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Let's be done with all the Talanskys
By Gideon Levy
Tags: Israe, Ehud Olmert 

Revealing the identity of the primary witness, Morris Talansky, in the lastest Ehud Olmert affair raises questions that go beyond the prime minister. Serious questions need to be asked about the relationship between American Jewry and Israel.

Granted, Talansky is a mere individual, but he is not the only one. Jerusalem is full of wheeler-dealers, functionaries, lobbyists, donors and philanthropists. There are rich men and middlemen, envoys and delegations, many of them with good intentions, but some without.

They wheedle and schnorr and contribute to various causes. It's the kind of schnorring that begins with Shaare Zedek Medical Center and could end in court. The question here is why did Talansky, or any other Jewish American, invest, allegedly, in Olmert? What do they receive in exchange for this pot stirring?
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It's time to reorganize the system, to air out the relationship between the world's largest and second-largest Jewish community - a relationship that has long become distorted and even harmful. It is time to say to the American Jews directly, as is customary among relatives: Leave us alone. Take your hands off Israel. Stop using your money to buy influence in Israel. Stop "contributing" to advance your interests and views, some of which are at times delusionary and extremely dangerous to the future of the country you're supposedly trying to protect.

No thank you, we're doing all right. No thank you, some of you are causing us great damage. If you want to wield influence, do it in your own country. You have a lot of power and influence there. Perhaps too much; it's none of our business. You are American, not Israeli citizens, and no amount of money can or should change this fact. War and peace, social justice and government, education and religion in Israel are a matter for its citizens alone.

Our door should of course remain open to visits, immigration and displays of interest. But the extent of American Jewry's intervention in our affairs has long become intolerable. It's time to show them the door - the one that separates them from us.

Israeli politicians from all parties engage in an overly close rapport with American Jews, and of course, their money. The American Jewish establishment may support all Israeli governments blindly and automatically - this, too, is inexplicable and raises weighty questions. But under the official countenance of not intervening in our internal affairs, they have a thumb in every pie.

Sixty years old, economically sound, enjoying the great superpower's massive support, which is unequalled worldwide - Israel is strong and mature enough to manage without the interference of American Jewry.

The name of the game, of course, is money. Everything is about money, even if it is concealed under a pile of cliches and promises. From the prime minister to the mayor of a remote town, from hospital director to community center manager - all look to Jewish-American money. That's a guarantee for unhealthy relations. If it could be justified in the state's early days, when everything was still new, it no longer has place in a 60-year-old state that can and should build its own community centers and avoid the price it will be charged for schnorring. We are dealing with an impatient, aggressive Jewish community, whose aggression is reflected in its relations with Israel.

In many areas the damage is direct and considerable. The settlements in the territories, for example, would not have thrived and grown had it not been for the big money flowing from American Jews. A Ynet investigation released around two years ago found that American Jews sent $100 million to the settlements in the past decade.

Dozens of Jewish associations foster and finance the most nefarious project we've ever had here, from the One Israel Fund to the Hebron Fund, from American Friends of Ateret Cohanim to Shuvu Banim. They are all fattening the settlements, some openly and others under the table.

By so doing the Jews are helping to shape and mutilate another state. It's not only money: The loud, blatant Jewish right wing, which crushes any display of a different opinion in America, is trying to do the same in Israel. Camera, a McCarthyist group that persecutes journalists in the United States, is directing its absurd persecution and slander campaigns against the Israeli media as well. That is also part of the distorted relationship.

The contribution of American Jewry to Israel may on balance be positive. They financed and built for us quite heavily; we in turn offered them a safe haven and a source of pride. Neither side of this equation is relevant any longer. We no longer need their money, certainly not at the price of their interference, and it is doubtful we can still offer them that haven or pride. Let's part as friends, then. Let American Jews attend to their own business, and us to ours. And let's be done with any more Talanskys.
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  1.   Leave Us Alone AIPAC 09:50  |  Tupac 11/05/08
  2.   Talansky 11:01  |  Ralph 11/05/08
  3.   Israel a source of pride, derision, fear - take your pick 11:05  |  dana 11/05/08
  4.   put the blame where it belongs 11:09  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 11/05/08
  5.   Not forgetting the equally malign US Christian Zionists 11:25  |  Chanalau, Tova 11/05/08
  6.   Israeli and diaspora Jews mix into each other`s business 11:29  |  Sam 11/05/08
  7.   So CAMERA has been getting at you, Gideon, eh? 11:48  |  Freethinker 11/05/08
  8.   Strong words from an employee of a GERMAN-OWNED NEWSPAPER! 11:49  |  Dr. L. Brnd 11/05/08
  9.   Without the (right-wing) U.S. Jewish establishment...... 12:09  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/05/08
  10.   This time Levy is really foaming at the mouth 12:24  |  Freethinker 11/05/08
  11.   Let`s rather be done with all the Gideon Levy & Amira Hass` 12:32  |  Ari ben Yisrael 11/05/08
  12.   Let`s be done with all the Talanskys 12:34  |  Ephraim Ben-Zeev 11/05/08
  13.   The entire zionist project was a colossal mistake and the 12:46  |  lakshmi 11/05/08
  14.   AIPAC supported by the loony right 13:10  |  Marilyn 11/05/08
  15.   unintended consequences and careless journalism 13:22  |  nina 11/05/08
  16.   $100 million for Gaza greenhouses given to the palis 13:31  |  Tom 11/05/08
  17.   14. Marilyn : the ?truth? 13:39  |  Lea 11/05/08
  18.   Serious questions need to be asked about Gideon Levy 13:49  |  Joe Sittizen 11/05/08
  19.   7.Freethinker: Gideon and CAMERA 13:51  |  Rose 11/05/08
  20.   Beilin said this years ago 14:00  |  Rowan 11/05/08
  21.   American Jews influence 14:33  |  nkd 11/05/08
  22.   Gideon Levy. 14:36  |  sandra chitayat 11/05/08
  23.   The US Jews help Israel!!! 14:48  |  Dr Eric 11/05/08
  24.   Shame on Gideon Levi 14:50  |  dr Eric 11/05/08
  25.   Levy`s Point of View 15:21  |  Jane 11/05/08
  26.   skating on thin ice, Gideon 15:24  |  Geoff - Sydney 11/05/08
  27.   7.Freethinker: Gideon and CAMERA 15:28  |  Rose 11/05/08
  28.   US Jewry holding back peace 15:58  |  El-Birawi 11/05/08
  29.   Marilyn 16:05  |  Australia 11/05/08
  30.   "Money under the Table"..! 16:09  |  Stephen. 11/05/08
  31.   Good Article by Gideon Levy & he`s right...enough political influ 16:14  |  Smadar 11/05/08
  32.   Europe and the Left 16:20  |  daat y 11/05/08
  33.   # Thank You Dr Brnd - 16:38  |  Lisa 11/05/08
  34.   Thank You to our brothers in the US!!! 16:42  |  Dr Eric 11/05/08
  35.   How wonderful Israel is!! 16:47  |  dr Eric 11/05/08
  36.   Integrity still must have a role 16:50  |  Geoff - Sydney 11/05/08
  37.   American Jews are proud of Israel and love Israel!!! 16:53  |  Dr Eric 11/05/08
  38.   Thank You JANE #25 17:01  |  Dr Eric 11/05/08
  39.   us money and supportkeeps Israel strong 17:08  |  aaron Tobin 11/05/08
  40.   Let`s be done with all the Talansky 17:09  |  Joe 11/05/08
  41.   Question 17:17  |  US Jew in Israel 11/05/08
  42.   Do Pals want state on West Bank if they must accept Jewish state? 17:35  |  Sam 11/05/08
  43.   WOW! I Agree 17:37  |  JT 11/05/08
  44.   "Let`s be done" Impossible, I say. 17:43  |  hollingsworth 11/05/08
  45.   Don`t forget Robert Maxwell 17:47  |  Chris Linthwaite 11/05/08
  46.   Right on, Gidon 17:50  |  Shelley 11/05/08
  47.   Gideon Levy 18:07  |  Fred Voss 11/05/08
  48.   Gideon Levy is right American jews are the biggest problem 18:42  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/05/08
  49.   #13 lakshmi. Absolutely. israel must be peacefully dismantled. 18:43  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/05/08
  50.   to Fred Voss #47 18:55  |  Dr Eric 11/05/08
  51.   No More American Jewish Involvement 19:34  |  MB 11/05/08
  52.   Potential or future Israelis 19:43  |  Joseph 11/05/08
  53.   Levy is absolutely correct 19:45  |  david 11/05/08
  54.   Give it instead to the ... 19:46  |  Joe 11/05/08
  55.   Why not just be gracious... 19:48  |  Avi 11/05/08
  56.   Leave us alone 20:00  |  Victor 11/05/08
  57.   ok wise-guy- who funds you? 20:05  |  Jewboy 11/05/08
  58.   Gideon, please limit yourself to writing about the poor Palestini 20:14  |  Michael 11/05/08
  59.   Let`s be done with all the Levys 20:18  |  Ron 11/05/08
  60.   #13 Yaakov Sullivan 20:21  |  Udi 11/05/08
  61.   The Corruption that rots from within 20:25  |  Greg Bacon 11/05/08
  62.   WHAT "SETTLEMENTS" ARE YOU REFERRING TO? 20:40  |  PalestniansAreA Myth 11/05/08
  63.   get real 20:47  |  - 11/05/08
  64.   42 Sam,the shoe is on the other foot! Since 1988 20:49  |  lakshmi 11/05/08
  65.   Pals don`t accept Jewish state.Why should Jews accept Pal one? 21:18  |  Sam 11/05/08
  66.   They`re not doing you much of a favor.... 21:27  |  Gray 11/05/08
  67.   Too much influence? & U ignore other Jewish-US organisations #1 21:36  |  USAccuracy 11/05/08
  68.   ...U deny other organisations #2 21:54  |  USAccuracy 11/05/08
  69.   Part as friends? Not with your insults and interference 22:20  |  Goes both ways, Levy 11/05/08
  70.   PalestiansAreAMyth 22:31  |  Bridleways 11/05/08
  71. &