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It is difficult to characterize Israel as a Jewish nation. Avraham Burg, former Knesset speaker and former head of the Jewish Agency has been quoted as saying, “to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end.” The term ‘Jewish nation’ has never been adequately defined and there is nothing exceptional in Israel that identifies a specific Jewish morality, culture or Judaic atmosphere. There are some, but relatively few foods, architectural styles, songs, dances and landscapes in Israel that are not related to the Arab Mediterranean Twenty percent of Israel’s population are Arabs and a portion of the citizenry, such as the Ethiopian Falasha and Russian immigrants, have dubious relation to world Jewry. Many of the Mizrahim immigrants to Israel, who constitute a great part of Israel’s population, can be considered Arab – having previously spoken Arab, adopted Arab customs and culture and lived for generations in Arab nations.
A Jewish person has been variously defined as a person who practices Judaism or is a member of a specific ethnic identity. In the disparate Israeli population, many non-Arab Israelis don’t fit either category. Israel has Israeli citizens but no Israeli nationality. The Ministry of the Interior specifies either Jewish, Arab or Druze, or country of origin for nationality. These specifications don’t define a ‘Jewish nation’ but allow Israel to operate as a nation that gives special privileges to its Jewish nationality. This is comparable to the United States having a Christian nationality and non-Christians being grouped into Oriental, Arab, Native American or Other. Most nations have not characterized Israel as a Jewish state. It is not well publicized in history that President Truman had doubts about specifying Israel by a denomination. When he signed the document that asserted United States recognition of the new state of Israel, the U.S. president inserted the word ‘provisional’ before state, and deleted the word ‘Jewish’ from Jewish state. So, why not either a bi-national state or two independent states? Israel cannot and will not accept either suggestion. Since 1948, all Israeli governments have promoted polices of gaining more territory and, after the 1967 war, advancing more settlements. Acceptance of a bi-national state will be an admission that Israel’s policies have been in error, and Israel will lose its raison d’être. No Israeli leader wants to be perceived by history as having interrupted Israel’s self-chosen destiny. Israeli leaders might pay lip service to an independent Palestinian state but they won’t allow a viable Palestinian state, and for well-chosen reasons; fear that the Palestinian state will harbor militants or grow sufficiently strong to challenge Israel. The danger that Israel will use a bi-national state as a cover to dominate of all of Palestine and then slowly exile the Palestinians deters the Palestinian leadership from accepting a single state. Many Palestinian leaders also doubt Israel will allow a viable Palestinian state. One reason for this belief is that land requires water, and Israel has demonstrated it intends to maintain the water for its own use. These Palestinian leaders feel they have no choice but to battle until events force Israel into an acceptable compromise. For Israel it is an all or nothing proposition. For the Palestinians it is nothing if they don’t obtain all. The problem for Israel is that wherever it extends itself it will meet an adversary. Even if the Arab nations accommodate Israel’s expansion, it will only be a temporary maneuver. The Arab nations will never forget the humiliations, the intrusions, the many lost wars and their casualties. Israel has nowhere to go, and this creates a major dilemma. When Israel is too extended to satisfactorily defend itself, it will use the threat of its mightiest weapons, which includes its nuclear arsenal. The power of this threat is the principal reason Israel is concerned with Iran gaining nuclear weapons. Israel does not fear Iran will use these weapons – that will be suicide - it fears that an Iranian nuclear bomb will neutralize Israel’s nuclear threat. Demographics might provide the catalyst that reverses history. Immigration to Israel has slowed. The Jerusalem Post newspaper claims 19,000 new immigrants arrived in Israel last year, compared to the previous three years, in which there were between 21,000 and 22,000 immigrants annually. Emigration from Israel proceeds at a quickened pace each year so that present emigration exceeds immigration. The prediction for year 2007 expects 14,400 immigrants to arrive in Israel and 20,000 Israelis to leave the country. Many Israelis, although technically still considered Israelis and recorded in the population statistics, have citizenship and residency in other countries. Although exact figures are not available, Israel’s absorption ministry estimated in 2006 that about 600,000 Israelis had left the country to live abroad. Since many Israelis carry dual citizenship and return to Israel only for brief interludes, that total can probably be doubled. It has also been shown that Israelis of Arab nationality who trace their heritage back more two generations might be comparable in numbers to Israelis of Jewish nationality who also trace their heritage back two generations. Future demographics favor the Palestinians. The trend is towards an Israel that has decreasing Jewish dominance. This phenomenon might stimulate an increase in Jewish emigration. If the moment approaches when Israel proves to be reverting to the conditions in the period before Zionism diverted the course of history, the world’s collective institutions will ponder if the only choices for obtaining a solution to the Middle East crisis are either a bi-national state or two independent states. Legality might finally find its rightful place in the discussion – who owns the land; who possessed the land for centuries; who occupied the lands for centuries? The choice for obtaining Middle East peace then becomes either forcing the return to the conditions when the Zionist thrust deflected history or allowing a trajectory to increased destruction and possible nuclear annihilation. This choice is neither a recommendation nor a prediction, and those who believe in peace with justice must continue their struggle. Nevertheless, the inexorable and natural course of history might speak for everyone and patiently resolve the Middle East Crisis. Dan Lieberman has been active in alternative politics for many years. He is the Editor of Alternative Insight , a monthly web based newsletter. Dan has written many published articles on the Middle East conflict.
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