Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/845037
6 July 6 • 2017 jn The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that's useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive member of the community. Being competitive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth. To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfounadtion.org The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 29200 Northwestern Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. 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You guessed it. Bipartisanship. Skeptics in Israel and within the Republican Party are not wrong: Israel does have a conspicuous problem within the present-day Democratic Party. Its sources range from the rag- ing currents of globalization to differ- ences over Israeli policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians. The incontrovertible fact today is that Republican sympathies for Israel far outstrip Democratic ones, thus posing a challenge from which friends of this bilateral relationship dare not shirk; capitulation is an unaffordable luxury for them. Because the White House switches hands, congressional majorities are not eternal and even governments in Jerusalem have been rumored to change, neither side of the aisle can be written off. If the Israeli leadership ever had to deal with a hostile and alienated counterpart in the United States, the consequences could be catastrophic. Ironically, for bipartisanship to be restored to full health, a particular aspect of Israel's awkward synthesis of identity politics is both relevant and instructive here. Governance in America is anchored in a two-party system, but Israel's proportional representation has birthed dozens of parties since its inception; the current Knesset boasts 11 caucuses. Among them are boutique factions championing narrow constituencies, namely religious Jews and Israel's Arab citizens, but counterintuitively, an independent voice has not always served their needs. One byproduct has been that these factions are deputized as chief lobby- ists for basic services such as religious education and functional neighborhood policing for their communities. In more familiar terms: The fundamental deliv- erables of liberal democracy have been turned into horse-traded special inter- ests. And if these smaller parties then fail at their polls, whole sectors of soci- ety risk being marginalized. Meanwhile, with people voting their parochial con- cerns, the state becomes almost ungov- ernable. A more effective way to guarantee themselves a hearing would have been for these groups to set up shop within Israel's two major political blocs. That way, their core requisites would become integrated into the platforms of all governments, no matter which way the winds were blowing. In fact, signs of greater consolidation are now under way in Israel with talk of mergers and some newer contenders fielding slates with greater in-house diversity. Such thinking is a piece of cake for Americans. The Republican and Democratic universes are seeded with multiple affinity groups that toil to ensure their pet causes are well repre- sented in both parties. Among those promoting a strong U.S.-Israel bond, in this context, are the National Jewish Democratic Council and Republican Jewish Coalition, institutions that liaise with their respective party apparatuses and work to foster closer ties between the two nations. But bipartisan fellowship is becoming ever more tenuous, and I've witnessed personally how hyper-politicization can inflict damage to the cause — with sup- porters of this relationship "colluding" to turn it into a wedge issue when they hammer each other as only fair-weather friends. Since the mission of both the NJDC and the RJC is to help elect mem- bers from their own parties, they almost have a vested interest in undermining the bipartisan foundations of U.S.-Israel relations. This same spirit of polarization has also consumed much of the cohort advocating on behalf of America's alli- ance with Israel. AIPAC's commitment to providing a warm bipartisan home for this community is being assailed by less politically inclusive outfits on both flanks. For the past eight years, J Street's decidedly pro-Obama bent challenged the kumbaya of pro-Israel orthodoxy. And today, prominent Jewish funders and evangelical groups are calling for a more hard-hitting approach than AIPAC's, one attuned to the sensibilities of Trump's America. How do we square this circle when bipartisanship is indispensable but poli- tics is king? Friends of America's partnership with Israel might best consider perform- ing triage to stem the bleeding. If the relationship is to recoup its "unifier" status, the most immediate order of busi- ness should now be to neutralize the acrimony. AIPAC's professionalism will remain a formidable asset — but only if the organization is not transformed into a boxing ring where political rivals come to exchange blows without regard for the injury it causes to bipartisanship. Unless supreme efforts are invested to insulate this neutral ground, it could conceivably implode. Participants in last week's AIPAC joint trip to Israel for Republican and Democratic cam- paign operatives' officials — report- edly it "helped them dial down the bitter partisanship of current-day Washington" — would be the first to vindicate this approach. At the same time, the current envi- ronment has prescribed an increasingly important role for tapered and cohesive silos of the like-minded. Enjoying the cachet of intellectual traction among their natural allies, partisan groups are equally potent messengers on issues ranging from foreign aid to the Iranian nuclear threat that they can cast skill- fully in the vernacular of their particular guild. Ideally, this task would be per- formed without too much emphasis on why the opposing team is "weak" on the issue; rather the mutual objective would be for all sides to be "strong." Psalm 133 is correct: It is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell together. But to ensure that Democrats and Republicans keep forging ahead to advance the alliance between the United States and Israel — a "best interest" of both countries — parallel inclusive and exclusive tracks of communal activ- ism might just be a sign of the times. Perhaps it's time for Bipartisanship 2.0. "Bipairtisanship," if you will. • Shalom Lipner is a nonresident senior fellow of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. From 1990 to 2016, he served seven consecutive premiers at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. What is it that allows Israel to both thrive today and plan for its future? You guessed it. Bipartisanship. continued from page 5