Kotel, conversions

Yaakov Katz (“Change only comes through education, not boycotts,” Analysis, July 4) misses the main point of the current crisis with American Jewry.

The crisis is primarily the result of a defective system in which the largest party, the Likud, received less than a quarter of the votes cast in the last Knesset election. This forced Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition with small parties, including the ultra-Orthodox, who threaten to bring down the government if any change is made to their control of religion.

Only electoral reform to a constituency system in which an MK is directly answerable to his or her constituents, and not to not party hacks, can resolve the problem, irrespective of education or boycotts. MALCOLM MANDEL

Ra’anana

It’s not that the Israeli Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox are more clever, better or godlier – they simply have the political clout and, consequently, can decide for all of us about all things Jewish. Sad and bad for a lot of us Israeli citizens. RONNIE GINZBURG

Modi’in

Even though couched in theological terms, the Western Wall issue is much more about culture than religion.

Israelis, not unlike Jews in the UK, might be nominally Orthodox, but they are often irreligious, whereas Conservative and Reform Jews, especially in America, tend to be intensely religious, practicing their faith with genuine belief and devotion. Admittedly, that’s a sweeping generalization, but it helps explain the indifference of the Israeli public and the uninformed vehemence of those who are more comfortable and familiar with the traditional norms of their ancestors.

Another factor is that the Kotel, unlike the Temple Mount above it, is a site that’s historical, not religious, and revering its stones has an element of superstition, even paganism. Certainly, the self-appointed rabbi of the Western Wall has no legal authority to determine how it is regarded. RAYMOND CANNON Netanya

Politics, as far as I remember, is about who has the upper hand. US president Lyndon Johnson many years ago called this kind of jockeying for power “arm twisting.” Nice euphemism. But the plain word is “extortion.”

“If you don’t do as I say, I will cut off your funds.” “If you don’t do as I say, I will cause your government to fall.” Things are pretty ugly. What we need is a leader of stature to take us out of this morass.

But here’s the worst. In “They love Israel. Does Israel love them?” (Observations, June 30), Dov Lipman tries to prove that American youths, brought to Israel for a few weeks by MASA or Birthright, love us, where in fact these young people have about as much love for us as a shipboard romance from the last century. They go home and forget about their infatuation with us because there is no long-term commitment.

Lipman owes a huge apology to those of us who are committed Jews for his breathtaking question: “Does your average Israeli show the kind of love for Israel that these kids do?” Is he kidding? The average Israeli sends his or her boys to the army for three years and worries about them day and night.

Love? Commitment? Endless! The average Israeli is full of commitment to this land. We love and encourage our dear soldiers, our sons and grandsons, to serve in the army and do the dangerous things they need to do to keep the rest of us safe. When they are done, we encourage them to continue to do reserve duty, even when they have little babies at home who will miss them.

“People who love Israel deeply.” Hmmm. Let’s see them – in the old American tradition – put their money where their mouth is and show the same commitment we show every day by living here. Meanwhile, I’m waiting for an apology from Lipman for insulting all of us “average Israelis.” THELMA JACOBSON Petah Tikva

I am Orthodox. When we came here on a visit in 1980, and then came here to live in 1984, we used to go to the Kotel. Nobody asked if we were Orthodox or Reform. I went to the side for the women, and my husband to the side for the men. Everybody prayed in his or her way, and there was a respectful silence.

What is happening lately upsets me more than I can say. Being divided has always been truly bad for us. Now that we have, with God’s help, built up this beautiful country, let us be united. RENATE FISCH Petah Tikva