Jews And Jerusalem

If I often invite you to dinner, does that give you part ownership of my house?
If you gave me a housewarming gift, may you prevent me from selling the house?
If we grew up together in a home we once shared, must I ask you consent before making decisions that affect me more than you?
These metaphors are overly simple, but sometimes that’s the best way to make a point.
Israel’s duly elected, though highly unpopular prime minister, Ehud Omert, has decided that parts of Jerusalem most Israelis shun and no American Jews ever visit should be part of a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
Treason, say American Jews. Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people. We all have a say in it’s future and no Israeli leader has the right to re-divide it against the wishes of Jews around the world.
“No Israeli government has the unilateral or unfettered right to negotiate anything on behalf of the Jews when it comes to the eternal Jewish verities or heritage, such as our capital,” writes Jeff Ballabon in opinion piece distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “As such, Olmert's statements were not merely disappointing to Jewish sensibilities, they were dangerous to Jewish interests.”
It’s true enough that Jews outside Israel have a say in the future of Jerusalem. But they do not have a vote.
The burdens of protecting, defending and maintaining Jerusalem are not shared proportionately by Jews inside and outside Israel. A proportionate vote on its future, therefore, would be ridiculous and unfair.
It is, of course, Israeli troops and police from all over the country who put their lives on the line to maintain the attachment of Arab areas of Jerusalem to the Jewish neighborhoods. It is, of course, residents of Jerusalem and other areas of Israel whose tax dollars pay for the upkeep and security of the city.
Diaspora Jews, and Americans in particular, play a crucial role by lobbying their governments for political support and sending millions of dollars in philanthropic aid to help the people, institutions and infrastructure of Jerusalem. That political support’s effects can be seen in legislation passed by Congress such as the one requiring the U.S. embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv To Jerusalem, which asserts a sense of the American people that this disputed land is indeed Israel’s capital (even though two presidents have now ignored it.)
But however important is that political and financial support, it is cheaper than blood.
It is not just Israel’s soldiers who spill their blood for Jerusalem, but ordinary civilians, including women and children, who suffer the consequences of the peace process. The outcome of negotiations, or lack of negotiations, too often means an outbreak of violence. Sometimes those killed and maimed are visiting Diaspora Jews, but the vast majority of them are Israelis.
Ehud Olmert has contradicted himself by first telling the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations at a dinner that he wouldn’t think of making a decision on Jerusalem while ignoring the feelings of Diaspora Jews, and then setting out on a path to do just that. "The government of Israel has a sovereign right to negotiate anything on behalf of Israel,” he said before the Annapolis peace conference, in response to American Jewish critics.
His mistake was in making the first statement, not the second and politics and leadership are all about dealing with the latest reality and correcting mistakes.
I have no intention of ever visiting Abu Dis or any of the Arab neighborhoods now on the negotiating table, no matter whose sovereignty they are under, since I generally am not welcome there and have no one to visit.
Yet I am still pained with ceding more of an already miniscule country to another authority, especially one that still can’t put the word coexistence into its lexicon. The eventual Israel will be a jigsaw land with difficult borders and constant threat of attack, as the people of southern Israel are already facing from Gaza-based rocket launchers. Our years of suffering in the exile have earned us better than that.
Giving up part of Jerusalem may well be a major blunder, just as many feel the disengagement from Gaza has now proven to be. But it’s the mistake of Israelis to make.
If we are unhappy about it, we should write our letters and make our statements, while accepting the reality that guests and friends aren’t on equal footing with owners and defenders.