Taking responsibility
Taking responsibility

Let me start with an assertion that will provoke sneers and laughter in some quarters:

Im Tirtzu (IMTI) is one of Israel’s national treasures.

Let me follow that with a second: Even national treasures can misfire, can be off-target, can even shoot themselves in the foot.

And finally, a third: the second reality does not change the first one. Especially, when the reaction to error only goes to remind us all of what a treasure really is.

IMTI is a national treasure because it goes where no advocacy groups go, it calls questions that the more timid of heart might dream to do, but don’t do in reality. Im Tirtzu reports to no political party, nor is it beholden to any master other than the Israeli people, and the legacies of Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Jabotinsky and Begin.

And IMTI is a national treasure not just because it holds itself to standards that it strives to see applied in Israeli society, but when it feels it has fallen short of those same standards, it is not afraid to say so.

Im Tirtzu has had for the past decade the straightforward, but exceedingly difficult mission of cherishing and furthering Zionist values. Much of that effort is spent educationally, whether in sponsoring cutting edge year long seminars on campuses, or embracing minorities who have become part of the fabric of Israel.

And for more than 6,000 activists on university and college campuses across Israel, IMTI has provided an address where they can express their love of country and of those who seek to protect it.

Part of IMTI’s mission has been to stand up and bravely, and sometimes brazenly, to confront those who oppose the State of Israel, the IDF, the right of the Jewish People to be autonomous and have self-determination in their own Land.

This is not political opposition, but existential opposition. Those who seek to force Israel to buckle under someone else’s political agenda threaten the sovereignty and autonomy of Israel. Im Tirtzu stands to oppose that pressure.

The recent campaign of identifying “Shtulim,” “embedded foreign agents,” had been, until about a week ago, a spectacular success in heightening the awareness of Israelis to the reality that there are many Israeli NGOs who, despite a mantle of “human rights,” are really political organizations, seeking to force the Israeli government to make profound, and, in all likelihood, highly detrimental policy shifts.

These Israeli NGOs have been financially aided by foreign governments and large autonomous funders like the New Israel Fund. So significant has that assistance been that the idea of the NGOs being “embedded foreign agents,” while provocative in name, seems very close to the mark of what is actually going on.

Pointing this finger, and pointing it in a way that commands public and media attention is not easy. There have been reports and allegations written about the toxic alliance of these NGOs and foreign governments for years; for all their insight, they went nowhere and they had no discernible impact.

It was not until Im Tirtzu launched its campaign replete with a video that mesmerized the public, and enraged the targeted organizations and their supporters, that this reality became widely perceived and understood.

When coupled with hidden videos taken by the brave people of Zionist NGO Ad Kan, the reality of a much less than benign array of Leftist NGOs not only emerged, but engrained itself in the consciousness of Israelis.

These organizations constitute a threat to the State of Israel, and they themselves know it and are proud of it.

In the course though of trying to undermine the legitimacy of these organizations, Im Tirtzu erred by asserting that there was also assistance for these organizations coming from leading cultural figures, who, in many cases, used their fame and status as cultural icons to further the mission of these NGOs.

This, of course, is true enough and is done widely by all sorts of people in all walks of life, for all sorts of causes. But rather than asking the very appropriate question of whether these artists, themselves patriotic Israelis, had, like many other Israelis, been misled in their support of these NGOs, IMTI  suggested that in providing their support, these cultural figures were somehow themselves part of the universe of embedded agents.

This is not only a stretch of reality, but one that evokes an attempt to censor or restrain artistic freedom, and seeks to punish artists for their political associations.

For those eager to de-legitimize Im Tirtzu, this evocation led to a deliciously malicious charge of neo-McCarthyism, of seeking to force artists to conform to an acceptable political line or face some sort of a witch hunt.

When confronted by this unacceptable reality, IMTI CEO Matan Peleg undertook two principled steps: first, he issued an apology for the posting, admitting its error; and second, he recused himself from his position in order to step back, reflect and learn better from the experience.

When was the last time we have seen such public introspection, self-assessment and the willingness to say, “mea culpa?” Which of the anti-Israel NGOs, caught red-handed engaging in criminal behavior, has had the strength of character to do the same for themselves? What politicians among us have invoked the power of confessing error?

Matan’s steps reflect not only his own personal rectitude, but also the ethos of the organization he leads. Those in society who would elevate it, must themselves be prepared to hold themselves to the values they espouse.

Matan showed us the true character of Im Tirtzu, and it is one to be proud of.

I honestly believe that if there were no Im Tirtzu, Israel would need to invent it. Israel is strong need of those who would risk the occasional misstep, but will, in the grand scheme of things, play the critical, essential, and sometimes thankless role of standing up for the values of the Nation and its People.

National treasures are not perfect. But they are treasures nonetheless.