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Last update - 03:20 06/11/2009
Why do Israeli reporters ignore the Jewish Diaspora?
By Anshel Pfeffer
Tags: U.S. Jewish Community 

Two weeks ago, I had coffee with the president of one of the largest Jewish federations in North America. We discussed a wide range of issues of concern, but he seemed to come back every few minutes to one particular gripe. His federation has just launched an expensive campaign opposing a noisy attempt by a handful of lefty celebrities to boycott Israel from a prestigious international cultural platform. They paid for full-page ads in major newspapers and drafted a glittering list of stars to sign a public letter denouncing the boycotters.

The Israeli media had widely reported on the fracas but why, oh why, complained the president, had no Israeli newspaper seen fit to mention the key role played by the local Jewish community? The man has been coming to Israel for decades, regularly meeting the country's leaders and participating in the most exalted forums of Israel-Diaspora dialogue. This time he was in Jerusalem for the Israeli Presidential Conference, and next week he will speak at the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly in Washington. But I was at a loss to explain to him the total indifference of the Israeli public, and by extension its media, to the worthy efforts on its behalf by organized American Jewry. Israelis, if they give the matter a thought at all, I said, simply see this as their due. He just nodded his head in disbelief.


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pitefully, I thought of telling him that he goes to too many conferences instead of actually engaging with the people the conferees talk about, but I managed to bite my tongue. I shouldn't be mocking the good president. He has achieved many things of substance, both for his community and as a dispenser of many millions in donations for worthy projects in Israel. He is constantly on the lookout for the next initiative that can make a real contribution and bring change to Israeli society.

But his recurring complaint during our meeting that he doesn't just want to be "someone who signs the check." While perfectly understandable, the sentiment is also wholly unrealistic. Any Israeli journalist who has ever covered a "Jewish World" gathering will be asked the same question at the lunch buffet: "Why doesn't your paper/station/Web site pay more attention to the Jewish Diaspora?" Mouths full, we manage a rueful smile, nod sympathetically and head for the dessert table. At the end of the day, the only headline to come out of the deadly serious sessions will be an Israeli politician's utterance on the main issues. Sometimes, buried in the ninth paragraph you will find the sentence: "The minister was speaking at the annual conference of the global Jewish forum."

Next week's GA will be no exception. It will be covered by the A-team of Israeli journalism - the diplomatic correspondent pack, the boys and girls on the prime minister's plane. But don't expect any of them to attend the sessions on Jewish identity, or the workshops discussing the future of philanthropy. They are only there to see the speeches of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama. The rest of the time they will be catching up on their shopping.

The lack of interest on the part of Israeli media in reporting on the Diaspora is so palpable that two foundations actually award cash prizes to the rare journalists who do occasionally pay it some attention. This isn't simply a case of the media being interested only in gossip and sensationalism. Check out any of the surveys on the ten top worries of the average Israeli: The future of Jews around the world simply doesn't make the list. But perhaps a more relevant question than why Israelis don't care about their coreligionists is why the worthies of the American Jewish establishment are so hung up about it. What is it with their need to receive Israeli affirmation?

Why do they need to have the Israeli prime minister grace their annual gathering every single year? What unique contribution do 30 Israeli speakers, constant conferencers the lot of them, bring? Do the organizers really believe that the most successful Jewish community in history has anything to learn from them, or that a load of arrogant Israelis are really flying to the U.S. in order to learn something themselves? With so many pressing matters on the agenda of American Jewry, why are one quarter of the forums and workshops dedicated to Israel-gazing?

I'm sure many readers who have made it this far are already chomping at the bit - Whaddya mean why do we care so much so much about Israel? I know, it is rather churlish for an Israeli to reject this outpouring of concern. But it does seem that the interminable debates on the social gaps in Israel, on how to counter the biased and hostile media, the integration of Ethiopian immigrants and the future of the peace process are more attractive than dealing with the thornier dilemmas of Jewish life in America, such as how to build a truly accessible Jewish education system, create a credible identity that will appeal even to those devoid of any religious belief and define the Jewish family in an age where intermarriage is no longer a threat but a reality.

Yes, I know, many GA attendees are doing sterling work in these fields, but just think how much more could be achieved if the amount of time spent obsessing about Israel was reduced by just one half. Look at all of the passions expended recently over J Street. It all wasn't only about determining the best way to secure Israel's, future and about the legitimacy of the J Streeters calling upon the Obama administration to pressure Netanyahu. What really panicked so many establishment figures was the fact that the most significant joint endeavor of America's Jews - six decades of unswerving support for the Israeli government of the day - could be questioned by a bunch of irreverent youngsters. (Oh and by the way, asides from a small bubble of columnists, Israelis didn't really care. They were merely amused by another political squabble, the kind we have here twice a week).

Why don't we all grow up? We are brothers and sisters. But we live in different neighborhoods, on separate continents. The Jews of both countries can all be proud of their incredible success stories and are all facing enormous challenges. We should try and help each other out, without expecting much gratitude, but ultimately we all have to deal with our own troubles. American Jews are doing themselves a disservice by mistaking Israel's problems for their own.

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      1.   The Great Divergence is Happening 05:03  |  Dana 06/11/09
      2.   sad 09:47  |  american-israeli 06/11/09
      3.   Follish Babylonians 10:48  |  Zev Davis 06/11/09
      4.   To Dana 15:06  |  Emir 06/11/09
      5.   Dana: Clearly you don`t know the 1st thing about Israel 16:14  |  IsraeliDude 06/11/09
      6.   Israel Gazing 17:02  |  Michael T 06/11/09
      7.   Why should Israelis care? 18:36  |  David 06/11/09
      8.   I stopped caring for Israel like I use to 19:46  |  Tom 06/11/09
      9.   American Jews and Israeli Jews need each other more than ever 19:56  |  Chaver Steve 06/11/09
      10.   Being "almost" Israelis by proxy 23:05  |  David 06/11/09
      11.   This is a nonissue 02:37  |  bronxite10 07/11/09
      12.   To Zev Davcis 07:36  |  Dave 07/11/09
      13.   American Jews have it easy, relatively easy money, opportunity, 13:36  |  JMK 07/11/09
      14.   Thank you, Anshel Pfeffer 18:31  |  Margie Newman 07/11/09
      15.   Anshel Pfeffer: Ignoring Diaspora 16:30  |  dee 08/11/09
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