Jewish outreach leader Yisrael Ze'ira [pictured above on left] agrees with Ben Simon [pictured above on right], but has a plan to turn the tide.
In what was perhaps the most controversial speech at the March, 2006 Jerusalem Conference sponsored by B'sheva Newspaper, left-leaning journalist Daniel Ben Simon explained why Israelis fell in love with Sharon's Disengagement Plan and subsequently the Kadima party which promises more withdrawals. Filled with both admiration and concern for the religious-Zionist public, Ben Simon urged them to wake up and recognize that though they speak about great ideals, no one is listening.
Ben Simon's eight-minute address appears translated into English below. Following the speech transcript, Jewish outreach activist Yisrael Ze'ira responds and spells out his plan of where religious-Zionism goes from here.
Daniel Ben Simon, Jerusalem Conference, March 20, 2006:
"I was invited to speak here, so I ask that my words be openly received. On the way here, someone handed me a Pollard sticker, and I read through your B’sheva newspaper and slowly I began to realize how much you are focused only on yourselves. If someone were to read the B’sheva newspaper with the aim of getting to know what was going on in Israeli society, he would know nothing except for what applied to only 2-4% of the society.
Instead of focusing on Pollard and the B'sheva newspaper and all of this internalizing and the agenda of this conference, if all the members of the national religious public had taken to the streets of Israel during the past two to three years, they would have come to different conclusions. They would have realized that four years of Intifada has led to the complete wearing down and exhaustion of the Israeli public.
It was clear to me that the disengagement would be carried out without any resistance. There was no more strength left to resist it. The Israeli public reached their breaking point. They could no longer go out to cafes, and they could not send their children out unaccompanied. The disengagement was presented to an Israeli public that was exhausted and fatigued.
When I attend funerals for fallen Israeli servicemen, I no longer hear expressions of collective sorrow. I hear anger at the government and at the settlers. If a soldier was killed in Gush Katif or in Judea and Samaria they question, 'What are we doing there?' I was at a funeral of a soldier killed at the entrance to Ariel and in the eulogies, they asked, 'Who was he protecting?' If someone was killed in Gush Katif the questioning was only magnified.
When Sharon came up with his plan, it was received as if it were a lifeboat. In some respects disengagement was a political victory for the Palestinians - they got what they wanted. The Israeli public lost its ability to resist. I accompanied some of the Gush Katif youth who spoke eloquently when they went door to door explaining their situation. True, they were received nicely in the homes. But on the day of reckoning, the residents of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Kiryat Malachi didn't go out to prevent the disengagement. That's why the disengagement went so smoothly, and Ariel Sharon became not only a national, but an international hero.
[Heckling in the hall] I am telling you this and think it is important that you hear this side of the story.
It was so successful that while you are still busy mourning the first disengagement, the next disengagement will become a reality. Because if it went off without a hitch and without the predicted civil strife, why not plan another disengagement? The Israeli public thinks that the disengagement is a wonder drug to cure our problems with the Palestinians. Ariel Sharon found the remedy: Take the settlers out of Gush Katif, and the Arabs will leave us alone. By the way, it is not important that Kassam rockets are falling. That is irrelevant. The formula was a winner.
It was such a winner, that Kadima, a new party with no organized institutions, is being sold as a party for the Israeli masses. I met two Kadima party members in India ten days ago; they were only planning to return to Israel on March 28th, because they were so sure of their victory. They won thanks to the disengagement. It may not be right, but the disengagement was effective, it was a huge success and it put Ariel Sharon into the same arena as Ben Gurion. The reality is that Ariel Sharon is an international hero because of the disengagement.
During the week of the disengagement, half a million Israelis traveled abroad. They didn't even want to be here; they were not interested in your pain. They didn't come to block soldiers with their bodies. While you were struggling with your internal pain, they got their tickets and left. While your Rabbis were preaching that the evacuation would never happen, the Israeli public said 'oh yes it will.' When they returned they were ready to put it behind them, because it went so smoothly, and no one got hurt.
The disconnect between the people of Gush Katif and the greater Israeli public is the culmination of years of 1) your focusing only on yourselves and your Rabbis' halachic rulings and 2) your inability to relate to the Israeli public. In the upcoming elections, the polls indicate thirty something votes for Kadima and twenty something for Labor, which equals half the Knesset, without factoring in Meretz and the Arab parties. Who will prevent the next disengagement?
I think it would be wise for you to stop your self reflection and try to understand how the Israeli public, who were once so committed to the settler community now want to divorce themselves completely from you. They are tired and have decided to shift their funding and interests to other causes, such as education and anti-violence. It's not about the failure of the settlers; it's just that the needs of Israelis have changed. Instead of wallowing in self-pity about how 2,000 people are being crammed into hotel accommodations for 1,000, prepare yourselves for the next disengagement, which I regret to say will spread beyond Gush Katif through Judea and Samaria to Jerusalem…That is today's reality."
[End of Ben Simon speech]
Yisrael Ze'ira, who heads the Torah-Zionist outreach organization Rosh Yehudi, agrees with Ben Simon on both counts: 1) the Israeli public is fatigued and 2) the national-religious camp has lost touch with Israeli society. His organization operates a Jewish Outreach House in the center of Tel Aviv which offers nightly classes for secular Israelis as well as Shabbat meals.
Ze'ira calls for redefining the priorities of the religious-Zionist public and offers a plan of action to which, he says, energy and resources must now be focused. "There is no question that the Torah-Zionist public which established, over the last 30 years, beautiful towns and villages in Yesha [Judea, Samaria, and Gaza], centers of Torah study, and other important projects, indeed grew in internal strength and produced the most wonderful youth in the country. But, as Ben Simon says, to a certain extent, the religious-Zionists were focused on themselves and had minimal contact with secular society.
"The hareidi-religious sector, on the other hand, made every effort to foster contacts with secular Israelis and imbue them with Jewish values. You can see the results in the elections. The hareidi-religious Shas Party received 12 Knesset seats while, at most, only 5 of them are from hareidi-religious voters. The rest are secular-traditional Israelis who identify with and support the hareidi public, because Shas speaks to them and maintains continuous ties with them.
Ze'ira is passionate about his many-faceted plan to help the settlement movement establish "new outposts in the hearts" of secular Israelis. Ze'ira continues: "The first point is that our Rabbis must issue calls to the ideologically-motivated members of our camp to come live in the major cities of Israel and focus on drawing Israelis closer to Torah. Accomplishing this goal demands some logistics and financing, but it is definitely possible.
"The second point is that we need to change our mentality, vis-?-vis how we approach the man on the Israeli street. The religious-Zionist public speaks of great ideals; we speak of the Jewish People as a whole, the Land of Israel, the army, and the Jewish State. But, we never learned to speak in the simple language of the man on the street. Instead of talking about lofty ideals, we need to speak of economic issues and social welfare, perform acts of hesed (loving-kindness), learn Torah with people one-on-one, bring individuals closer to observance of mitzvoth (commandments), and spread plain and simple love.
"This change of mentality is already happening today and intensifying in the wake of the great crisis of the destruction of Gush Katif. There are small groups of religious-Zionist activists who moved into Lod, Beer Sheva, Tel Aviv, and other places, and slowly but surely, they are starting to reconnect to Israeli society at large.
"This initiative is not, G-d forbid, to come at the expense of the settlements. It is forbidden to back down from the settlement enterprise. Rather, the young generation must know that the primary challenge today is to bring the hearts of the entire Israeli public closer to Torah, Jewish values, and acts of loving kindness, instead of just political action on behalf of the Land of Israel. Through this plan, we will reconnect to a massive part of Israeli society which has a basic sympathy for the settlement enterprise and the religious-Zionist sector. This segment of the Israeli population is traditional and wants to see us scoring major achievements and leading the way. They view us as leaders.
"Other branches of the outreach plan include going house to house as was done successfully before the May, 2004 Likud referendum. It cannot be that going knocking on doors will be reserved only for political initiatives at a moment of crisis. Rather, we must establish vibrant and warm ties with the secular population on a continuous basis throughout the year. We must invite them to experience Shabbat and simply talk with them. There are many Israelis who very much want to hear.
"After a secular family is contacted and shows interest, the program continues to one-on-one Torah study, adult education groups, the establishment of "Jewish Outreach Houses" in the large cities, visits to each other's homes, special activities on holidays, and anything that will foster ties between the idealists of Judea and Samaria and secular Israeli society in the big cities.
"The only thing holding us back today from flooding Tel Aviv and all of secular Israeli society with love and Torah, is 1) internalizing the need to spread Torah, a process which is already underway and 2) seeking out volunteer activists and financial support. The hareidi outreach organizations have been around for years and have developed a broad base of support. My organization Rosh Yehudi and other outreach start-ups like it in the religious-Zionist sector simply lack sufficient resources to ignite a large-scale revolution in secular Israeli society. But we are determined as ever, and have made great headway.
"The CEO of a huge hareidi outreach organization told me, 'Since you religious-Zionists serve in the army and dress the same as secular Israelis, there are many audiences that you can reach that won't even open their doors to me.' Our work is cut out for us. The more people that help us, the faster it will happen. It is the call of the hour."
Yisrael Ze'ira can be contacted at: rosh@rosh-yehudi.co.il or cellphone: 052-429-5592.
Click here for the Rosh Yehudi website.
In what was perhaps the most controversial speech at the March, 2006 Jerusalem Conference sponsored by B'sheva Newspaper, left-leaning journalist Daniel Ben Simon explained why Israelis fell in love with Sharon's Disengagement Plan and subsequently the Kadima party which promises more withdrawals. Filled with both admiration and concern for the religious-Zionist public, Ben Simon urged them to wake up and recognize that though they speak about great ideals, no one is listening.
Ben Simon's eight-minute address appears translated into English below. Following the speech transcript, Jewish outreach activist Yisrael Ze'ira responds and spells out his plan of where religious-Zionism goes from here.
Study group for secular Israelis at Ze'ira's Tel Aviv Outreach Center
Daniel Ben Simon, Jerusalem Conference, March 20, 2006:
"I was invited to speak here, so I ask that my words be openly received. On the way here, someone handed me a Pollard sticker, and I read through your B’sheva newspaper and slowly I began to realize how much you are focused only on yourselves. If someone were to read the B’sheva newspaper with the aim of getting to know what was going on in Israeli society, he would know nothing except for what applied to only 2-4% of the society.
Instead of focusing on Pollard and the B'sheva newspaper and all of this internalizing and the agenda of this conference, if all the members of the national religious public had taken to the streets of Israel during the past two to three years, they would have come to different conclusions. They would have realized that four years of Intifada has led to the complete wearing down and exhaustion of the Israeli public.
Haaretz reporter Daniel Ben-Simon addressing the Jerusalem Conference, March, 2006
It was clear to me that the disengagement would be carried out without any resistance. There was no more strength left to resist it. The Israeli public reached their breaking point. They could no longer go out to cafes, and they could not send their children out unaccompanied. The disengagement was presented to an Israeli public that was exhausted and fatigued.
When I attend funerals for fallen Israeli servicemen, I no longer hear expressions of collective sorrow. I hear anger at the government and at the settlers. If a soldier was killed in Gush Katif or in Judea and Samaria they question, 'What are we doing there?' I was at a funeral of a soldier killed at the entrance to Ariel and in the eulogies, they asked, 'Who was he protecting?' If someone was killed in Gush Katif the questioning was only magnified.
When Sharon came up with his plan, it was received as if it were a lifeboat. In some respects disengagement was a political victory for the Palestinians - they got what they wanted. The Israeli public lost its ability to resist. I accompanied some of the Gush Katif youth who spoke eloquently when they went door to door explaining their situation. True, they were received nicely in the homes. But on the day of reckoning, the residents of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Kiryat Malachi didn't go out to prevent the disengagement. That's why the disengagement went so smoothly, and Ariel Sharon became not only a national, but an international hero.
[Heckling in the hall] I am telling you this and think it is important that you hear this side of the story.
It was so successful that while you are still busy mourning the first disengagement, the next disengagement will become a reality. Because if it went off without a hitch and without the predicted civil strife, why not plan another disengagement? The Israeli public thinks that the disengagement is a wonder drug to cure our problems with the Palestinians. Ariel Sharon found the remedy: Take the settlers out of Gush Katif, and the Arabs will leave us alone. By the way, it is not important that Kassam rockets are falling. That is irrelevant. The formula was a winner.
It was such a winner, that Kadima, a new party with no organized institutions, is being sold as a party for the Israeli masses. I met two Kadima party members in India ten days ago; they were only planning to return to Israel on March 28th, because they were so sure of their victory. They won thanks to the disengagement. It may not be right, but the disengagement was effective, it was a huge success and it put Ariel Sharon into the same arena as Ben Gurion. The reality is that Ariel Sharon is an international hero because of the disengagement.
During the week of the disengagement, half a million Israelis traveled abroad. They didn't even want to be here; they were not interested in your pain. They didn't come to block soldiers with their bodies. While you were struggling with your internal pain, they got their tickets and left. While your Rabbis were preaching that the evacuation would never happen, the Israeli public said 'oh yes it will.' When they returned they were ready to put it behind them, because it went so smoothly, and no one got hurt.
The disconnect between the people of Gush Katif and the greater Israeli public is the culmination of years of 1) your focusing only on yourselves and your Rabbis' halachic rulings and 2) your inability to relate to the Israeli public. In the upcoming elections, the polls indicate thirty something votes for Kadima and twenty something for Labor, which equals half the Knesset, without factoring in Meretz and the Arab parties. Who will prevent the next disengagement?
I think it would be wise for you to stop your self reflection and try to understand how the Israeli public, who were once so committed to the settler community now want to divorce themselves completely from you. They are tired and have decided to shift their funding and interests to other causes, such as education and anti-violence. It's not about the failure of the settlers; it's just that the needs of Israelis have changed. Instead of wallowing in self-pity about how 2,000 people are being crammed into hotel accommodations for 1,000, prepare yourselves for the next disengagement, which I regret to say will spread beyond Gush Katif through Judea and Samaria to Jerusalem…That is today's reality."
[End of Ben Simon speech]
Yisrael Ze'ira
Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service at Rosh Yehudi event
Ze'ira calls for redefining the priorities of the religious-Zionist public and offers a plan of action to which, he says, energy and resources must now be focused. "There is no question that the Torah-Zionist public which established, over the last 30 years, beautiful towns and villages in Yesha [Judea, Samaria, and Gaza], centers of Torah study, and other important projects, indeed grew in internal strength and produced the most wonderful youth in the country. But, as Ben Simon says, to a certain extent, the religious-Zionists were focused on themselves and had minimal contact with secular society.
"The hareidi-religious sector, on the other hand, made every effort to foster contacts with secular Israelis and imbue them with Jewish values. You can see the results in the elections. The hareidi-religious Shas Party received 12 Knesset seats while, at most, only 5 of them are from hareidi-religious voters. The rest are secular-traditional Israelis who identify with and support the hareidi public, because Shas speaks to them and maintains continuous ties with them.
Rabbi Moti Elon delivers lecture at Rosh Yehudi Outreach House in Tel Aviv
Ze'ira is passionate about his many-faceted plan to help the settlement movement establish "new outposts in the hearts" of secular Israelis. Ze'ira continues: "The first point is that our Rabbis must issue calls to the ideologically-motivated members of our camp to come live in the major cities of Israel and focus on drawing Israelis closer to Torah. Accomplishing this goal demands some logistics and financing, but it is definitely possible.
"The second point is that we need to change our mentality, vis-?-vis how we approach the man on the Israeli street. The religious-Zionist public speaks of great ideals; we speak of the Jewish People as a whole, the Land of Israel, the army, and the Jewish State. But, we never learned to speak in the simple language of the man on the street. Instead of talking about lofty ideals, we need to speak of economic issues and social welfare, perform acts of hesed (loving-kindness), learn Torah with people one-on-one, bring individuals closer to observance of mitzvoth (commandments), and spread plain and simple love.
An embrace of love at a Rosh Yehudi event in the heart of Tel Aviv
"This change of mentality is already happening today and intensifying in the wake of the great crisis of the destruction of Gush Katif. There are small groups of religious-Zionist activists who moved into Lod, Beer Sheva, Tel Aviv, and other places, and slowly but surely, they are starting to reconnect to Israeli society at large.
"This initiative is not, G-d forbid, to come at the expense of the settlements. It is forbidden to back down from the settlement enterprise. Rather, the young generation must know that the primary challenge today is to bring the hearts of the entire Israeli public closer to Torah, Jewish values, and acts of loving kindness, instead of just political action on behalf of the Land of Israel. Through this plan, we will reconnect to a massive part of Israeli society which has a basic sympathy for the settlement enterprise and the religious-Zionist sector. This segment of the Israeli population is traditional and wants to see us scoring major achievements and leading the way. They view us as leaders.
"Other branches of the outreach plan include going house to house as was done successfully before the May, 2004 Likud referendum. It cannot be that going knocking on doors will be reserved only for political initiatives at a moment of crisis. Rather, we must establish vibrant and warm ties with the secular population on a continuous basis throughout the year. We must invite them to experience Shabbat and simply talk with them. There are many Israelis who very much want to hear.
"After a secular family is contacted and shows interest, the program continues to one-on-one Torah study, adult education groups, the establishment of "Jewish Outreach Houses" in the large cities, visits to each other's homes, special activities on holidays, and anything that will foster ties between the idealists of Judea and Samaria and secular Israeli society in the big cities.
"The only thing holding us back today from flooding Tel Aviv and all of secular Israeli society with love and Torah, is 1) internalizing the need to spread Torah, a process which is already underway and 2) seeking out volunteer activists and financial support. The hareidi outreach organizations have been around for years and have developed a broad base of support. My organization Rosh Yehudi and other outreach start-ups like it in the religious-Zionist sector simply lack sufficient resources to ignite a large-scale revolution in secular Israeli society. But we are determined as ever, and have made great headway.
"The CEO of a huge hareidi outreach organization told me, 'Since you religious-Zionists serve in the army and dress the same as secular Israelis, there are many audiences that you can reach that won't even open their doors to me.' Our work is cut out for us. The more people that help us, the faster it will happen. It is the call of the hour."
Yisrael Ze'ira can be contacted at: rosh@rosh-yehudi.co.il or cellphone: 052-429-5592.
Click here for the Rosh Yehudi website.