At the Point of Transformation:

Amid Dramatic Political Developments,

A Symbolic Victory for the Zionist Revolution

Within the space of a few days, much has happened to crowd our agenda:

·        The American Jewish Committee, gathering in Washington for its Annual Meeting, heard an impressive array of world leaders who had come to pay tribute to the intense and sophisticated work of the Committee, on issues ranging from the promotion of democratic values to the eastward expansion of NATO. 

·        In meetings with Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Abu Mazen, Secretary of State Colin Powell came up against the limitations of the “road map” document—among them, its failure to require the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, which in turn hinders the ability of Israel to comply with other declaratory aspects of the plan. At the same time, he clearly saw, and expressed, the opportunity—just ahead—to launch a direct dialogue at the highest level between the two sides, while at the level of security organizations a serious discussion begins about a gradual effort to put an end to the violence. True, “noises” about the crucial political issues—the “right of return,” borders, settlements—threaten to crowd the negotiating table. But as AJC leaders heard from the prime minister of Spain, José Maria Aznar, as well as from American officials, nothing can begin to happen until terrorism is confronted head on and defeated. The murderous attacks in Riyadh, apparently by elements of the Al Qaeda network, serve as a reminder that the war is far from over.

·        In Iraq, side by side with the bureaucratic struggles within the U.S. administrative structure, the decisive tug-of-war between the two versions of Shi’ite Islam—the totalitarian perversion sponsored by Iran and now represented by Bakr al-Hakim following his triumphal return to Najaf; and the liberal interpretation offered by Ayatollah Sistani and his camp. The good news, so far, is that Bakr al-Hakim clearly does not have the religious authority and clout to challenge Sistani’s overriding status and moral stature.

·        Meanwhile, amid all this, Israel slid halfway back into economic disruption because of the unresolved differences (and as it happens, the political and personal power plays) between Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and the leader of the Histadrut labor federation, Amir Peretz. At stake, beside cuts in the salaries of public sector workers, is the question of refinancing the pension funds: Even amid the pressing needs of the day, we should not stop thinking about tomorrow.

Yet, from my personal perspective, perhaps the most significant development for our future was reflected not in these front-page headlines, but in an extraordinary twist in the annual ceremony (which I attended with my family) marking the transition—a sudden, poignant transformation from mourning to joy—between Yom ha-Zikaron, our Memorial Day for the fallen of our wars, and Yom ha-Atzmaut, Independence Day. As always, there was a unified theme for the lighting of the traditional twelve torches, one for each tribe of Israel; this time, it was help and rescue—the various aspects of what it takes to save lives, day by day, whether from terrorists or other sources.

The tapestry of Israeli diversity was there, as it is every year, but this time made brighter and more intense against the background of so much pain. There was the Ethiopian-born officer who lost his leg in a battle with terrorists in Hebron. There were two representatives of the Border Police: a young women who had recently made aliyah on her own from Morocco and is now in officer training, side by side with a man whose name happens to be Jihad (!), a battle-hardened master sergeant from a Druze village in the north, who lost his young cousin when her bus was destroyed by a suicide bomber. There was the brave bus driver who saved many lives when he threw out another suicide bomber. There were men who had come in from the shadows, long-time Mossad and Shabak agents, whose work saved many a life. One of them had lost his wife in the Iranian-sponsored bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, an act, along with the AMIA bombing of 1994, for which the Argentine government has finally issued an indictment against the Iranian agents. In the eye of another controversy, there was the Armenian deputy head nurse of a rehabilitation ward in a Jerusalem hospital whose dedicated work was recognized—but sadly, under heavy Turkish diplomatic pressure, she was asked to modify her text so as not to state that her grandparents had survived the 1915 genocide. As each intoned the words, “U-le-Tiferet Medinat Yisrael” [for the glory of the State of Israel], it was as if a colorful thread were added to the tapestry.

When it came to Yehuda Meshi Zahav, however, there was more to it than just “color.” His presence—and his willingness to say proudly those very words—were revolutionary. Not long ago he had been an ultra-Orthodox rabble-rouser, organizing riots against the police over questions of Shabbat observance or the alleged desecration of ancient graves. In the last few years, however, he has been running Zaka, the Association for the Identification of Disaster Victims, whose sad duty it is to search for body parts, from the scenes of suicide attacks to the fields of Texas (searching for the remains of the Columbia crew). This experience has enhanced his sense of unity with all of Israel—K’lal Yisrael—and led him to Mt. Herzl.