What Israel needs from Bibi is a political conversion

For Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, keeping power matters more than preserving his country’s relationship with Jews in the United States.

Lastweek, Netanyahu rejected the plan to allow mixed-gender prayer at theWesternWall. Under rules set by Orthodox rabbis, who control religious policy in Israel, men andwomen must pray separately. Reform and Conservative Jewish groups in theU.S. and an Israeli feminist group had pushed for the change.

The government approved the $9 million, mixed-gender prayer center18 months ago. Negotiations had taken four years. But two small ultra-Orthodox parties said they would boltNetanyahu’s coalition if the plan went ahead. Faced with calling elections or alienating Israel’s most important outside constituency— Jews thatmake up the Diaspora— Netanyahu said the governmentwould seek an alternative over the next six months. No details.

For good measure, the government also advanced legislation thatwould restore Orthodox control of conversions within Israel. The rulewould not apply outside Israel, but leaders in this country of the Reform and Conservative branches— to which more than half of American Jews belong— worry that the rulewould undermine their standing within the faith.

Adelegation fromthe American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) met with the prime minister to express the group’s displeasure. AIPACcriticizes the Israeli government about as often as the Vatican newspaper criticizes the pope. One AIPACofficial, however, told The Jerusalem Post, “Part of the support for Israel on Capitol Hill is based on the idea that Israel is a democracy and safeguards peoples’ freedom and rights. The cabinet decision sends a different message.”

In addition, AIPACboard member Isaac Fisher, a principal in Coral Gables-based CapitalRealty Services and a major fundraiser for Israel, said hewould suspend his philanthropywork until Israel restored the WesternWall compromise. The Israeli newspaperYedioth Aronoth quoted from Fisher’s letter:

“It is not a matter ofReform andConservative. What has happened here is a serious act of contempt toward the rabbis and leaders of our communities. They are saying to them, ‘You are irrelevant.’ They are saying to ourwomen, ‘Your Judaism isn’t Judaism.’ This is intolerable, andwe must put an end to it.”

Though American Jews celebrate Israel’s democracy, Israel is becoming more theocratic. The current government is the most right-wing in Israel’s history, formed out of the 2015 election in whichNetanyahu falsely claimed that “Arab voters are coming out in droves to the polls. Left-wing organizations are busing them out.”

Though the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox dominate in Israel, the opposite is true here. According to a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, 35 percent of Jews in America identify asReform— the liberal branch of Judaism— and18 percent identify as Conservative— the moderate branch, despite its name. Only10 percent identify as Orthodox, while 30 percent are secular or don’t identify with any branch.

Two months ago, demographers reported that Israel is home to roughly 6.5 million Jews. Nearly thatmany live in the United States. Combined, the two countries account for almost 85 percent of theworld’s Jewish population. LastMarch, AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus stressed the importance of that relationship at the group’s annual convention inWashington. Israel, shewarned, cannot become a partisan issue like health care and immigration.

“We will not allow— frankly, we cannot allow— support for Israel to fall victim to this same divisiveness …” Pinkus said.“We willwork harder than ever before to hold the ideological center, preserving support for the Jewish state as a bipartisan cause both parties champion.”

YetNetanyahu, like PresidentTrump, plays to his ideological base at the expense of themajority. One Israeli commentator called the two decisions “a strategic earthquake” that gave half of American Jews no reason to support Israel.

Aformer Israeli Foreign Ministry official recalled a similar decision three decades ago. In trying to form a government, new Prime MinisterYitzhak Shamir agreed to an ultra-Orthodox demand that Israel recognize only Orthodox conversions. After a similar outcry, Shamir dropped the idea and formed a coalition that didn’t rely on ultra-Orthodox parties.

So there’s precedent forNetanyahu changing his mind. Doing so, however, would require him to place his country first.

Randy Schultz’s email address is randy@bocamag.com.