World opinion of Israel is a seesaw. It tilts in Israel’s favor only when Israel is vulnerable or compliant — like when it held its fire after Saddam Hussein’s Scud attacks in the First Gulf War, or when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin acceded to President Bill Clinton’s push to shake Yasser Arafat’s hand, or in the early hours of Oct. 7 before Israel struck back, or last weekend during Iran’s aerial bombardment.
But when Israel exercises its independent power as a sovereign state — no more or less imperfectly than other countries do — that seesaw tips hard the other way. Even the government’s contemplation of retaliating against Iran brought international reproach.
I love Israel unconditionally, but not uncritically. Often, we hold those we love to higher standards, and I have been quick to call out the Israeli government when I feel it has not measured up.
Early in my career, congregants walked out on my sermons shaking their heads at my harsh judgment of its settlement building. And last year, I protested repeatedly against the current coalition’s proposed judicial reform, a thinly veiled attempt to undermine democratic norms.
But in my critiques, I have always acknowledged the broader historical and political context Israel inhabits. The enemies on its borders have sworn themselves to its destruction and have attempted it repeatedly, with Iran, the most dangerous menace of all, now joining the campaign outright, not just through its proxies.
And in the halls of the United Nations and many foreign capitals, Israel is demonized and delegitimized as the ancestral home of the Jewish people.
And, in my critiques, I have also considered the balance of world opinion and tried to pick my spot on the seesaw accordingly. When Israel is already under rhetorical assault, “piling on” only encourages those whose criticisms come not out of love to attack it further. So I am more circumspect.
As a result, for the first time in my rabbinate, I have been called “too supportive” of Israel.
I do not believe anyone who cares about the future of the Jewish people can be too supportive of Israel. Half the world’s Jews live there. And Israel remains the world’s safest refuge against rising antisemitism.
I do recognize, however, that Israel’s government has failed this historic moment. First, it has forsaken its moral responsibilities in Gaza. Despite any best intentions to protect civilians and assure delivery of aid, its bombing campaign has left Gaza in ruin, on the brink of famine.
The tragic killing of relief workers from World Central Kitchen came as no surprise in a war like this. And if so grave an error was made with an organization coordinating with the IDF, we can assume other miscalculations resulted in at least some of the thousands of deaths of other noncombatants.
And Israel’s government has failed its people. Despite its disastrous unpreparedness on Oct. 7, at first most Israelis united behind the government, whose factions put partisanship aside. But now the coalition has returned to its divisive ways, laying claim to disputed West Bank land, defying the will of most Israelis by attempting to shield yeshiva students from army service, and legislating the shuttering of foreign media outlets it deems hostile.
If Benjamin Netanyahu imagines his “us against the world” campaign will bolster his popularity, he is wrong. Most Israelis now believe his government must go, even with its success fending off Iran’s attack. It has yet to articulate a reasonable post-war plan for Gaza beyond continued military occupation. And it has yet to bring home more than 100 hostages, whose return many feel it never prioritized. Now we are learning more of those hostages may have perished than previously reported.
So I sit uncomfortably on the seesaw. I support unequivocally Israel’s right to defend itself, but I want a vision for what comes next. I realize no serious Palestinian peace partner exists at present, but still I want the government to acknowledge the ultimate necessity of two states for two peoples. And while I appreciate Israel’s need for deterrence, I hope its leaders choose thoughtfully their course with Iran.
After six months, this war must end, not escalate. Leaders who do not recognize that, be they Arab or Israeli, are no leaders, only enablers of further bloodshed and misery.
But make no mistake: I resent biased calls for an Israeli ceasefire that do not in the same breath address Israel’s security needs and demand Hamas release the remaining hostages. If that makes me “too supportive” of Israel, so be it.
Davidson is the senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York.
