Political Re-Evaluation:
A Die-Hard American Left-Winger Finds Himself on the Right of Israeli Politics

by Jonathan Udren

Ever since I can remember registering my first political thought, I’ve considered myself a proud left-winger. As I grew into my opinions I became more passionate, and by the end of my college career, I would often preach about the benefits of state-subsidized health care, or write editorials for my college newspaper about the pitfalls of rampant consumerism.

When I moved to New York City, my near-socialist values found an opportunity for actualization at an ultra-liberal Jewish non-profit. There I helped to raise money for such causes as a living wage bill, equal education for minorities, and inner-city community organizing projects. The left was my passion, as proven by the Mother Jones and Adbusters magazines that lined my bathroom book rack.

But since moving to Israel, I’ve noticed that I no longer fit into the left-wing mold that I carved out for myself. As a matter of fact, I’m finding myself standing on the absolute opposite side of the Israeli political spectrum, as far to the right concerning Israeli politics as I was to the left in the American arena.

I don’t feel like I’ve gone through some kind of political metamorphosis; I still take the same stance about those American liberal issues that I worked for in New York. It’s not so much that I’ve changed, but since moving to Israel the issues that surround me are so different that I’ve had to reconsider each issue afresh.

I had no framework through which to understand the complex geopolitical and historical conflicts of Israel. So I did what my journalistic background had taught me: read and talk to as many people as I could about the situation.

What ensued over the course of several years were trips all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as numerous discussions with the cab drivers of Jerusalem and professionals of Tel Aviv. And what I found was in complete contrast to much of what I read about the situation.

During my time in the former Gaza Strip community of Kfar Darom, I was shocked that everyone that I met seemed calm, relaxed, and normal, not bitter or hateful or extreme. There was no talk of destroying their Arab neighbors like I had expected. Yes, they were certainly dismayed and angered by the terrorists who constantly send Kassam rockets flying over the concrete walls of their community. But they were more interested in celebrating the birth of a new boy to their community than talking about the rockets that have crashed into their roofs.

On another trip I met an Indian Jewish family living in the community called Shavei Shomron, nestled in the northern hills of the West Bank. There I met a 70-year old woman named Emuna who had recently immigrated. When I asked her why she made aliyah at such a late stage in life, she spoke softly, with her eyes filled with tears, and said, “So that I can die in Israel.” To me that wasn’t the prophecy of an unreasonable messianic madwoman, but the desire of the fulfillment of the dreams of her ancestors.

During my conversations with Tel Aviv professionals, their attitudes were spiteful and flippant towards Jews living in the West Bank, who they explained “didn’t even really live in Israel.” It didn’t matter to them that many of the areas in the West Bank were inhabited by Jews before the state was established, or that most of the others were either founded or heavily funded by Labor left-wing governments since their inception.

Also, during the recent election campaign, the left-wing Meretz party mocked right-wing statements that professed concern over the future of the Gush Katif evacuees. Even if one feels that the evacuation was a good political move, not helping the people who have been displaced should be a crime according to basic human rights.

On top of that, the Shinui party, a faction created out of hate for anything that smells of religious or Jewish heritage, recently ran a TV ad that illustrated the drain of religious society by picturing a secular young man dragging an orthodox man behind him who is grasping onto his heels. It was so hateful it had to be pulled from the air, though it still ran on their website. If such an ad had run in the US, the Anti-Defamation League would have been screaming anti-Semitism, if not bloody murder.

The hardest pill for me to swallow is the lack of compassion and understanding for a fellow Jew in what we call a Jewish State. It is that feeling that drives me to the left in America, and it is that same feeling that has pulled me so far to the right in Israel. Even if I don’t agree with everything on the right’s agenda, they have opened up their hearts to the Jewish dream and the Jews that dream it in ways that appear completely foreign to so many on the left here.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the left has no compassion; on the contrary, their concerns for the Arabs that live amongst us have shown great heart. But misplaced compassion in my eyes is equally problematic. No one is arguing that the Palestinians are an oppressed people; the question is who is the oppressor, Israel or their leadership? I hear the left crying out “Peace Now,” but I want real peace and security, for the Arabs and for us, not momentary quiet followed by larger-scale attacks by Hamas and Fatah terrorists who deny our very right to exist.

As of now I feel that the right-wing sentiments concerning the future of the country are the best path for a strong and secure Jewish State. But as long as the issues keep changing, I could care less which side of the fence I sit. I only hope that I’ll judge them all in the most objective and educated way possible, and that my heart and my head are pointed in the correct direction.