WHAT?

The immediate past Chair of the Jewish Agency Executive, Natan Sharansky, and the journalist, Gil Troy, have penned a provocative analysis of the relationship, or lack thereof, between Diaspora Jewry and our extended mishpacha in Israel in Mosaic Magazine. I highly recommend it to each of you. https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2018/07/can-american-and-israeli-jews-stay-together-as-one-people/ Even the title reflects the authors' environmental scan of the current condition: Can American and Israel Jews Stay Together as One People? 

These are two very perceptive people; Natan shall forever be my/our hero of Modern Jewish History. They both know far more than I, but, really?

One of my friends sent the article to me with the question: "What do you think?" I offer the same question to all of you. 

But, responding to my chaver...

"Thanks for sharing this article with me. I thought it well-written, if terribly slanted as I discuss below.

The article contained “red herrings” almost too numerous to count: for example, referencing a single Boston Jew’s overstatement, as representing American Jewish opinion creates a false narrative so as to set up the authors’ thesis. There is too much of that in the article. Further, there is no acknowledgement by the authors that a major, contributing factor in the current “distancing” are the policies of the Netanyahu Government. (Remarkable to me was the authors’ rationalization [justification??] of Netanyahu’s breach of the Kotel Agreement.)

I consider the proposed Jewish Peoples Council to be a preposterous suggestion, especially when the co-author just moments ago stepped down from his 9 year Chairmanship of the Jewish Agency — the organization that characterized itself during Sharansky’s terms (and, historically) as “the Parliament of the Jewish People.” I can’t conceive of Diaspora financial support for this Council let alone Knesset members agreement to some sort of co-equal debating society."

What's going on here?

Rhetorical question.

Rwexler