‘Speak frankly but celebrate Israel’
"I'm disturbed that the government is rushing too quickly [with the judicial changes]. Conservative governments are supposed to conserve," he proffered.
JEWISH perspectives about Israel’s democracy debate fall into three broad categories, according to Professor Gil Troy, a US-born, Israel-based scholar of Israeli-Diaspora relations, who will visit Australia for JNF Australia this month.
Speaking to The AJN from Israel, Troy said the extreme political right in Israel and in the wider Jewish world believes in “I want your money. I want your political muscle. But I don’t want to hear anything [critical] from you.”
Another model – practised by extreme leftists in the Diaspora – is in Troy’s words, “I want to be popular with those people who don’t attack what Israel does, but attack what Israel is.”
But there is a middle way in the Israel–Diaspora dynamic, one that he has been trying to push for many years.
“The ‘friends don’t let friends drive drunk model’ is something that appeals to me a little bit more,” he said.
Asked how he feels about Israel being in turmoil in its 75th anniversary year, Troy was upbeat.
“I’m a congenital optimist. Golda Meir said you can’t be a Zionist and a pessimist.
“I’m well aware of the challenges and I’m worried about some of the language that’s coming both from the left and from the right.
“I’m disturbed that the government is rushing too quickly [with the judicial changes]. Conservative governments are supposed to conserve,” he proffered.
As for the protesters, “I’m worried that too many progressives who should be defending democracy are declaring democracy prematurely over.
“But when you stand in the middle of the square and shout that democracy is dead, you’re proving that democracy still lives,” he argued.
Troy said he is concerned that Israel’s ongoing unrest is being closely monitored by Iran and the Palestinians, is bad for Israel’s economy, and is corroding PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous achievements.
“One of the things I’m hoping to do on my trip to Australia is ask can we be brave enough to have a critical conversation but also be brave enough to celebrate? Can we be brave enough to put the headlines of the moment aside and to see the big picture and all the amazing accomplishments of the last 75 years?”
Troy described President Isaac Herzog’s call for dialogue as “a fresh breeze … he showed respect for every Israeli”.
Professor Gil Troy will speak at various JNF events. Visit jnf.org.au for more.
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