FIRST PERSON: Remembering Israel at 25, 50 and now 75 J. – The Jewish News of Northern California

A glimpse at Israel at 25, 50, and now 75 offers three touchpoints through which to reflect on the countrys evolution as a modern state and my relationship with it.

In 1973, when Israel turned 25, I was a senior at UC Berkeley, headed to Israel that summer to live in Jerusalem for my first year of rabbinical school. Four months later, the Yom Kippur War would start.

The 1967 Six-Day War had transformed Israel and the relationship between American Jews and Israel. Six years later, American Jews love affair with Israel was still going strong. For many of us, Israel was a source of Jewish pride, a miracle in the desert with a can-do spirit, an incubator of unbounded creativity, determined to balance the realities of living in a tough neighborhood with a strong moral code. It represented Jewish history coming to life every day.

We idealized the socialist kibbutz model while simultaneously protesting on behalf of fiercely anti-socialist Soviet Jews for whom the right to live in Israel represented the fulfillment of their Zionist dreams and their refuge from Soviet oppression. On Israels 25th, some may have looked ahead at looming issues, but we mainly basked in the joy of watching Israel continue to grow as a new, still-struggling country with tremendous promise.

In 1998, when Israel turned 50, I was the executive director of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, which took the lead in organizing both the communitywide celebration in Golden Gate Park and a major Israel at 50 conference with renowned Israeli writer Amos Oz as the keynote speaker.

Israel, by then, had gone through the first intifada starting in 1987. It was in the final shaky stages of the Oslo peace process that began in 1993 with a dramatic handshake on the White House lawn and the promise of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. The peace process continued after the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin before ending with the start of the second intifada in 2000.

During the Oslo period, I was on a panel with Gary Rosenblatt, then editor of the New York Jewish Week, who commented on a poll indicating that 82% of American Jews supported the peace process. I remember him saying that if the poll was accurate, he personally believed hed heard from every one of the other 18%. In short, the critics felt much more passionate and were much louder than the supporters in part because Yasser Arafat was reviled by so many and deemed wholly untrustworthy.

Divisions in Israel were even more intense, captured in a Washington Post article written two months prior to Israels 50th that highlighted the one area of possible agreement. As Israel prepares to launch its 50th-anniversary celebrations, most of its 5.9 million citizens seem united for once on one thing: Practically no one is in a mood to celebrate. American Jews, by and large, while not ignoring the mood in Israel, were far less ambivalent about celebrating. Reaching half a century after 2,000 years without a Jewish state was appropriately a big deal.

What about at 75?

Israel is at a precarious moment with anti-democratic and extremist voices within the government threatening to do what external enemies have been repelled from doing since 1948: weaken the very foundations of the State of Israel. The extraordinary protests that have been waged this year against judicial reform efforts demonstrate the depth of outrage and polarization. They stand out because they have been nonviolent and fiercely patriotic. This is not the action of anti-Israel activists. These protests have been the expression of passionate Zionists who care deeply about their countrys future.

So, having marked Israels earlier quarter-century anniversaries, where do I come out on this one? Here is my bottom line: Not even a profoundly troubling Israeli government should detract from our joy of Israel turning 75. I am not talking about unrestrained joy but rather reflective joy combined with a redoubled commitment to an Israel that strives to live up to its founding principles as a Jewish and democratic state.

Countless countries, including ours, are dealing with deep divisions, doubts and anti-democratic pressures. Israel is hardly unique. But that is also not the whole story. It is important to hold onto a fuller picture of Israels evolution over 75 years.

The diversity of the country, within and beyond the Jewish population, is breathtaking. The waves of immigration have contributed greatly to that diversity as Jews from other Middle Eastern nations, the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia fled oppression and made aliyah to the historic homeland of the Jewish people. In 1948, Israel had a population of 800,000. Today it has over 9 million people. Israels innovation as a startup nation is world class. Its efforts to improve the quality of life for all Israelis is inspirational. And though a small country, Israel punches way above its weight when providing humanitarian aid to other countries hit by major natural disasters.

Israel is not the country I wish it to be. I am profoundly disappointed in its current leadership that puts selfish interests ahead of the nations. At the same time, Israel lives in the real world, not in my idealized post-1967 world. The continued terror attacks and missile attacks, including those of recent days, are a constant reminder that modern Israel has been built not on a tranquil island but in the midst of a tough neighborhood. Even while the last 50 years have witnessed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan along with the more recent Abraham Accords, Israel still faces constant threats from those bent on destroying the only Jewish state.

Israel is still a young nation. After all, in 1851 when our country turned 75, Millard Fillmore was president, the New York Times and Western Union were founded and the Gold Rush was still going strong in the new state of California.

There is a lot more to unfold as Israel celebrates 75, and I believe that the good will continue to far outweigh the bad. This is more likely if we ramp up our engagement rather than withdraw. That, more than anything, is the lesson from Israels first 75 years.

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FIRST PERSON: Remembering Israel at 25, 50 and now 75 J. - The Jewish News of Northern California