A New Government Could Mean a New Page Between Israel and the Diaspora
The consolidating coalition’s parties can at least agree on one thing
There are few things a government ranging from the far-right to the
far-left can agree about. Economics are a classic battle, judiciary reforms are highly controversial, and the Palestinians are the bone of contention. Of the handful issues they can show a united front about, one stands out as almost consensual: the diaspora.
It is not that anyone talks about it. Not many Israelis would consider it their most pressing worry right now. Many won’t even consider it an issue. But as coalition talks advance and the government’s policy boundaries clarify, it seems like warming up Israel’s relationship with the diaspora could make an easy win for a coalition striving for such, while many other topics will require tremendous efforts to achieve agreements. If there’s one thing the Israelis don’t fight about, it is their cousins abroad.
Given the rollercoaster relationship it has been in the last years in general — and weeks in particular — it won’t be that easy to fix. Intention is there, though. Almost all the parties emphasize the importance of the diaspora in their platforms — some declaratively, while others very practically.
New Hope (Sa’ar’s party) wants to establish a ‘reversed’ Taglit — one that will introduce Israeli Jews to Jewish communities abroad. Yisrael Beytenu (the party of Liberman — the would-be finance minister) wants to make Zionist education accessible to all Jews, by establishing a designated schools network.
Both Meretz and Yesh Atid quoted the declaration of independence’s dramatic address to the Jewish world, though they preferred focusing on the part stating “the state of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles”. Indeed, for every paragraph promising to strengthen the relations with the diaspora Jews, there is one promising to encourage them to make Aliyah, and the focus often went there. (Liberman, for instance, is willing to bring 3.5 million Jews to Israel in a decade.)
But these are just platforms. Practically, the government now needs to assign a diaspora affairs minister — and his identity already sparks interest. Current reports indicate the ministry will go to the labor party. Of the candidates, one is both a probable and a curious choice: Gilad Kariv. The first ever Reform rabbi in the Knesset, he opened his inaugural address declaring “I’m glad that standing at this podium allows me to echo the voices of our brothers and sisters abroad, whose love to Israel is a true love, but their justified feeling is often that it is a one-way love”. Seems like the perfect candidate to rekindle the relationship.
But he’s also a controversial one. Ultra-orthodox media is already worried by this appointee. “It will be a grave blow to the ultra-orthodox society and its representatives in the Knesset — most of whom don’t even address him in its corridors — and could supposedly even put Israel’s Jewish character at risk”, one website warned. For a unity government promising representation even for those outside the coalition (and specifically for the ultra-orthodox), appointing him might not be the easiest task. If it’s not him, Emilie Moatti — an Aliyah maker herself — is probably next in line. Some reports have recently emerged arguing the party will choose neither of them — for lack of parliamentarian experiment — and instead appoint Nachman Shai, who didn’t even make it to the Knesset (he’s 8th on the list, while it won 7 seats).
Regardless of the persona, a Labor appointee means a change in both rhetoric and action towards the diaspora. No more talks of evangelicals as an alternative to U.S. Jews, that’s for sure. Wooing Jews across the whole political spectrum is likely to become Israel’s policy. Not only because of the minister in charge, but because a unity government is a fertile ground for encouraging bipartisanship; In general, and among Jews in particular. That it is probably one of the most liberal coalitions in decades also helps.
Even if most of the pre-election promises will be abandoned; even if there will be no more than a shift in rhetoric, the new government seems likely to turn a new page between Israel and the diaspora, after an ill-fated period. It will require both sides’ good will to form the bond. But the messages already heard make little space for mistake, and fixing the relationship seems within reach. The winds of change by the ‘change government’ could well make the Jewish state and the Jewish world one big mishpocha again. If only it is formed already.
