We are now in the 10 Days of Repentance, a period in which every Jew is called upon to do cheshbon hanefesh, an honest self-critical assessment of one’s life and actions accompanied by a commitment to acknowledge wrong-doing, to confess publicly that wrong-doing, to approach those harmed, to ask from them forgiveness, and to make the commitment not to repeat the wrong again.

This responsibility to be accountable and transparent for one’s actions applies to every Jew, and even more so to our people’s national and international leaders.

I was shocked to read this morning the letter and signatures below that was sent to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset of Israel, Yuli Edelstein, by 80 of the most prominent former military, intelligence, and security officials in Israel’s history. The letter outlines and condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s damaging, deceitful, and self-serving actions, and highlights their implications for the strategic interests of the United States. It further reveals how the Prime Minister deceived the entire Israeli defense and security establishment, ultimately undermining both the military and nation itself with far-reaching implications for U.S. foreign and national policy.

The publication of this matter is likely to initiate an earthquake in the Israeli government and may lead to the fall of this government coalition altogether. It is up to Israel’s leaders to take this matter as seriously as it deserves. Israel is still a democracy, despite the effort of Netanyahu and his coalition partners to attack the foundations of Israel’s democratic traditions.

The letter ought to be read carefully by every Jew who loves Israel, despite its imperfections, and wishes for Israel to remain a democracy and Jewish state as stated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence and its many Basic Laws, as well as a beacon light of hope and faith to the nations of the world.

We Diaspora Jews cannot ignore what this letter reveals and it ought to be the impetus for us ohavei Medinat Yisrael (Lovers of the State of Israel) to call upon Israel’s leaders to do what is necessary to restore transparency and democracy to Israel’s government and national interest by causing this extremist and clearly corrupt government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fall and schedule new elections as soon as possible.

Here is a link to the letter that I am printing below in its entirety: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b-R7hqKuIszQNnI9WwB-B4a27821Vby_/view.

September 18, 2023

To: Mr. Yuli Edelstein – Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Knesset of Israel,

Re: Netanyahu’s deceit of the defense establishment and the Israel Defense Force (the “IDF”) and significant harm to the security of the State of Israel

1. We, the undersigned, who for decades have served the State of Israel and its governments from all sides of the political spectrum: in the defense establishment, the IDF, the Mossad, the Shin-Bet (Israel Security Agency), and the police, hold Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for leading acts aimed at harming the Israeli judicial system and the Supreme Court in a way that will nullify the independence of the Israeli judiciary and subordinate it to Netanyahu and his fellow politicians.

2. These actions—led and promoted by Netanyahu—are transforming the State of Israel from a democracy based on the principles of our Declaration of Independence to an autocracy that harms Israel’s national strength through the dismantling the IDF, its defense establishment, economy, financial stability, and risks the social fabric of the people and the State of Israel.

3. It is clear to us that the main motive for Netanyahu’s acts is his desire to stop the legal proceedings being conducted against him in the Israeli court on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, that were filed against him by the Attorney General that he himself chose and appointed to the position.

4. It is clear to us that his actions are intended to also enable him to cancel the State Commission of Inquiry headed by former Supreme Court President – Justice Asher Grunis, which is investigating the “submarines and marine vessels affair.”

5. In this affair, 51 affidavits signed under oath by former senior defense officials, including defense ministers, chiefs of staff, directors at the Ministry of Defense, heads of Mossad and Shin Bet, naval commanders, and more, were submitted to the Supreme Court. These affidavits call for an inquiry into the serious allegations against Netanyahu for fraud, concealment of critical security information, conduct in conflicts of interest in favor of foreign parties, and more – all in large-scale procurement deals from Thyssen Krupp in Germany worth billions of dollars for the IDF and the defense establishment of Israel. Criminal trials are also underway regarding some of those already indicted in Case 3000 in Israeli court. Several of the accused are from Netanyahu’s office and others have close relations to him.

6. At this stage, the court and the State Commission of Inquiry are continuing their handling of Netanyahu’s trial, the submarine and naval affairs inquiry, and Case 3000, which also involves members of Netanyahu’s family. His cousin and personal lawyer, Adv. David Shimron, was also engaged as legal advisor to the agent of the German Manufacturer of the submarines and the other vessels in Israel, Thyssen Krupp. His American cousin Nathan Milikowsky, who passed away in 2021, had a significant interest in the U.S. public company GrafTech which Thyssen Krupp was one of its significant clients. Milikowsky testified to the Israeli Police that he transferred envelopes of cash to Netanyahu over a number of years and which Netanyahu did not report as required to the appropriate authorities. In 2009 David Shimron – Netanyahu’s personal lawyer notified authorities in Israel that Milikowsky sold to him in 2007 an indirect equity  interest in SeaDrift – a US company controlled by Milikowsky and his family, reportedly for $600,000. At the same time when Netanyahu bought this equity stake, Milikowsky negotiated and then later consummated) the sale of about 19% of SeaDrift to the American public company GrafTech. The price in which Netanyahu bought the shares reflected a significant discount compared to the market sale price of the SeaDrift shares to GrafTech. This created an immediate benefit of many millions of US$ to Netanyahu. Again, Netanyahu did not report or disclose, as required, this significant benefit.

7. In at least one of the cases, the allegations are exceptionally grave and are abundantly supported by evidence. The facts are clear to all, including being substantiated by Netanyahu’s own public statements and acknowledgement of the facts of the allegations against him. This case, for which there is no need to wait for conclusions by State Commission of Inquiry or the court, is that case known as the “Egyptian Submarines Affair”.

8. The Egyptian Submarines Affair:

a. The signed Affidavits filed to the Supreme Court by former senior defense officials detailed allegations as follows.

b. In 2014, the German government requested the Israeli government’s approval for the sale of two advanced submarines to be manufactured by ThyssenKrupp to Egypt.

The approval was required in accordance with existing understanding between the governments of Germany and Israel. Internal discussions and risk analysis in Israel between senior defense officials, including the defense minister, the chief of staff, the commander of the navy, the head of the Mossad, and Netanyahu as prime minister, concluded unanimously that it was essential to refuse the German government request since these submarines have weapon systems, a  performance envelope, advantages, and qualities that could pose a serious threat to the IDF and the State of Israel.

c. Accordingly, the Government of Israel, through Netanyahu personally, and the Ministry of Defense, through Defense Minister Ya’alon, formally informed the German government of Israel’s opposition to the sale of advanced German submarines to Egypt.

d. However, despite having taken this decision and formally informed the German Government of the refusal to permit the sale of the submarines to Egypt, in March 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Defense was informed by German sources that Netanyahu (secretly and behind the back of the defense establishment) had authorized the Germans to sell two advanced submarines to Egypt. Defense Minister Ya’alon checked this information with Netanyahu, who denied it.

e. In May 2015, Israel President Reuven Rivlin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany. During their meeting, President Rivlin sought to ensure if and who approved a sale of advanced submarines by Germany to Egypt.

f. President Rivlin was shocked to hear from Chancellor Merkel that Netanyahu had personally and in secret authorized the German government to sell Egypt two advanced submarines to be manufactured by ThyssenKrupp, President Rivlin immediately reported what he had heard from Chancellor Merkel to Israeli defense officials and to Netanyahu. Netanyahu continued to deny this claim.

g. In March 2019, Netanyahu confirmed for the first time in a live television interview in Israel with reporter Keren Marciano that he had acted behind the back of the defense establishment and concealed from senior officials, including the defense minister, the chief of staff, the head of the Mossad and others, that he had granted approval to Germany to build these two advanced submarines for Egypt, in complete contradiction to the strategic decision made formally in Israel.

h. Netanyahu claimed that his deception of the defense establishment stemmed from the existence of a “security secret” that he was prevented from sharing with senior defense officials, but that he had consulted and shared this “security secret” with Dr. Mandelblit – Israel Attorney General, and Professor Yaakov Nagel – Acting Head of the National Security Council and Major General (Ret.) Yaakov Amidror at the prime minister office. All three denied knowledge of, or receipt of any such “security secret”.

i. In an interview on the TV program “UVDA” (“Fact”) Channel 12 in Israel in February 2023, Dr. Mandelblit explicitly stated that Netanyahu did not consult him about any “security secret” that supposedly prevented the defense minister, the chief of staff and the head of the Mossad from knowing of the approval he gave to the German government in secret to sell advanced submarines to Egypt. Dr. Mandelblit explicitly noted that he has learned over the years about other lies on Netanyahu’s part.

9. We—as former senior defense officials and signors of this letter—know with complete certainty that there is no, and has never been a legitimate defense secret that any Israeli prime minister was prevented from sharing with the defense minister, the chief of staff and the head of the Mossad. On the contrary, the defense establishment and the IDF are responsible for maintaining the security of the State of Israel, and it is inconceivable that a prime minister would conceal such critical defense information from these defense leaders. We therefore believe that Netanyahu likely had other personal reasons in granting this approval to the German government and concealing this decision of his from the defense establishment.

10. We conclude that Netanyahu’s destructive conduct against the State of Israel and the defense establishment stems from his own personal considerations, from concern over the very significant charges and accusations against him, and from his acknowledged deception of the entire security and defense establishment. The conclusion raises major concerns and the suspicion that he acted and will continue to act in ways which prioritize his own personal interest, and that these personal interests are affecting and will continue to affect his behavior and decision making in a critical defense and foreign affair matter, especially with regards to the potential agreement with Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu’s conduct and the manner in which he makes decisions, could cause significant damage to the national security of Israel and also to the national security of Israel’s close ally – the USA.

11. We, who served the State of Israel and its defense for decades, many of us risking our lives for it, would have found it extremely difficult to serve a single day in the defense establishment and the IDF under a prime minister who stands accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and who deceived its defense establishment. Netanyahu has successfully done, what none of Israel enemies succeeded to do – to cause over ten thousand active reservist officers and commanders of IDF elite units and special forces and hundreds of Israeli air force pilots (who were always the spearhead volunteers of the IDF), to announce their resignation from active reserve service because of his destructive conduct. In doing so he compromised the national security of Israel and endangers our nation.

12. We represent the entire political spectrum of Israel society who served in Israel Defense force, and we will do everything in our power to prevent Netanyahu from dismantling the State of Israel, its defense establishment, the IDF, the judicial system and the Supreme Court – which are the main pillars on which the State of Israel and its democracy exist.

13. As Chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee – it is your duty by law to oversee the conduct of the Government and its prime minister on such critical issues related to the national security of Israel and its future.

CC: Mr. Yair Lapid – Head of the Knesset Opposition

Adv. Gali Baharav-Miara – Attorney General of Israel

We hereby sign:

1. Lt. General (Ret.) Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon – Former Defense Minister & Chief of Staff

2. Mr. Tamir Pardo – Former Director of the Mossad

3. Lt. General (Ret.) Dan Haloutz – Former Chief of Staff

4. Major General (Ret.) Dan Harel – Former Director General of the M.O.D.

5. Major General (Ret.) Amos Gilad – Former Head of the Political-Defense Division of the M.O.D.

6. Mr. Carmi Gilon – Former Director of the Shin Bet

7. Lt. General (Ret.) Ehud Barak – Former Prime Minister, Defense Minister & Chief of Staff

8. Mr. Efraim Halevy – Former Director of the Mossad

9. Mr. Uzi Arad – Former Head of the National Security Council

10. Colonel (Ret.) Ahaz Ben Ari – Former legal advisor to the M.O.D.

11. Commissioner (Ret.) Rafi Peled – Former Chief Commissioner of Israel Police

12. Commissioner (Ret.) Assaf Hefetz – Former Chief Commissioner of Israel Police

13. Major General (Ret.) Danny Yatom – Former Director of the Mossad

14. Mr. Ilan Mizrahi – Former Head of the National Security Council

15. Major General (Ret.) Ilan Biran – Former Director General of the M.O.D.

16. Major General (Ret.) Amos Yaron – Former Director General of the M.O.D.

17. Major General (Ret.) Udi Shani – Former Director General of the M.O.D.

18. Major General (Ret.) Udi Adam – Former Director General of the M.O.D.

19. Major General (Ret.) Matan Vilnai – Former Deputy Chief of Staff

20. Major General (Ret.) Menachem Einan – Former Head of IDF Planning Directorate

21. Major General (Ret.) Amram Mitzna – Former Commander of the Central Command

22. Major General (Ret.) Uri Sagi – Former Head of Intelligence Corp

23. Major General (Ret.) Moshe Evri-Soknik – Former Commander of the Land Arm

24. Major General (Ret.) Alex Tal – Former Navy Commander

25. Major General (Ret.) David Ben-Besht – Former Navy Commander

26. Major General (Ret.) Yusef Mishleb – Former Commander of the Homeland Front Command

27. Major General (Ret.) Danny Rothschild – Former Coordinator of Government operations in Judea and Samaria

28. Major General (Ret.) Yair Golan – Former Deputy Chief of Staff

29. Major General (Ret.) Ran Goren – Former Head of IDF Personnel Directorate

30. Major General (Ret.) Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash – Former Head of Intelligence Corp

31. Major General (Ret.) Gadi Shamni – Former Commander of the Central Command

32. Major General (Ret.) Nimrod Sheffer – Former Head of IDF Planning Directorate

33. Major General (Ret.) Eyal Ben Reuven – Former Commander of the IDF College

34. Major General (Ret.) Guy Tzur – Former Commander of the Land Arm

35. Major General (Ret.) Israel Ziv – Former Head of the Operations Directorate

36. Major General (Ret.) Uzi Moskowitz – Former Head of Computer Service Directorate

37. Brigadier General (Ret.) Amnon Sofrin – Former Division Director in the Mossad

38. Mr. Moshe Friedman – Chairman of the IDF Workers’ Organization

39. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Yair Yitzhaki – Former Commander of the Southern District and Jerusalem District

40. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Yitzhak (Jack) Dadon – Former Israel Police attaché to USA and Canada

41. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Yossi Sedbon – Former Commander of Tel Aviv District

42. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Zohar Dvir – Former Deputy Commissioner

43. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Yaakov Raz – Former Commander of National Traffic Police

44. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Dudu Mantzur – Former Commander of Lahav 433

45. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Gabi Last – Former Deputy Commissioner

46. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Yaron Be’eri – Former Commander of National Traffic Police

47. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Herzl Yossov – Former Head of Planning Directorate

48. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Boaz Gilad – Former Head of Logistics Directorate

49. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Dan Ronen – Former Commander of the Northern District

50. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Uzi Rozen – Former Head of Community and Civil Guard Directorate

51. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Avi Tiller – Former Head of Personnel Directorate

52. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Berti Ohayon – Former Head of Operations Directorate

53. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Avi Ben Hamo – Former Commander of National Traffic Police

54. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Danny Brinker – Former Deputy Commissioner

55. Deputy Commissioner (Ret.) Zeev Even-Hen – Former Commander of the Central District

56. Mr. Itzik Barzily – Former Assistant to Head of the Mossad

57. Mr. Haim Tomer – Former Division Director in the Mossad

58. Mr. Eli Yarkoni – Former Division Director in the Mossad

59. Mr. Hagay Golan – Former Division Director in the Mossad

60. Mr. Koby Avraham – Former Division Director in the Mossad

61. Mr. Boaz Gorodissky – Former Division Director in the Mossad

62. Mr. Hagai Hadas – Former Division Director in the Mossad

63. Mr. Hagai Itkin – Former Division Director in the Mossad

64. Mr. Elie Gamzon – Former Division Director in the Mossad

65. Mr. Aharon Scherf – Former Division Director in the Mossad

66. Mr. Eyal Melamed – Former Division Director in the Mossad

67. Mr. Uri Chen – Former Division Director in the Mossad

68. Mr. Amichai Erez – Former Division Director in the Mossad

69. Mr. Rolly Gueron – Former Division Director in the Mossad

70. Mr. Yitzhak Tzaddik – Former Division Director in the Mossad

71. Mr. Yehiam Mart – Former Division Director in the Mossad

72. Mr. Haim Kenig – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

73. Mr. Tal Shaul – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

74. Mr. Arie (Leibo) Livne – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

75. Mr. Manachem Landau – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

76. Mr. Hezi Kalo – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

77. Mr. Nir Hefetz – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

78. Mr. Hagai Avimor – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

79. Mr. Ron Shamir – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

80. Mr. Moti Meital – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

81. Mr. Israel Bartov – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

82. Mr. Haim Robovitch – Former Department Director in the Shin Bet

Opinion by Ehud Barak, Former Labor Prime Minister and Minister of Defense

September 12, 2023 – Haaretz

My Introductory Notes:

Yesterday, September 12, all 15 Members of Israel’s High Court met to begin deliberations on the constitutionality of the Israeli government’s amendment to the “Reasonableness Law” that gives the High Court the authority to challenge “unreasonable” laws passed by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, that either run contrary to Israel’s Declaration of Independence or to Israel’s Basic Laws thereby creating a unitary government and auguring the end of Israeli democracy.

The Israeli High Court and the Attorney General are the only checks on autocratic rule by the combined Executive and Legislative branches of the Israeli government. There is no Constitution in Israel. In its place are “Basic Laws.” The protest movement that Ehud Barak refers to is now in its 9th month (every Saturday night and many other nights as well throughout Israel that has included cumulatively 7 million Israelis from across political, religious, and ethnic lines).

Barak’s op-ed is poignant, powerful, and true. As a former Labor Prime Minister and Minister of Defense under PM Netanyahu, and the most decorated Israeli soldier in Israel’s history, his perspective is welcome. I print his piece here in its entirety because he states clearly what is at stake as this most extremist nationalist right-wing and ultra-Orthodox government in Israel’s 75-year history is galloping towards canceling the authority of Israel’s Declaration of Independence (DOI) and the right of the judiciary to challenge laws passed by the Knesset that run counter to either the DOI or Basic Laws. I was relieved by the 15-Member High Court’s opening session yesterday in which the majority of the justices expressed their opposition to the amendment passed by this Knesset that neuters the “reasonableness” Basic Law, and I worry about a constitutional crisis that is staring Israel in the face.

What Israel does affects not only the citizens of the State of Israel, but Jews throughout the Diaspora and Israel’s standing as a democracy in the international community. Though only Israelis have the right and duty to make decisions, what Israel does affects Jewish pride, security, and standing around the world. It also affects most especially the American-Israel relationship. President Biden strongly urged PM Netanyahu to stop this so-called “judicial reform” (more like a coup). Bibi has put party and politics over country in order to keep himself out of jail on 3 corruption charges and, thus far, has refused to turn back this raging wave of anti-democratic and autocratic principles.

Here is Ehud Barak’s op-ed in its entirety with a link at the end for those who proscribe to Haaretz.

“Israel’s Supreme Court must consider the larger picture: Netanyahu’s coup on steroids, amid a daily mafia-like campaign of threats. If the Court fails this test, it will be every citizen’s duty to obstruct an illegal government

The next three weeks will be the moment of truth for the Supreme Court; an opportunity that will not come again to stop Israel’s race toward the abyss. It will be the last opportunity to repair the damage that has resulted from its ruling three years ago, according to which a person who has been charged with serious corruption offenses – and is thus prohibited by law from being an ambulance driver, a bank manager, an air force squadron commander, or a cabinet minister – may form the government.

The main challenge facing the court is to recognize that what it’s examining isn’t just the underlying purpose of an appeal, like the restriction of the reasonableness standard. It must consider the larger picture: a coup on steroids, which proceeds daily amid a mafialike campaign of threats. They claim there will be anarchy while causing it themselves, and feed the public baseless lies.

It is untrue that a Basic Law is sacred and immune from review, even if only because the current government is able and willing to attach the word “basic” to any bill that comes to its mind, no matter how bizarre or vile. The Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, is our only protection against this.

It is untrue that the Supreme Court has taken authority and powers away from the executive and legislative branches, which are effectively already a single entity. The Supreme Court only determines what should not be done and takes no additional power. The executive branch – that is, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – demands the unlimited power to do as it pleases. No citizen should agree to this. Nor should the Supreme Court.

It is untrue that everyone will lose if a compromise isn’t reached. First, there can be no compromise between the wolf and the sheep on what to have for dinner. Second, if the dictatorship wins, we will indeed all lose, including the most dedicated Bibi-ists, even if they don’t realize it yet. If democracy wins, however, a sigh of relief will be heard from one end of the world to the other.

Who will lose? Women? LGBTQ people? The Arabs? Members of disadvantaged groups, most of whom vote for Netanyahu? No one will lose but the inner circle of opportunists.

Anyone who says everyone will lose is trying to stoke fear of civil war. There will be no civil war in Israel. Thuggery is possible, especially from the side that has employed it repeatedly over the past 50 years. There could also be, God forbid, isolated instances of loss of human life.

But Netanyahu has no troops, and he has neither the intention nor the ability to start a civil war. His rivals are leading a protest movement that is the most important and sweeping in our history and whose nonviolence has no equal anywhere in the world.

That said, Netanyahu and his supporters do exhibit a mafia-like modus operandi. We all remember the security detail that was assigned to the lead prosecutor in the Netanyahu trial, Liat Ben-Ari, and the claim of former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh that senior detectives were being tracked.Within this chilling landscape, the protest movement shines as our beacon of hope and the force that upholds democracy, the values of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and the rule of law

We also remember the shadowy manner in which Idit Silman and Nir Orbach were recruited to bring down the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government. The threats against the Supreme Court and the attorney general and the declaration that the government is likely not to comply with the court’s ruling follow this pattern. These reckless measures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Let it be said plainly: A government that doesn’t comply with Supreme Court rulings is a government that places itself and its leaders outside of and above the law. It is a rogue government. Its actions are clearly illegitimate and in my humble opinion, also illegal. It bears the stamp of illegality, and I believe every citizen has a duty to make the utmost effort, legally without violence, to restrain it and obstruct its plans.

Within this chilling landscape, the protest movement shines as our beacon of hope and the force that upholds democracy, the values of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and the rule of law. It gives strength to the attorney general, the gatekeepers of democracy, and the leaders of the opposition. And it will be all we have if the Supreme Court fails this test.

The reserve pilots, combat soldiers, and special forces members who have suspended their volunteer service are the real heroes, the adults in the room. Their efforts are a finger in the dam, and they will save Israel, just as their elder brothers-in-arms saved Israel half a century ago.

If Netanyahu dares fire one of the gatekeepers or devolve powers from the attorney general in order to end his trial, the protest will surge like a roaring tide, till victory. Nonviolent civil disobedience will be the main method of protest. We, each one of the protest organizations, are acting in self-defense.

We are defending the core of democracy, the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and the rule of law. Surveys show that many Israelis who vote for Netanyahu’s Likud and other right-wing parties share these values. We are defending democracy, the rule of law, and ourselves from a bulldozer that threatens to flatten democracy, the independence of the courts, and, ultimately, us.

We won’t give up, we won’t surrender, and we won’t compromise until this race toward the abyss stops, all the coup laws that have been enacted are repealed, and the coup perpetrators are removed from the helm of the government. This is the only way to guarantee that the nightmare doesn’t repeat itself.

To the protesters: You are our hope. With you, Israel will defeat those who come to destroy it. Shana Tova to you and all of Israel.”

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-09-12/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israels-supreme-courts-moment-of-truth/0000018a-8498-d4bd-a5cf-f4ff11230000?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=Content&utm_campaign=daily-brief&utm_content=ad4def70a9

From Strength to Strength – Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks (217 pages) is meant for “ambitious strivers to embrace a simple formula for success in work and life.” Brooks discusses two very different types of intelligence – one when we’re young and another when we age. He calls them “fluid intelligence” vs “crystalized intelligence.” Understanding what each is addresses all kinds of phenomena that naturally and inevitably take place in our lives.

Brooks was a classical musician (French horn) as a youth and young adult, and discovered that as he aged into his 20s, his performance of the instrument diminished no matter what he did. He then earned a BA and Masters degree on-line, and eventually led the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a prestigious Washington D.C. think tank, for ten years. Now a Professor in the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and a prolific author of books and a writer at the “Atlantic,” Brooks teaches a course on happiness at Harvard that is among that school’s most popular classes.

He draws on science, classical philosophy, theology, history, western and eastern religions, and shares counterintuitive strategies for “releasing our old habits” (and addictions – most especially “work-a-holism”) and forming new life practices. A practicing Christian, Brooks’ long-term friendship with the Dalai Lama informs his life, teaching, and writing.

Brooks was motivated to write the book when he overheard a conversation on an airplane that began this way:

“It’s not true that no one needs you anymore.“

These exasperated words came from an elderly woman sitting behind me on a late-night flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.. The plane was dark and quiet, and most people were either sleeping or watching a movie…

A man I assumed to be her husband murmured almost inaudibly in response.

Again, his wife: “Oh, stop saying it would be better if you were dead.”…

…I formed an image of the husband in my head. I imagined someone who had worked hard all his life in relative obscurity; someone disappointed at his dreams unfulfilled – perhaps the career he never pursued, the schools he never attended, the company he never started. Now, I imagined, he was forced to retire, tossed aside like yesterday’s news.

As the lights switched on after touchdown. I finally got a look at the desolate man. I was shocked: I recognized him – he was well-known: famous, even. Then in his mid-eighties, he has been universally beloved as a hero for his courage, patriotism, and accomplishments of many decades ago. I have admired him since I was young.“

This story is the launch of a several-year study of what brings meaning and fulfillment in every stage of life, and how to manage the changes that most everyone experiences at different periods in our lives.

I wish this book had been available when I was younger (it was published in 2022). I found myself, and most people I know who are hard-workers, accomplished in their chosen fields, and by western standards “successful” reflected on every page.

This is a terrific book for retirees, for people contemplating retirement, and most everyone else too (especially from one’s 40s onward). It helped me during this month of Elul to think about the large motivating issues in my life, my past successes and failures (professionally and personally), and my current challenges and the new ways of being as I age, along with an even deeper appreciation for the many gifts in my life, especially my family, friends, the ideas and causes I care most about, and the things I love doing and that occupy my days.

Whether you have time to read this small volume (it is a quick-read) now or after the High Holidays, I believe it will be worth your while as it frames brilliantly how to age gracefully given the inevitable changes, the losses and sadness we confront along the way, what we all experience physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, the acquired skills we’ve attained over a life-time, the wisdom we now possess, and the approaches necessary for us to experience the fulfillment that is available for a happy and meaningful life.

L’shanah tovah u-m’tukah – May you enter this New Year 5784 with renewed strength and courage, appreciation and gratitude, generosity and love.

This blog was also posted at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-strength-to-strength-by-arthur-c-brooks-a-book-recommendation/

Note: I wrote this prayer on the first anniversary of 9/11, posted it again on the 10^th anniversary, and yet again on the 20^th anniversary. The sentiments are still current, and I offer it again this year.  

Eternal God, / Source and Creator of Life; / From the depths we have called to you / and we call to you again for courage, strength, and wisdom on this anniversary of our nation’s tragedy.

Grant us courage to confront our enemies. / Comfort those who stand alone without spouse, parent, brother, sister, or friend. / Open our hearts to them and to the children orphaned. / Enable us to love more deeply all children who suffer. / Accept with mercy our prayers of healing on behalf of the families of the victims / and on behalf of the first responders who became ill at Ground Zero and who eventually died as a consequence.

Despite the horror and tragedy of 9/11, / our country remains a shelter of peace, / a symbol of freedom / a beacon light of compassion and justice / to the downtrodden and oppressed of the world.

Strengthen the hands of our people to defend this country, our constitutional democracy / and our common values of freedom and justice. / Inspire our leaders and diplomats / to act wisely and to pursue peace everywhere in the world.

May we teach our children to learn and to think, / to consider and to reason, / to be courageous in thought and in deed, / and to nurture hearts of wisdom / that they may do battle against fear, hatred and bigotry / using weapons of the spirit and loving hearts.

We offer our prayers / on behalf of our country and government, our President and judiciary, / our officials and institutions,  / our soldiers and citizens, / upon all who faithfully toil for the good of our country, / to preserve democracy in our land, / to advocate for civility between adversaries, / and to treat every human being as infinitely worthy and dignified / by virtue of being created b’Tzelem Elohim, in the Divine image.

Bestow upon us all the blessings of peace, / and may we live to see the day / when swords will be converted into plowshares / and nations will not learn war anymore. / Amen!

In this New Year 5784, / may we nurture compassion in our hearts / and increase empathy towards all who suffer / injustice, tyranny, war, terror, oppression, hate, bigotry, and cruelty, / and endeavor every day to alleviate their suffering.

May we recognize our solidarity with every immigrant and stranger, / and affirm that no human being ought ever to be treated as an “other,” / that our common humanity weaves us together / in one fabric of mutuality and one garment of destiny.

May we pursue the biblical prophet’s vision of justice and peace / and strive for the day when all will live together / harmoniously, equally, and safely, / respecting differences, cherishing diversity / and revering Divinity that sparkles within every human soul.

May we struggle against climate-change denial, ignorance, and intolerance, / neither despising nor defrauding nor abusing nor insulting any human being. / Rather, may we honor and support and nurture through word and by deed / all those in need and every creature of the earth.

May Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, / in their homes, villages, cities, farms, and holy places, / in the Lands of Israel and Palestine / live peacefully and securely side-by-side / in two states for two peoples in their shared Homeland.

May humanity thrive everywhere under a democratic form of government / in which human rights are protected and freedom is preserved, / the uniqueness of every human being is cherished, / and all are allowed to blossom and grow to reach their full potential.

In this New Year 5784, / may we Jews admit and confess wrongs we committed, / and seek forgiveness, and do repentance, and restore relationships of meaning, / and be renewed with open hearts, new eyes, and refreshed spirits.

L’shanah tovah u-m’tukah.

Composed by Rabbi John L. Rosove

This morning, as I do each day, I set out on foot before first light and walk between 5 and 7 miles, listen to podcasts, music, or the sound of birds in a city before traffic noise distorts the ether. As I turned onto one road in my neighborhood, tree-lined covered with a canopy of green 80 year-old maple trees, I cast a very long shadow, as shown in this photo.

The image took me back 50 years this month to the summer of 1973 in Israel.

I arrived in Israel for the first time at the end of June, in the middle of the Watergate hearings, and spent two months studying Hebrew at Ulpan Akiva in Chavatzeret HaSharon, a seaside town just north of Netanya above Tel Aviv, before beginning my first year of rabbinic school in Jerusalem. On the Ulpan (an accelerated Hebrew immersion program) were two other fellow classmates; one was already a cantor and the other, like me, destined for rabbinic ordination years later. We formed a small singing group and entertained the other students and staff of the Ulpan on Erev Shabbat each week. Included among the staff was the Ulpan founder and director, Shulamit Katznelson (1919-1999), the daughter of the legendary Zionist leader Berl Katznelsen (1887-1944).

Shulamit loved our singing so much that, without our knowledge, she contacted the Summer Netanya Festival organizers and suggested that we sing in the central square of Netanya before thousands of Israelis. She informed us of our appearance – our resistance notwithstanding – and we three sat down to decide what to sing before what was expected to be a huge Israeli crowd.

That summer, the most popular song in Israel took the lyrics (Shir baboker baboker) written by the noted Israeli poet Amir Gilboa (1917-1984) that had been set to music by Gidi Koren (b. 1947) and Shlomo Artzi (b. 1949) and sung by Shlomo Artzi (see below link to his original performance of the song). Every young Israeli knew the song’s lyrics by memory by the time we sang it at the festival. We suggested to Shulamit that we sing this song, and she approved it whole-heartedly.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (1925-1994) was the headliner of the festival open-air concert. We were his warm-up act. We were introduced, took the stage and began singing Pitom Kam Adam, and within seconds the thousands of Israelis in the square joined us.

It was an uplifting experience, to say the least. When we finished the song, the crowd went wild in its approval. Rabbi Carlebach came forward and said – “Now THAT was a great opening.”

Later on that summer, Shulamit was scheduled to appear on an Israeli Army Radio program modeled after the American popular television show “What’s My Line.” Shulamit and her assistant director, Sarah, invited me to come along. After her segment, the radio show’s host asked her about the Ulpan, what happens there, what they taught, how they taught Hebrew, who were the students (from all over the world), etc. She said, “Ar’eh l’cha. Yochanan, bevakesha, ta’aleh l’bimah (I’ll show you – John – please come up to the stage”). The room was filled with about 500 IDF soldiers. I was sitting with Sarah and she started laughing, at my expense. I said, “I can’t go up there, Sarah.” “Sure you can!” She said. “Go!”

The host said, “Yochanan – bo, bo!” (Come forward). The crowd started chanting the same – “Yochanan, bo – Yochanan bo.” I couldn’t refuse.

I had been a song leader at an American Jewish summer camp (Camp Alonim of the Brandeis Camp Institute), so I knew how to lead singing. But this was a completely new venue for me. Terrified, as I ascended the steps to the central microphone, the radio show’s host handed me a guitar, asked me a few questions (in Hebrew), and presumed that I was planning to make aliyah. I chose not to disavow him of his assumption. The crowd cheered and chanted: “Yochanan – tashir, tashir” (sing, sing).

I led a few songs including as a conclusion Pitom Kam Adam, and the soldiers joined in with full enthusiasm, voice, and spirit. The program was broadcast nationally on Army radio.

Israelis love to sing, and good poetry set to music in Israel is part of the national ethos and character. Nothing brings Israelis together more fully and lovingly than song – across ideological, religious, ethnic, and political lines.

That’s what’s needed now in the Jewish State – more singing, less polarization, more unity of purpose, less divisive politicking, more affirmation of the state’s founding generation’s vision of a Jewish democratic State of Israel, and less right-wing fanatical legislation.

Here is the chorus for Pitom Kam Adam:

פִּתְאֹם קָם אָדָם בַּבֹּקֶר וּמַרְגִּישׁ כִּי הוּא עַם וּמַתְחִיל לָלֶכֶת
וּלְכָל הַנִּפְגָּשׁ בְּדַרְכּוֹ קוֹרֵא הוּא שָׁלוֹם

“Suddenly a man gets up in the morning

And feels that he is a nation and starts to walk,

And to everyone on his way, he says shalom!”

Listen to the song here and enjoy! – https://soundcloud.com/kolramahberkshires/pitom-kam-adam

Ha’aretz Op-Ed – August 27, 2023

Note: David Grossman is an Israeli Prize winner for literature whose books have been translated into 30 languages.

“Netanyahu’s coup has unleashed a fear in Israel not seen since the Yom Kippur War. Like a tightrope walker who suddenly looks at his shoes, and then at the abyss, we are increasingly aware of the fragility of our existence here, but this time our enemies, our destroyers, have come from within.

From its very beginning, Israel has had the character of a startup. Ever since the first command, “Lekh Lekha,” go forth, there has been a drive of innovation, of going toward, of entrepreneurship and invention and creation. Israel has known hard times and existential risks, but the spirit that surged in it was that of a vibrant country, radiating originality, the unexpected, and the capacity to soar to new heights in every field.

And then came the government coup, and Israel began to lose the free and harmonious movement of a healthy body. Everything that was natural and self-evident to most of its citizens – identification with the state, the near-familial sense of belonging – is now hesitant, riddled with doubt and anxiety. While the process predates the coup, it was the coup that caused it to erupt with so much force and entirely change Israel’s reality.

Now a process of destabilization and disintegration is taking place, a shattering of the social contract and the deterioration of the military and the economy. Not only has the progress been halted, but the regression is intensifying: to reactionary attitudes of discrimination and racism; to the exclusion of women and LGBTQ people and Arabs; to ignorance and boorishness as a positive value.

And as often happens in a sick body, more and more injuries demand immediate treatment. Rising to the surface of Israeli awareness are the significance and the implications – and also the unbearable costs – of the disease of the chronic occupation; of the aberrant relations between the secular majority and the Haredi minority, as well as with the national-religious community, which is more dangerous due to the force of its extremist influence; and of the state’s volatile relations with its large Palestinian minority and its catastrophic state, and so on and so forth.

The 64 Knesset members of the governing coalition and most of their voters will disagree with me, but presumably even they, if their minds are not hermetically sealed, will find it hard to deny that Israel’s sense of strength and of almost unlimited power are vulnerable to doubts and fissures and anxieties.

For the first time in years, Israelis have began to feel what weakness means. For the first time, perhaps since the Yom Kippur War, we encountered within ourselves the thin trickle of existential fear. The fear of those whose fate is not entirely in their own hands. The fear of the weak. And even though “the people of eternity are not afraid,” it is nevertheless startling to admit that the current fear is not just a natural reaction to an external threat, and that our enemies, are destroyers, came from within.

It’s interesting: It is exactly those people who represent, in their own eyes, the strong, confident and powerful Israeliness who today evoke in Israelis a sense of fear, weakness and threat associated with the galut, the Diaspora.

Like a tightrope walker who suddenly looks at his shoes, and then at the abyss, we are becoming increasingly aware of the fragility of our existence here; of the sense that the ground is falling out from beneath our feet. Suddenly, nothing can be taken for granted. Not the camaraderie, not the spirit of sacrifice, not the “people’s army,” not the mutual responsibility, nothing. Before our horrified eyes, the one-of-a-kind state that was created here is being emptied of fundamental components of its character, of its specialness, its uniqueness.

Is there a way back from the place we have reached?

Those who despair in the face of the aggression and rapacity of the right must be reminded over and over: The protest movement is the hope, the free motion within the fixation, the creative act, the mutual responsibility, the ideological courage. It is the lifeblood of democracy. It is our and our children’s chance to live a life of liberty here. It must be maintained and fueled and adhered to, and a long-term commitment must be made to restore Israel, to rebuild it from its break, and also from its heartbreak, to get it back on its feet – until we know whether it survived or whether our catastrophe, its disease, has turned malignant.

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-08-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/as-the-judicial-coup-rages-on-israelis-are-becoming-increasingly-aware-of-their-fragility/0000018a-3346-d700-a7ef-fbf7994d0000

A long-time friend and congregant and I shared lunch this week, and as we caught up on each of our lives and families, I asked, “So how is Shanit (his wife) spending her time these days.”

Sam Schwartz proudly told me of Shanit’s one-woman show that was staged in Los Angeles last year and off-Broadway in New York earlier this year.

A long-time New York trained actress originally from Israel’s Yemenite community, Shanit Keter Schwartz is a force of nature, an expressive, brilliant, and beautiful woman whose story merges east and west, old world and new, superstition and modernity, modern Israel and ancient Yemen.

Growing up in Israel in the early 1950s in the Maabarot, tent communities filled by poverty-stricken Jewish immigrants from the Arab world following the establishment of the State of Israel, her family of five children was afflicted with the horrendous scandal of the missing Yemenite children. Two of her siblings were twins, but only the boy was brought home from the hospital. Her father, a mystic rabbinic sage from Yemen, was told that the little baby girl was sick and had to remain in the hospital. When he went to retrieve her a few days later, he was told that she died. Not so. There was no death certificate, no body, and no funeral. The little girl had been torn away from her family and adopted and raised by an Ashkenazi family. Shanit searched high and low for her sister Sarah years later, to no avail – so far. She tells the audience that if there is a woman who looks like her in the foyer, it may be her long-lost sister.

Shanit’s show is wonderful – enriched – and dramatic. The stage includes 3 panels showing photographs and film behind her as she tells her story from the early years of Israeli statehood and about the Israel that she loves. Shanit dances to Yemenite music and chants blessings.

The show is organized around Shanit’s life, but also upon key Jewish and Kabalistic principles and values. She reflects at length about her love for her father and for her powerful superstition-driven mother who called her “Bat Rasha – Daughter of the Wicked.” Shanit tells of her liberation from the old world life in which she was raised into a new life that she found and created for herself in America as an actress. She describes meeting Sam and their love at first sight.

Shanit’s life is multi-layered and she confesses that she is living a life she never dreamed possible.

The show was positively reviewed by New York theater critic Edward A. Kliszus in April of this year –

Review – https://openingnight.online/daughter-of-the-wicked/

You can watch the entirety of the show here (1 hour 20 minutes). I recommend it highly – Daughter of the Wicked – Odyssey Production Full Video Link: https://vimeo.com/706295209

In a recent fundraising letter, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) charged:

“Today, one of the gravest threats to American support for Israel’s security comes from an organization that outrageously calls itself pro-Israel [J Street].” https://pdfhost.io/v/EyIJHICma_AIPAC_Summer_2023_mass_mailer

Jeremy Ben-Ami (J Street’s Founder, CEO and President) and the Honorable Alan Solomont (J Street’s Board Chair and a retired United States Ambassador to Spain) wrote a response in an Op-Ed that appeared in The Forward (August 11, 2023): “AIPAC’s attacks on J Street show how out of touch they are” – https://forward.com/opinion/557325/aipac-attacks-jstreet-on-israel/

I urge you to read both the AIPAC letter that mischaracterized, distorted, and lied about J Street’s policy positions vis a vis Israel and the Ben-Ami and Solomont response. Also in response to the AIPAC fundraising letter, J Street issued a re-statement of its policy positions to “set the record straight” that shows J Street’s long-held pro-Israel, pro-peace, and pro-democracy positions vis a vis Israel and its security, the Palestinians, the Arab world, and the United States.

According to polls, 70 percent of the American Jewish community agrees with J Street’s positions on the issues. J Street endorses more than 200 Members of Congress and is a trusted advisor to government officials including the Biden Administration on policy matters concerning Israel and the Middle East.

Here is that re-statement of J Street’s policies:

“Does J Street support US aid to Israel?

Yes. Indeed, it’s the first part of our endorsement criteria for all J Street endorsees.

The United States plays an indispensable role in supporting Israel’s future as a safe, secure, democratic homeland for the Jewish people.

Throughout our history, we have advocated for robust security assistance packages, including the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiated between the Israeli government and the Obama administration, as well as lobbied in support of legislation to authorize and appropriate all of the aid pledged. We believe that Israel should continue to annually receive the full $3.8 billion in aid pledged under the MOU. J Street believes that US security assistance to Israel plays a critical role in maintaining Israel’s security against serious external threats, and helps to advance US national interests.

Does J Street support cutting or conditioning US aid to Israel?

No. J Street believes Israel should continue to receive the current level of US aid, as stated in the 2016 MOU and without cuts. We also think that US foreign assistance to Israel should be dispersed without conditions.

As with all nations that receive US foreign assistance, aid to Israel should have the usual oversight and transparency requirements. This is vital to ensure that US security aid is used to address Israel’s genuine defense needs, and not diverted to implement or sustain illegal, unilateral actions which undermine Israel’s security, trample on Palestinian rights and contravene longstanding US interests and values. We believe that both the White House and Congress should take steps to ensure that US security assistance is not diverted to implement or maintain annexation, aid the expansion of settlements, towards the demolition of Palestinian homes or other moves that further entrench the occupation.

Supporting restrictions is standard practice for US foreign assistance. It is not the same as advocating for security assistance to be “cut” (i.e. ended or reduced outright) or “conditioned” (i.e. withheld until certain conditions are met).

Does J Street support the “McCollum Bill” (H.R. 3103)?

J Street supports H.Res 3103, the “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” which was introduced in the 118th Congress by Rep. Betty McCollum, and was previously introduced by her in similar form in previous sessions.

The bill is an example of an “aid use restriction,” which J Street supports (see above). The bill would ensure that US security aid is used by Israel for genuine defense needs and not diverted by any Israeli government to detain children, seize or destroy Palestinian property or aid in any unilateral annexation in the West Bank.

The bill would not cut aid or impose preconditions on aid to Israel.

Does J Street support Iron Dome?

Yes. J Street strongly supports US security assistance to Israel for Iron Dome and other missile defense systems. Iron Dome is a critically important defense system that consistently saves the lives of Israelis facing indiscriminate rocket attacks.

The US provides $500M annually to Israel specifically to support Iron Dome and other missile defense programs, included in the $3.8 billion annual security aid package. J Street supports and consistently lobbies for all this funding under the terms of the MOU signed by President Obama. It is the first part of our endorsement criteria for political candidates.

All candidates endorsed by J Street voted to support this full assistance package, including support for Iron Dome.

Did J Street support the special September 2021 House vote of an additional $1 billion for Iron Dome?

Yes. The MOU signed in 2016 anticipated there might be extraordinary circumstances to justify provision of additional funds beyond the annual appropriation.

J Street supported the House vote to appropriate a supplementary $1 billion to the Israeli government for the replenishment of Iron Dome.

A handful of J Street-endorsed candidates voted against the additional $1 billion extraordinary appropriation for Iron Dome in September 2021. Why does J Street still endorse those candidates?

J Street recognizes and respects that a number of Members of Congress, including some who voted for the supplementary appropriation and some who did not, had legitimate concerns about the process and rationale behind the request to appropriate a large amount of additional money for Iron Dome at that time, above and beyond the significant funding already provided in the MOU.

We are dismayed that some critics of those Members have unhelpfully framed this as a vote to fund or to defund Iron Dome, when in fact this vote for additional, extraordinary funding was outside the normal appropriations process and on top of the annual funding.

We reject vitriolic attacks that seek to present those Members of Congress who did not vote for this supplementary appropriation as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. These attacks are particularly inappropriate given that all J Street endorsees who voted “no” or “present” on this supplementary appropriation also voted in support of the annual appropriation of $3.8 billion in security aid to Israel, including funding for Iron Dome, in each recent appropriations bill.

At times, candidates endorsed by J Street have taken different public positions than J Street on some bills, resolutions, letters or other topics. Why does J Street still endorse those candidates?

J Street only endorses candidates who share our core values and commitments – to Israel’s safety, Israeli-Palestinian peace, a strong US-Israel relationship, human rights and self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians, and effective diplomacy-first American leadership. Our full, core endorsement criteria can be found here.

We do not and will not endorse any lawmaker who voted against Congressional certification of 2020 election results on January 6 or otherwise supported the “Big Lie” which falsely claims that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election.

We are proud that both President Biden and the majority of the Democratic caucus in both the House and the Senate are aligned with these core commitments and endorsed by J Street.

We recognize that Members of Congress make decisions based on a number of concerns and considerations, acting in what they believe to be the best interests of their constituents. J Street’s endorsement does not mean that endorsed Members of Congress will always agree or see 100% eye-to-eye with us on every issue, all of the time.

We believe in advocating to and engaging with both endorsed and non-endorsed Members of Congress. If and when J Street has a strong disagreement with a vote or decision taken by one of our endorsees, we are sure to communicate that clearly with them, and seek out an opportunity to discuss our views and the particulars of the issue.

If it becomes clear that J Street and a particular candidate may no longer be aligned on our core values and commitments, their endorsement will be reviewed.

What is J Street’s position on BDS?

J Street is opposed to the Global BDS Movement. We do not advocate for or support any boycott, divestment or sanctions initiative. The Global BDS Movement does not support the two-state solution, recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state or distinguish between opposition to the existence of Israel itself and opposition to the occupation of the territory beyond the Green Line. Further, some of the Movement’s supporters and leaders have trafficked in unacceptable anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Movement is not a friend to Israel, nor does its agenda, in our opinion, advance the long-term interests of either the Israeli or Palestinian people.

You can find J Street’s full BDS policy here.

What about boycotts or divestment focused just on settlements?

J Street neither supports nor opposes boycott, divestment, or sanctions initiatives that explicitly support a two-state solution, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and focus only on settlements on occupied territory beyond the Green Line.

It is critical to maintain the distinction between the state of Israel and the territory that it controls over the Green Line, and that distinction must be maintained.

We believe that individuals should have as much information and agency as possible when deciding how to contribute money to Israel. Individuals should be able to choose for themselves whether they wish to purchase products made in the occupied territory. Labels that accurately distinguish between products made in the state of Israel and those originating in the territory over the Green Line maintain this important distinction and provide consumers the information they need in making their consumption decisions.

We believe that non-profit organizations and institutions have an obligation to provide the members of their communities with maximum transparency about how, where, and why funds are spent in Israel and in Israeli-controlled territory.

We believe that the actions of the US government should line up with the long-standing bipartisan opposition to settlements, and we advocate for the US to maintain and enforce that policy through its actions. We oppose legislative efforts at the state and federal level which, by blurring the distinction between Israel and the territory it controls over the Green Line, acts to contravene that longstanding policy.

Does J Street support “anti-BDS” legislation?

J Street is opposed to federal and state-level legislation that would criminalize individuals’ and non-governmental organizations’ BDS activities, penalize BDS supporters or impose BDS-related litmus tests on individuals.

This type of misguided legislative overreach is the wrong way to fight BDS. By alienating and angering the progressive audiences that BDS seeks to engage and recruit, it actually empowers the BDS Movement.

This legislation can too easily violate constitutional free speech protections, and is fundamentally inconsistent with our democratic principles as Americans and as Jews. We urge lawmakers and Jewish communal leaders to engage Americans who are sympathetic to BDS in serious and open conversation and debate, rather than seeking to silence them by aggressively penalizing their actions and positions.

Does J Street support normalization efforts between Israel and Arab countries throughout the region?

J Street has supported the Abraham Accords from day one, celebrating Israel’s normalization with Arab states as welcome news for all who wish to see a stable and prosperous Israel living in peace and security alongside all of its regional neighbors. We have also noted the fact — emphasized by the officials of Arab countries normalizing relations with Israel themselves — that comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors in the Arab world will only be achieved through an agreement that resolves the issues at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and leads to the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

J Street devoted our new Policy Center’s first major symposium and report to proposing a strategy for maximizing the full potential of the Abraham Accords to secure peace and prosperity for Israel and its neighbors. As an American pro-Israel organization, we will continue to support a strategy for further normalization agreements and regional integration that best serves US and Israeli interests, and oppose cynical efforts to misuse normalization as a means of bypassing the Palestinians and stoking tensions in the region.”

For those wish more specific details, please see the policy center on the J Street website – https://jstreet.org/policycenter/

Writing a review of the block-buster “Oppenheimer” is no easy task. It’s an extraordinary film about an extraordinary episode in human history that changed the world.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, it stars the gifted Irish actor Cillian Murphy in the title role with Robert Downey Jr. as Oppenheimer’s arch nemesis Joseph Strauss (pronounced “straws”), Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty, and Matt Damon as Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. General Groves hired J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist, to be the director of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. The film is based on the history by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin called American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The musical score by Ludwig Goransson assumes a role as a “character” in the film. The direction, acting, music, sound, special effects, set design, editing, and wardrobe are likely, I believe, to be nominated for many Academy Awards, possibly in every category. I have never viewed a film like it.

It need not be said that nuclear bombs are weapons of mass destruction on a terrible scale. Their use twice over Japan in August 1945 at Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in not weapons of war, but weapons of genocide. In the context of World War II, the movie shows that Oppenheimer personally was not opposed on moral grounds to building an atom bomb. He was fine using the bomb, especially as a Jew, against Nazi Germany and/or Japan. He wanted the bomb to send the greater message that WWII should be the last war ever fought. He was deeply concerned that these weapons were so destructive and devastating that great nations like the United States should not be allowed to produce them unchecked. He believed that the Department of Defense had been infected with madness when he learned that the DOD developed a plan to attack the USSR and China as communist nations even if it meant killing of hundreds of millions of people.

Living in a world of relative morality, President Truman’s decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was taken based on estimates that hundreds of thousands of American soldiers would die if the war continued using conventional weaponry, and even far greater numbers of innocent Japanese men, women, and children would die than the estimated 110,000 to 210,000 combined who were killed outright and died later as a consequence of radiation poisoning.

There is a brief scene depicted in the film that occurred on October 25, 1945 in the Oval Office between President Truman (played unconvincingly by Gary Oldman) and Oppenheimer in which the scientist said, “I have blood on my hands,” and Truman angrily retorted that he was the one who made the decision to drop the bombs. It did not go well for Oppenheimer as Truman said he never wanted to see that “cry-baby” again.

The film focuses on the years of development of the atom bomb and begins and ends with the 1954 “Oppenheimer Hearings” in secret 6-week long closed-door sessions in Washington D.C. in which Oppenheimer was tried and convicted of being untrustworthy of having access to the nation’s top secrets. It is initially unclear why Oppenheimer was being targeted by the government as a Soviet spy, except through guilt by association with his brother Frank (played by Dylan Arnold), a former lover Jean Tatlock (played by Florence Pugh), and several others who were members of the American Communist Party. The back-story became clearer later in the film.

When Dwight Eisenhower was elected President and began his term in January 1953, Joseph Strauss rose to become the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Strauss hated Oppenheimer, which is explained in the film. In his new position, Strauss was intent on destroying Oppenheimer’s reputation through connivance and illegal FBI wire-taps that he arranged with J. Edgar Hoover. Strauss effectively and underhandedly persuaded the closed panel, though he was not personally present at the hearings, that Oppenheimer was undermining the arms race with the Soviet Union and was therefore a threat to American security. Both Joseph Strauss and Edward Teller (played by Benny Safdie), a former student of Oppenheimer who headed up the development of the far more destructive hydrogen bomb, felt that Oppenheimer, the most influential American scientist of his era, was standing in the way of their aspirations for the production of unlimited nuclear armaments. There was already suspicion among many in the defense community that someone at Los Alamos was passing American nuclear secrets to the Soviets, confirmed on August 12, 1953 when Russia exploded a hydrogen bomb for the first time. That figure was Klaus Fuchs (played by Christopher Denham). Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist.

William Borden (portrayed by David Dastmalchian) was a lawyer and the Executive Director of the United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy from 1949 to 1953. He became one of the most powerful people advocating for nuclear weapons development in the United States government. Borden outlined a series of charges against Oppenheimer and said at the hearing: “More probably than not, Oppenheimer is an agent of the Soviet Union.”

As a consequence of the hearing, Oppenheimer was stripped of his security clearance, though there was no credible evidence that linked Oppenheimer to passing any secrets to the Soviets or that he was ever a member of the American Communist Party. To the contrary, Oppenheimer was a loyal American citizen. Oppenheimer, naively, was stunned when he was stripped of his security clearance, and at last came to understand that he had been deliberately targeted by Strauss, Teller, Borden, the FBI, and the United States government to remove him from any role in the government’s nuclear program. It was a humiliating moment for a man who was credited with ending World War II and was known as the “Father of the atom bomb.”

Strauss wanted the US to build more and more nuclear weapons as a deterrent against the Russians, but Oppenheimer advocated for a limited supply of nuclear weapons as part of a larger arsenal of conventional arms. In 1954, America had 300 nuclear weapons. At end of the 20^th century, it had 70,000. The Soviets followed suit.

Oppenheimer was a beaten man after the hearings. However, in 1963 President Lyndon Johnson awarded him the esteemed Enrico Fermi Award that was conferred by the President of the United States upon scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy. Granting Oppenheimer this award was regarded as a gesture of political rehabilitation.

Edward Teller was present for the award, and despite his treachery against Oppenheimer in the hearings, he held out his hand to Oppenheimer in a two-faced gesture of respect, and Oppenheimer strangely accepted it. Strauss, on the other hand, was furious that Oppenheimer received this singular honor.

Oppenheimer, a chain smoker throughout much of his life, died on February 18, 1967 from throat cancer at the age of 62. In 2022, the 1954 revocation of Oppenheimer’s security clearance was vacated by the United States Government.

Barbara and I saw the film twice. The second time we were able to follow more closely the story line, who were the central characters portrayed in nuanced performances of virtually all the actors, and the skilled and creative film-making techniques of Director Christopher Nolan and his staff. Between the two viewings, we read reviews and watched documentary histories of Oppenheimer. I suggest that you do the same.

Growing up in the 1950s, I was well aware of the threats posed by nuclear bombs, but had no idea of their devastating and destructive capacity. On the last Friday of every month at precisely 10 am, sirens sounded over all of Los Angeles. We elementary school kids were taught to “drop and cover,” as ridiculous as that sounds today in light of the now-known effects of radiation poisoning against which dropping and covering has no defense in a nuclear attack. New homes in my neighborhood were being built in the 1950s that included bomb shelters. When President Kennedy spoke to the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962, I remember feeling terrified by the thought that we were close to a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.

Christopher Nolan has given us an extraordinary film of subtlety and power. One thing worth understanding if you have not yet seen the film. Nolan effectively uses color for parts of the film and black and white for other parts. This is not about morality – good vs evil. Rather, whenever color is used, it portrays the story from the perspective of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Whenever black and white is used, it portrays the story from the perspective of Lewis Strauss.

There are matters not addressed in the film, most especially what testing in New Mexico did to indigenous people living within a few miles of the testing site. Nor does the film address the test of the hydrogen bomb on November 1, 1952 on the small Pacific island of Elugelab at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Joint Chiefs of Staff made the case to Truman that the hydrogen bomb “would improve our defense in its broadest sense, as a potential offensive weapon, a possible deterrent to war, a potential retaliatory weapon, as well as a defensive weapon against enemy forces.” The island “became dust and ash, pulled upward to form a mushroom cloud that rose about twenty-seven miles into the sky.” The outcome of the test was reported to Eisenhower this way: “The island of Elugelab is missing!”