In The News: Benjamin Netanyahu

This article published in The New York Times in September of 2008, speaks about former Israeli prime minister and leader of the right-wing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu. It is explained that because of the failed actions of the current Prime Minister to recreate the government, Netanyahu is likely to win next year's election. He was born in Tel Aviv Israel, and is said to be "Israeli to the core", in that he still holds onto very traditional Zionist ideologies and does not seem open to expanding on his militant points of view. It is for this reason, that some Israeli people are skeptical about him becoming their leader for the years to come. The author states that "the Americanization of Neyanyuha" started when he attended and graduated high school in Pennsylvania and then went on to graduate from M.I.T. Although he received the majority of his education in the U.S, Neyanyuha is still associated with conservative Jews in and outside of America. After reading a lot of materials on the supposed "Americanization" of Israel's government, which is largely feared and contested, it seems that in the case of Neyanyuha being elected,he is the one to steer the Israeli government back to its original ways. It is noted that he is the "election favorite" so only time will tell just how strong the American influence really is.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/benjamin_netanyahu/index.html

In The News: American Jewry's Challenge

“American Jewry’s Challenge” was published by the “The Jerusalem Post” on Sunday Nov 16, 2008. By line: Manfred Gerstenfeld, page 13, section Opinion. This challenge is actually based on young American Jews. Young Jews are often unprepared for the anti-Israelism, which plagues US-Universities; this is the main point of the article. M. Gerstenfeld asked the question “what are the prospects for American Jewry?” He also mentioned that The United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Jerusalem is an opportune time to address challenges facing the larger concentration of Jews in the world.

“Education is a central element to get anything.”(1) The approximate number of American Jews is between 6-6.4 million according to, Ira Sheskin head of the Jewish democracy project at the University of Miami. Of one million Jewish children, ranging from elementary to high school age, about 20% are enrolled in Jewish day school and another 20% receive some Jewish education in after school programs. Due to the financial crisis Jewish families are not sending their children to the high tuition Jewish schools. Instead they are sending them to American public schools where they are Americanized and influenced by American culture rather than traditional Israeli culture.

When we see another article surveyed, “Young US Jews distance themselves from Israel,” that was also published by “The Jerusalem Post” on Sep 6, 2007. Young Us Jews are far from Israel because of the comfortable life in America. Israel chairman Ze’ev Bielski told the Jerusalem Post a combination of a comfortable life in America and growing materialism was to blame for the detachment from Israel. He also said that it is unbelievable that after only 60 years from the Holocaust so many Israeli people are not connected to the Jewish State (2).

To solve this challenging problem Ze’ev Bielski said “the only way to combat this growing trend was to invest more in such programs as Birthright, which offers a free 10 days tour of Israel to young Jews and Masa Jafi’s flagship program for young adults”(2). He also said “it was also the responsibility of the Israel-government to improve Diaspora relations and connect Jews around the world with people in Israel.”(2)

Another point is that most of the American Jews do not understand their “identity”. Sociologist Steven Cohen observes the word “identity” used for lack of a better term for the complexity of Jewish belief, behavior and belonging. (1)

This multitude of challenges puts great stress on Jewish leadership. Former Provost of Jewish Theological Seminary, Jack Wertheimer says there are no longer any universalized leaders among American Jewry. When they have several head leaders of their organization then they will rise above their own sphere to influence the American issues affecting Jewish life. In a dynamic world, this is the largest single challenge for Israeli Jewish people.

(1) Manfred Gersterfeld, “ American Jewry’s Challenge” The Jerusalem Post Section: Opinion; pg 13 (November 16, 2008 Sunday)
http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.albany.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5200324333&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5200324336&cisb=22_T5200324335&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=10911&docNo=4

(2) Ruth Eglash “Survey: Young US Jews distance themselves from Israel” The Jerusalem Post section: News; pg 1 (September 6, 2007, Thursday )
http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.albany.edu/us/lnacademic/search/homesubmitForm.do

(3) Israel Insider staff “israelinsider” Israel’s daily news magazine “American Jews” (Nearly half of young American Jews feel uncomfortable with idea of Israel)
Section: Culture (September 6, 2007)

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Culture/12004.htm

In the News: From Prime Minister to President

Studies show that only 3 nations in the world preferred John McCain over Barack Obama as the president of the United States in our recent elections. Israel was one of them. So why are Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, Tzipi Livni of Kadima and Ehud Barak of Labor, the candidates for Prime Minister of Israel, presenting themselves in front of American Jews? Netanyahu, whom is the front runner in this election, mentioned that he wants to "moderate parts of the Palestinian economy." He has also made reference to Barack Obama's speeches since he has met with him in hopes of promoting change. Livni's major points in his speech were about change and how it is necessary. He emphasized that in order to better their lives, repairing of the nation and the world needs to start. The third potential Prime Minister stated that the nature of Israel needs to stay but it character needs to change. The irony of this article is that three candidates running in the upcoming election in February for Prime Minister of Israel preaching change. Much of the research conducted during the process of this project indicated that most people in the Middle East, specifically in Israel, are anti-Americanization. Meanwhile, all the candidates for leading the nation of Israel are pro-change much like the majority of the United States residents. So, how far has Americanization gone? All the way to the main leader.

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/11/21/news/nation_and_world/j_t_a/doc4925c694ef9a7018049247.txt

“We use to say "shalom" when we come. We don't say that anymore, we say "hi"

"You say goodbye and I say hello"

In 1935, Chaim Weizmann, a prominent Zionist leader and future President of Israel provided an explanation of the cultural aspect of the Zionist revolution. He stated that “We did not come here to copy the life of Warsaw, Pinsk, London, etc. The content of Zionism is changing all values according to which Jews lived under the pressure of foreign cultures. But where are the new values created here? We live here a life of translation, translation of galut. Even Hebrew is translated. We have to change the translation and create the original. We are only the pioneers and have to pave the road for those who will follow us” (6).

During this period, “pioneering was celebrated, whereas Western popular culture was dismissed as irrelevant and even decadent and therefore corruptive” (6). This was proven to be so in 1965 when the Beatles planned to tour Israel. The show was cancelled “because the state refused to provide the necessary foreign currency” (6). Why, you may wonder. The answer is simple: “the concert was of no cultural value” (6).

On September 25, 2008, Paul McCartney entertained 40,000 fans in Tel Aviv. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent apologetic letters to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, “asking for forgiveness for the ‘missed opportunity’ to have the band that ‘shaped the mind of a generation, to come to Israel and perform before the young generation in Israel who admired [them] and continues to admire [them]” (7). The International Herald Tribune reported that the letter “was an invitation praying the Paul McCartney would help celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary” (7).

Summary:

Though there are many beneficial factors brought about by Americanization, there are just as many negative factors. With the Americanization of Israel came new technological advances, Capitalism and Democracy, free trade agreements through the Israeli Trade Act. Subsequently, with these beneficial factors, we find that America is not only the land of the free, but a consumer paradise. Americans love of freedom results in “individualism and hedonism, self-fulfillment, and the pursuit of happiness as the quest for unrestrained pleasure” (6) which in turn is seen as materialistic. Due to this, we have seen that Israel is losing a sense of who they as a nation are. Younger generations are greatly influenced by the images that America portrays—in essence: freedom. The freedom of choice from what we eat to what we wear and this freedom, rightfully so is highly desired. Azaryahu states that “a feature of Americanization is the significance assigned to the image in the cultural production of social reality”, he continues, “Social reality is an interplay between images, and this has far-reaching cultural consequences: images replace ideals, celebrities supersede heroes. Rating measures value, and values supplant virtues” (6).

The implications of such freedom have certainly taken a toll on the national identity of Israel. As Chaim Weizmann stated “We live here a life of translation, translation of galut. Even Hebrew is translated. We have to change the translation and create the original” (6). The adoption of English words is increasingly smothers the native language of Hebrew. Furthermore, the Free Market economy has caused the growing gap between the rich and the poor, reducing the middle class, just as in America.

The greatest debate is whether or not Americanization is bad for the Israeli people. Some feel that it is a direct threat to Zionism, an international political movement based primarily on religious traditions. Much to the contrary, others feel that Americanization is Globalization and that it is beneficial to the nation. The ideals of Americanization provide a foundation for nations to grow into to the ever evolving world, a way to stay afloat. Israel needs to find a way to maintain national identity while securing strong economic and politic beliefs in capitalism and democracy.

Currently the players that hold the most power are large American corporations, like McDonalds, Calvin Klein and Coca-Cola, who take business away from smaller “mom and pop” stores in cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa(2). In response to these major players, the Israeli government could perhaps restrict the amount of American imported products.

Analysis and Action:

Critical issues that will need to be addressed in the future are how to reap the benefits of Americanization and American Aid while maintaining a national and cultural identity. Another problem that needs to be addressed is the growing gap between the rich and the poor due to the free market economy (3). One way the Israeli government is responding to the Americanization of Israeli radio stations is by requiring radio stations to devote half of their airtime to Hebrew Songs (4). However, to what degree does this change the process of Americanization? Perhaps it doesn't though it offers renewal of cultural identity which is an area that Israelis feel they are losing.

There are several ways the Israeli people can take action against the Americanization of their culture. Some of these actions include boycotting any American made products, but not without a tangible implications. Intangibly speaking, Israelis can continue to instill strong Jewish/Israeli beliefs and traditions in their children. Americanization is a double-ended sword. For the benefits it brings, the negatives follow. It is up to the nation itself to determine if the costs outweigh the benefits.

Tom Segav says "One can appreciate all the positives brought about by the Americanization without ignoring the negative". Although Israel has adopted many aspects of the American way of life, fluent English on a daily basis over the national Hebrew language is not at the fault of America. America did not force language upon them. And yes, it is a critical language to know, but must it mask the true language of their land? Certain things such as "economic capitalism, basic constitutional laws of democracy, and more" are necessary to keep up with the globalizing world; however, there is no English speaking enforcers that run around Israel implementing fluency. The ultimate problem is that English is so fluently spoken around the world it is hard to escape the contagion. We found it shameful to read that Israelis use to say "shalom" when they come and now they say "hi" (5).

A harsh yet realistic perspective on globalization is offered by Thomas Friedman: "either win or be road kill". If Israelis were to boycott all Americanized entities, would they fall out of the race of the globalizing world? Who wants to lose.. even if it is at the risk of losing some of the core values that the nation possesses. Developing nations look to America as a set-standard of life, but why? If they fail to wear the "golden straight jacket" they will freeze. With the world moving at such as fast pace, it is essentially Israels choice to not allow this process effect them but it will. This process of globalization does not wait for nations to jump on the bandwagon-- the wagon keeps moving and it will continue to do so. When it is night time in America, it is day time in China. Regardless of the solutions presented, these wheels are rotating and they aren't stopping.


1 Segev, Tom. “Israel and the United States.”
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people4/Segev/segev-con6.html

2 Puder, Joseph. “Israel at 60.” www.FrontPageMagazine.com

3 Segev, Tom, www.haaretz.com

4 Zachary, G. Pascal. "The World Gets in Touch With Its Inner American."
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1999/01/americanization.html

5 Segev, Tom. “What’s Happening To You America?”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=624549

6 Maoz Azaryahu. McIsrael on the Americanization of Israel

7 Ethan Bronner International Herald Tribune. Published: August 28, 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/28/mideast/israel.php

In The News: Israeli NRA and American Gun Culture

In the article "Founder of Israeli NRA seeks to import American Gun Culture" by Raphael Ahren (Haaretz.com corespondant) we learn that the Israeli NRA, based off the US Virgina based National Rifle Association, endorses "the right to carry a firearm for all law abiding, military-serving Israeli citizens," and the expansion the Shai Dromi law. The Shai Dromi law, named after a Negev farmer, gives property owners more freedom to use fatal force against people who break into their homes, businesses or farms. (1) Joshua Moesch, originally from Vermont then moved to Israel six years ago, founded the group last week, who's other goals include gun safety, self-defense courses, promoting shooting as a sport and creating police athletic leagues. He first created a Facebook group and a website to see how much support he could generate before regestering as a non-profit organization. There is much controversy over pro-gun advocacy in Israel. Moesch believes that the compulsory army service makes Israeli society well acquainted with firearms, giving most people "a certain respect for guns." While others think that it will increase violence. Gerald Steinberg, chairman of political studies at Bar Ilan University says the arguments put forward by the Israeli NRA are not convincing. He feels that if more people carried guns the chances of more people getting hurt would be greater than the chance of neutralizing an attacker more quickly. "The last thing we want in Israel is an American gun culture," he added. "Israel has enough dangers, and making it easier for people on the street to carry guns is not what we need."

____________________________________________________________
1. Rebecca Anna Stoil. "New Law Allows Shooting At Burglars." http://www.jpost.com

Blue Suede Jews

Memphis has Graceland. Vegas has impersonators. And Israel -- yes, Israel -- has the Elvis Inn, a bizarre desert Mecca for Middle East Elvis enthusiasts. It's the Holy Land, people, and the King has risen.

Story and Photographs by Dave Bender at http://www.ajlmagazine.com/content/012006/bluesuedejews.html

Israeli Flag

www.merriam-webster.com/ maps/israel.html