2-State Solution

After President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has seized momentum to strengthen Israel’s rule of the West Bank. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/world/middleeast/israeli-jerusalem-west-bank.html.