NY Israel Parade Exposed Deep Fault Lines Among U.S. Jews and Israelis - Haaretz Today - Haaretz.com
NEW YORK – Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade was a landmark moment, particularly given the rare vocalized displeasure toward the Israeli government in such a setting and the renewed participation of liberal Zionist organizations.
Yet while it is tempting to consider the parade a sea change in Israel-U.S. Jewish relations, that would be getting ahead of reality.
The bloc of pro-democracy Israelis and U.S. Jews undoubtedly came out strong, both in numbers and in tone. Leaders of the bloc estimated that some 1,000 demonstrators attended the parade, exceeding expectations.
Protesters against the Judicial overhaul and the Netanyahu government at Celebrate Israel Parade, NYC, June 4 2023Credit: Gili Getz
A closer look, however, reveals that the event was not so much a sea change as further exposing the deep fault lines that exist within both the Israeli and American-Jewish communities — both internally and relating to each other.
The 1,000 demonstrators were but a fraction of the total number present at the parade and on the sidelines. Many of the latter were either ignorant or openly disdainful of their liberal peers’ participation.
Many of the other participants were operating in an alternate reality, one where Israel remains a beacon for the rest of the world to admire. For them, any implication that it is not a full-fledged democracy is an affront to the spirit of the parade.
A representative of Jewish Queer Youth marching in drag in New York on Sunday.Credit: Gili Getz
Another rift was visible between the Israelis present in New York. While some insisted on participating in the long-established event, speaking from a vantage point of positivity rather than criticism, several hundred others insisted their participation would be more effective by protesting on the sidelines.
In some ways, they were proven right: One could argue that their efforts trailing the participating Israeli officials down the parade route sent a much stronger message to the Netanyahu government. They provoked them into ripping megaphones away from protesters and giving others the middle finger – though such behavior is an undeniable embarrassment to the State of Israel.
Protesters against the Judicial overhaul and the Netanyahu government at Celebrate Israel Parade, NYC, June 4 2023Credit: Gili Getz
It is also clear that despite the shared goals between the Israeli demonstrators and their U.S. counterparts, they are speaking different languages. Like at the protest against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Washington earlier this year, the shared path of good intentions runs into a wall when it comes to putting efforts into practice.
Israelis operate in a less hierarchical, fierier manner than their U.S. counterparts, who are keener on pecking orders and operating within given confines. This comparison may seem like a truism, but it makes a real difference when considering the role the U.S. Jewish establishment has played in legitimizing Israel’s rightward shift.
Protesters outside the Arutz Sheva conference that followed the parade adopted a much more explicitly critical tone than those chanting in favor of democracy. They not only criticized the visiting governing coalition members, but also legacy organizations such as the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Federations of North America who sponsored the conference in the first place.
If those interested in preserving Israel’s democracy hope to keep pushing, they would be wise to look at the weekend’s events as a whole rather than simply as a net positive.
Read more about Israel's protest movement:
- Anti-government protesters keep outdoing police in intel and secrecy
- A love supreme: How queer Israelis became the driving force of the protests
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