Ainda o judaísmo político norte-americano

O debate em torno da ideologia inerente à comunidade judaica nos EUA continua. Depois do extraordinário ” The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment“, que Peter Beinart escreveu no último número da New York Review of Books (que referi aqui), e do ping-ping que desenvolveu com Abraham Fox aqui e que será publicado na edição de 24 de Junho, Stephan Glain publica um interessante artigo na Majalla de Junho, que pode ser integralmente descarregada aqui. Em “J Street vs AIPAC”, defende que “a geopolitical war is on for the soul of Jewish America, and it is asymmetrical”. Vale a pena ler na íntegra.

Os princípios aqui defendidos, e aplicados ao caso da batalha naval de Gaza, podem ser vistos resumidamente numa passagem deste post de Ross Douthat em Evaluations, o seu blog do New York Times:

“And this is where the Jewish state’s admirers in the United States have a constructive role to play. Not by offering the kind of phony, “we’re Israel’s real friends because we regularly denounce it as horrible and evil and blame it for all the problems in U.S. foreign policy” critiques that Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and Co. specialize in, but by raising and re-raising the strategic issues that Israel’s government seems incapable of contending with at the moment — and by declining to automatically bless every decision made by Israeli politicians just because Hamas is evil (…).

Comunidade Judaica nos EUA – onde está a moderação?

Morally, American Zionism is in a downward spiral. If the leaders of groups like AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations do not change course, they will wake up one day to find a younger, Orthodox-dominated, Zionist leadership whose naked hostility to Arabs and Palestinians scares even them, and a mass of secular American Jews who range from apathetic to appalled. Saving liberal Zionism in the United States—so that American Jews can help save liberal Zionism in Israel—is the great American Jewish challenge of our age.

The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment. Excelente artigo na New York Review of Books de Peter Beinart sobre a comunidade judaica nos Estados Unidos. A imagem mostra uma manifestação em frente à sede da AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee – America’s pro-Israel Lobby) durante o seu congresso anual. Quem protesta? A associação Neturei Karta – Jews United Against Zionism. A moderação está algures no meio, presente em mentes lúcidas com a do autor do texto. É preciso ouvirmos essas vozes.

Agora sim, as relações Washington-Tel Aviv podem entrar nos eixos

No passado dia 17, a imprensa internacional noticiou que as autoridades israelitas estavam a confiscar os novos iPad. Não só não estavam a ser vendidos (a pré-venda começa apenas em Maio) como estavam a ser literalmente confiscados. Levantaram-se dúvidas acerca dos motivos para esta acção (interferência com as comunicações israelitas, segurança, etc), mas o Ministro das Comunicações esclareceu que a tecnologia do sistema de wireless dos iPad, de origem americana, é mais potente que a permitida na Europa e em Israel, e que portanto violava a lei israelita. Vários especialistas estranharam o argumento, uma vez que tal nunca havia sido alegado em relação a iPhones, Blackberrys ou outros dispositivos semelhantes de fabrico norte-americano. Para os habitantes de Tel Aviv, os maiores consumidores de gadgets que alguma vez vi, deve ter sido dramático, mas aparentemente a situação estará resolvida, e a sua utilização será permitida a partir de hoje. Um novo fôlego na resolução da crise Washington-Tel Aviv… 

Se, para além do fait divers, se quiser perceber qual o estado das relações entre os Estados Unidos e Israel, pode ler-se: 

Time for an Obama Trip to Israel?
President Obama sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a national security issue. But badly strained U.S.-Israel relations mean progress is unlikely unless Obama travels to Israel on a trust-building mission, says Middle East expert Daniel Brumberg.

U.S.-Israel: Unsettled Relationship. Entrevista de Deborah Jerome a Elliott Abrahams, Steven Cook, Leslie Gelb, Daniel Senor e a Steven Simon.

Obama Recharged US – Mideast Policy – Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy

Israel olha para a crise

Gideon ROSE: Do the Israelis view this as an attempt by the Obama administration to force Netanyahu to do something that will disrupt his coalition and make the government fall?

Ehud YAARI: Absolutely so. I think that the sense in Israel right now — and as I said, the prime minister is just about to land — is that Mr. Netanyahu and Barak — and it’s very important that he took with him the defense minister because he wanted to reassure President Obama that he is indeed talking about a two-state solution; that he is bringing his closest ally, the defense minister who was the man who made the proposals at Camp David 2000. But instead, he was presented by what is perceived at the moment, at least now, as a bend or break, with demands that are very difficult for him to accept.

Now, if the American moves are generated by the wish to see a different government in Israel, then I have to say that, number one, I don’t think that the Netanyahu coalition is about to disintegrate; and number two, I do not think that Kadima Party, Mrs. Livni, who seems to be viewed more favorably in Washington, that is going to join — to join the coalition anytime soon. And if it did — coalition (break down ) — and we go to early elections, I can assure you — and I’ll take the responsibility for that — that the right wing will win.

Entrevista para a Foreign Affairs de Gideon Rose a Ehud Yaari, Lafer International Fellow no Washington Institute for Near East Policy.