Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Israel and the Zionist Congress (Kol Nidre Sermon)

The Jerusalem Post recently posted a quiz on line titled, “How much do you know about Israel’s Knesset?” Knesset is the governing body of the State of Israel, and also refers to the building in which it houses its headquarters. The questions were all about the building. I got 2 out of 7 correct. None were about Israel’s government itself. So I thought I would give you a little seven-question quiz about the government itself.

How many seats are there in Knesset? (120)

Which version of Knesset is it right now? (22nd)

How long has it been in power? (Five days)

Which party has the majority? (None, but Kachol V’lavan—Blue and White—has one seat more than Likud)

How many parties are there in Israel? (There are ten with seats in Knesset, 20 others that received votes but did not break the 3% threshold to be represented in Knesset, and another dozen or so that did not get enough votes to register on polls, like the Pirate Party.)

How long was the previous Knesset? (Five Months)

Who is the incoming Prime Minister? (We don’t know)

As a bonus, here is a little trivia that I love about Israel: Election day is a national holiday. Schools are closed, businesses are supposed to be closed, and if a business is open the employees are not supposed to come to work until after they have voted. And if you think about it, it’s the only holiday for Israelis that is an actual holiday where they have no other religious obligations or national ceremonies to attend. After their 15-minute commitment at the polls, it’s a true holiday.

But currently, Israel is facing a problem that could be described as electile dysfunction.

The 22nd Knesset was sworn in on Thursday. Elections were held on September 17 to determine the shape of Israel’s parliament, and there is still no telling what the government will look like in the coming years. 

The 21st Knesset was sworn in five months ago. In September, 17 new members of Knesset were elected, and 15 members of Knesset had 5-month terms.

In Israel, the citizens vote for a party, not for a person. Voting is done in an envelope that voters place into the ballot box that has one card in it, and a letter code on the card in big Hebrew letters tells the ballot-counters which party they voted for. The Prime Minister is the head of the party with the most seats IF that party can form a coalition government. A coalition is formed by getting 61 seats to vote yes to the structure set by the leading party. As the 21st Knesset was convened, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud party, believed he had enough votes to form a coalition, but Avigdor Lieberman, Knesset Member and head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, pulled his five votes at the last minute. Netanyahu was not able to form a coalition, and therefore called another election. This election produced a lead for Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party, but only by one vote.

If everything were to stay status quo, meaning the same parties who vote together will keep voting together, Blue and White should get one fewer for their coalition than Likud. But still neither party is able to cross that 61-vote threshold. This is largely due to the Joint List, an alliance among four Arab-Israeli parties, who never vote with a coalition, and who have acquired 13 seats—more than they have ever had. It is a part of their platform to abstain from coalitions. Abstentions or no, they still need 61 votes, and there is almost no math that would allow that to happen.

Enter Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel. Usually, the president of Israel holds little more than ceremonial responsibilities. He gives awards at high schools and military presentations, stands in front of the presidential residence on national holidays, and sign laws, though he does not have the same kind of veto power an American president has. Natalie and I even met President Rivlin when we lived in Israel. The president there is really not that big of a deal.

Until last week.

One of the president’s duties is to decide who gets the first chance to form a coalition government. This usually goes to the party with the most seats, but with Blue and White’s one-seat lead and Likud leading 55-52 lead in coalition votes, each side argued that they should be first. So last week President Rivlin hosted a two-hour meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Benny Gantz to try to figure out who would get first crack.

But Rivlin suggested something different. That the two parties form a coalition with each other, with one party selecting the Prime Minister, and the other selecting a Deputy Prime Minister with actual powers and responsibilities in the government. This is a position that, until this proposal, does not exist in Israel. Together the two parties hold 65 seats, which would create no need for any other party to be involved in the creation of the government. It would also cancel out any possibility Avidgor Lieberman, the Ultra-Orthodox Shas, or any other small party holding sway over any coalition. This novel concept has been suggested for years when parties have had disputes after elections. This time, however, it presents both realistic possibilities as well as new problems.

The first problem is who would be Prime Minister first? They are both demanding that they should be the first to serve. Gantz says he refuses to give up the lead, referring to the elections, and Netanyahu is not one known for relinquishing any power. There is a risk that Netanyahu could be tried for corruption charges in December, according to most political analysts. Israel’s courts will not likely try a sitting Prime Minister, so if Gantz is sitting at the helm and Netanyahu is convicted, Gantz will be the de facto Prime Minister without the need to switch with Netanyahu. However, if Netanyahu goes first, there are many who fear the expert politician that he is will find many ways to not relinquish the station. Though the proposal assumes that once Netanyahu is stripped of his ministerial duties, he would maintain the title until he is exonerated if he is exonerated. 

The most novel part of the proposal is that Netanyahu would surrender his powers, even temporarily, if he is indicted. Keep in mind, this kind of idea of temporarily abdicating one’s own governmental powers has not been tried since US President Jebediah Bartlett gave up all presidential powers to Republican Speaker of the House Glenn Allen Walken. At that time the president’s daughter was in the hands of terrorists and he knew he was unfit to act in the best interests of the country. Maybe we should call on Aaron Sorkin to solve all of Israel’s problems.

Back to non-fiction, the idea would be this new government would start with Netanyahu as Prime Minister and Benny Gantz as Deputy. Netanyahu has said in an interview with IDF Radio that he would relinquish power if he is indicted. So the question is, do Israelis trust him to do so if he is indicted. Most Jewish Israelis favor the idea of a unity government, but trust is an essential part of doing the work of government. The idea of a deputy Prime Minister who is not in a temporary position could make for a partnership unlike we have ever seen before.
As of right now, we are still in limbo. We do not know what is going to happen with Israel’s Knesset, and we do not know who will be Prime Minister, if there will be a deputy, or even if the 22nd Knesset will last longer than the 21st.

Who will run Israel is a matter of great concern to American Jews, especially Reform Jews, because the last few years have been turbulent in Israeli-American Jewry relations. The most recent escalation was over women’s and egalitarian prayer at the Kotel, but this was not an isolated issue. In the words of Rabbi Uri Regev, 
“Since the 1970s, every decade has seen a conflagration over ‘Who is a Jew?’ prompted by ultra-Orthodox parties’ attempts to exclude from recognition under Israeli law most American ‘Jews by choice’ and the rabbis who convert them. One of the reasons for the short-lived 21st Knesset was the demand made — once again — by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to pass a law to preempt an anticipated Supreme Court ruling in favor of non-Orthodox converts” (Jewish Journal, Sept 11, 2019).
In other words, they are trying to nullify any conversions officiated by Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and even Modern Orthodox rabbis. Converts under their laws would not be accepted as Jews in the State of Israel, which has major implications when it comes to the Law of Return.

With Israel’s ensuing leadership as well as Israeli progressive Judaism in flux, it is even more important to do our part to support Israel’s future: by participating in our own vote. This coming year we will have the opportunity to vote in the World Zionist Congress. 

Established by Theodor Herzl in 1897, the Zionist Congress (as it was originally known) was the legislative body of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), a non-governmental entity that promotes Zionism. 

The WZC, also known as the Parliament of the Jewish People, comprises 500 delegates and meets in Jerusalem every five years. It enables delegates to exert ideological influence on both Israeli society and the global Jewish agenda, as well as allocate financial and other resources to various organizations – including the Reform Movement – in Israel. 

The 38th World Zionist Congress is scheduled to meet in Jerusalem in October, 2020, and the elections will determine the size of the various delegations to the Congress and are scheduled to be held from January 21 to March 11, 2020. Participating in the World Zionist Congress elections is the only way North American Jews can weigh in democratically about issues in Israel.

Currently, the United States has 145 delegates in the WZC, the largest single delegation outside Israel. Thanks to a robust turnout in the 2015 elections, 56 of the 145 delegates (39 percent) represent the Reform Movement and, as a result, have been able to ensure that more than $4 million a year is being directed to the Israeli Reform Movement. By comparison, the Israeli government annually provides nearly 4 billion shekels ($1.1 billion) to Orthodox and Haredi institutions in Israel.

A strong election turnout among North America’s Reform Jews and our supporters and allies will ensure that financial resources will continue to flow to our Israeli movement – including Reform congregations and institutions. It also will allow us to fill leadership positions in some of Israel’s national institutions, including the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and Jewish National Fund.

And yet, because of the turnout expected by the Reform Movement, Shas and the UTJ, the political parties representing ultra-Orthodox, Chasidic, and Haredi Jews, have been mobilizing to generate votes in the hope that they can regain control over Israeli policy, and revert to a pro-Orthodox agenda in Israel.

We must maintain a strong presence in the World Zionist Organization. To do this, you can vote. The easiest way for an American to vote is to become a member of ARZA. In the beginning of the secular year you will get a form in the mail from ARZA, through CBT. By filling out the form and becoming a member of ARZA, we will add our numbers to the vote of the World Zionist Organization and keep Reform strong by keeping Israel pluralist and democratic.

Over the past few years we have seen increasing support for Progressive Judaism. If we want this to continue, we must vote.

If we want marriages and divorces performed by non-Orthodox rabbis to be recognized in Israel, we must vote.

If we want egalitarianism to get a foothold in Israeli society, we must vote.

If we want LGBT rights to continue to be supported by Israel’s government, we must vote.

If we want conversions done under Reform, Conservative, and even Modern Orthodox supervision to be recognized in Israel, we must vote.

If we want businesses to stop being punished for operating outside of Orthodox norms, we must vote.

If we want to stop the corruption in Israeli government that stems from kowtowing to the Ultra-Orthodox, we must vote.

If we want to strengthen Israel’s ties to America, we must vote.

If we want the world to know that Reform Jews support Israel, we must vote in the upcoming World Zionist elections, so Israel will continue as a bastion of democratic, Jewish values in the Middle East.


Israeli politics can be very confusing. Our relationship with Israel does not have to be. All we have to do is register with ARZA at the turn of the secular year, and vote. Im tirzu ein zo aggadah. If you will it, it is no dream.

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