Entries in the 'Israel Today' Category

“The Negev Summit: Israel As ‘A Light Unto Nations’” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The Negev Summit: Israel as ‘A Light unto Nations’

The role of Israel as a connecting force in the Middle East is not a coincidence; fostering unity has been the essence of the people of Israel since time immemorial. As part of an historical summit in the Israeli Negev town of Sde Boker, top diplomats from Israel, the US, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco have agreed to meet regularly to establish a permanent forum for the creation of “regional security architecture,” in light of the possible renewal of the Iranian nuclear deal.

The unprecedented forum is one of the results of the “Abraham Accords” which brought normalization of diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. While the new Middle Eastern regional front will also focus on joint efforts in the areas of counterterrorism and defense, education, health, tourism, food, water, and energy, the main concern for Israel and its Arab allies is Tehran’s threat.

The State of Israel must do everything in its power to protect its security, both by forming alliances and by striving for additional political meetings, and there is no doubt that a unified security front in the Middle East can deter Iran. On a more internal level, if the people of Israel demonstrate a unified spiritual front against any threat, this will sooner or later neutralize it. Cohesion is the ultimate power for the redemption of people from troubles and torments. As the sages said, “When Israel are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

And why exactly do we, the people of Israel, have the power to change complex and sticky situations? Because from our beginning about 3,800 years ago, we acquired from our ancestor Abraham in ancient Babylon a method of connection which taught us how to transcend the egoism that ruled us, how to rise above differences, and how to direct ourselves toward the supreme force of nature. Thus, “Israel” (from the Hebrew Yashar-El) means “straight” to “God,” and from its foundations, Israel has always been an ideological group aimed at being a unifying force in the world.

If we as the people of Israel were stronger on the inside in terms of cohesion, we would see significant results in all areas of life without the need for political agreements. However, as long as we are not united on the inner front–strongly connected in one heart–then there will be a vital need for our leaders to sign agreements on the political and security fronts.

Meanwhile, buds of the future role of Israel can also be seen forming on the physical level. Israel is revealing an extraordinary political feature of being at the center of every fateful conflict and threat–from the “Negev Summit” bringing the Middle East countries together over Iran, through the role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine, to the recent visits of the President of Israel to Turkey and the Israeli Army delegation to Morocco.

Israel is gradually gaining ground in taking up its rightful role as a connecting force between peoples. In the future it is also expected that Israel will formalize its physical and spiritual role to become a sort of international parliament and forum through which countries can communicate –a contemporary Sanhedrin reminiscent of the ancient assembly of sages in the Land of Israel. As the Jewish thinker Rav Kook said, “The purpose of Israel is to unite the whole world into one family.”

Countries all over the world will subconsciously continue to feel that Israel should function as the connecting factor between all nations and peoples, regardless of who leads the nation in turn. The world will continue to ask us to act as mediators. World demand will spur us to continue to perform the task entrusted to us since the days of our original agreement with Abraham, to truly become “A Light Unto Nations.”
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“ISIS As A Meter For Jewish Unity” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “ISIS as a Meter for Jewish Unity

Two things characterize the horrific terrorist attacks that occurred in Israeli cities recently: 1. The assailants were Israeli citizens, born and raised in Israel to Bedouin and Israeli Arab families. 2. The terrorists were inspired by ISIS. This wave may subside, but the trend going forward is clear: There will be more and more terrorist attacks within Israel, perpetrated by supporters of ISIS, who come from Israeli citizens of Arab or Muslim descent.

Not all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. Many of them simply want to lead their lives in peace and enjoy the affluence that living in Israel enables them to achieve. Nevertheless, the education they receive, the media outlets that broadcast to the Arab speaking population in Israel, and the ambience they grow up in leave them no choice but to become a society that inherently rejects the presence of Jews in Israel (to which they refer as Palestine), and the existence of the State of Israel altogether.

Over the past several years, the State of Israel has invested many billions of dollars to promote education, housing, job opportunities, and community services in Arab and Bedouin communities in Israel. Regrettably, because of the inherently anti-Israeli disposition, it is not generating any closeness between Arabs and Jews, and it is failing to generate gratitude among Arabs toward the state or foster any sense of commitment toward it.

It is not only the recent terrorist attacks that prove it. After the attacks, spontaneous celebrations broke out in several Arab towns within Israel. As I said, it is the ambience that fosters the next killers.

But the heart of the problem is not the hatred of Israeli Arabs toward Israel. The heart of it lies among us, Jews. Our own division is fueling their hatred and audacity. The more divided we are, the more our haters feel emboldened and their hatred intensifies.

Just as with any form of antisemitism, the fuel behind the entrenchment of ISIS among Israeli Arabs and Bedouins is our own division—first and foremost within the State of Israel, and subsequently, among Jews the world over.

If there is no peace among us, we will have no peace with anyone. ISIS is only a meter that shows us how hateful we are toward each other. Its life’s marrow, its oxygen, its fuel is our hatred for each other.

Inadvertently, the Jewish people determine how the world will treat them. Our foes may be Muslim, or Christian, or proponents of social ideologies such as Nazism or communism, but in the end, the fuel behind them is our own division, our odium for one another.

Hitler derided our division and feared our union. So did Henry Ford, and many other antisemites throughout the ages. Fittingly, our sages have repeatedly lamented our division as the progenitor of our downfalls, and praised our union as our source of success.

No other nation is expected to display internal unity. When other nations are united, they are feared. When we unite, we are loved.

Nothing about us is the same as it is for other nations. Our roots are different: We are descendants of eclectic natives of countless tribes and nations who had joined together under the tenet of loving others as themselves. Accordingly, the world expects us to show that we care for one another regardless of our circumstances. When we succeed, they praise us, and when we fail, they scorn us and say that we are redundant. The more brazen ones among them try to do away with us, and the rest of the world tacitly supports them.

Accordingly, when we try to appease the world by dispensing billions on what we regard as their needs, they consider it bribery and do not hate us one bit less for it. On the contrary, it only increases their contempt toward us. In doing so, they are telling us what they really need from us: to focus on each other.

This is why the heightened level of ISIS activity that we are witnessing in Israel these days means that we have grown more separated than before. Accordingly, the only action that will turn down the hatred is to strengthen our internal unity.

You will find more on this topic in my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.
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“AIPAC’s Super Pac Marks Its Course” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “AIPAC’s Super Pac Marks Its Course

According to a story that went up on JTA, the AIPAC Political Action Committee (PAC) is what we would expect from a lobbying group whose stated mission is “to encourage and persuade the US government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.” However, “The ‘super PAC’ that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee launched in December … is more opaque: It’s called the United Democracy Project. Its brief mission statement does not mention Israel nor the powerhouse pro-Israel lobby behind its founding. Instead, it emphasizes the promotion of democracy.” When AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann had to explain why the super PAC does not state that it supports Israel, he avoided the question and “did not directly answer.”

The omission of Israel from the new PAC’s mission statement highlights the course that American Jewry has been on for years: away from the State of Israel. Other than orthodox organizations, there is no connection between American Jewry and the State of Israel, and the new PAC simply spells it out.

It is not because of the policy of this or that Israeli government; it is much deeper than that. American Jewry is divesting from Israel as part of a process of divesting from Judaism altogether. Some people may resent the uncouth statement, but I always choose truth over manners.

I have no doubt that politicians will continue to make pilgrimages to AIPAC conventions and say all the right words, but the rift will continue to widen. Eventually, no one will be able to deny it.

If Israel had any inner strength, it would tell AIPAC, and all the other organizations that pretend to support it, that since they are not true to their words, they will have no prerogatives in Israel. They may come and visit like any other tourist, but nothing more than that.

The problem is that Israel will never do that because it is powerless. Our only source of strength is our unity. Since we have none of it, we have no strength at all. We grovel before anyone who smiles at us, and kowtow to bureaucrats and peddlers who promise us the world, but never deliver. We are so insecure because of our division that we cannot see that the State of Israel no longer needs outside help. We have developed to the point where the country is independent with or without external funds. Regrettably, we will not see it as long as we are weak within—divided to the core.

AIPAC’s New PAC is an opportunity for us to wake up, grow up, and realize that we are on our own. We have no one but each other. It is time for Israel to become the nation it is meant to be.

We can stand up to the bigotry and hatred of the United Nations only if we stand as a united nation. We ourselves are a miniature United Nations. Our ancestors did not come from one place or one tribe; they came from all over the Fertile Crescent and formed a nation through their sole desire to unite above their differences. We were a startup nation from the get go.

Our “algorithm” is unique: Stay different, yet stay together. When we abide by it, we are the strongest in the world and the world admires us. When we abandon it, we are the world’s laughing stock.

For Jews, education for unity is the single most important goal. “Love your neighbor as yourself” was our first “export,” and the most valuable ever. Regrettably, we have stopped producing it, so the world thinks it is a hoax. After all, who would buy a product denounced by its own manufacturer?

If we return to our roots, we will not need any lobbyists pretending to support us. Our unity will be our best promotion and the only one we will ever need.
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“Are The Arab Nations And Israel Going To Ever Have Peace?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Are the Arab nations and Israel going to ever have peace?

An editorial published by the Kuwaiti daily Arab Times called for the Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel. Arab Times Editor-in-Chief Ahmed al-Jarallah urged that “All the Gulf states should normalize relations with Israel due to the fact that peace with this most advanced country is the right thing to do” and also condemned the Gulf states’ support for Palestine, mentioning that Palestinians’ negative attitude to the Gulf states in return is an “insult.”

In general, normalization between Israel and Arab countries is a positive phenomenon, but it depends on our attitude toward reality, humanity and our cousins. In relation to reality, we need to consider how we bring about peace and harmony in the world. In relation to humanity, we need to seek how to bring about education that can guide humanity on how to positively connect above its differences and divisions, and by doing so, realize a whole new life of goodness and happiness. And our attitude toward our Arab cousins should be that we wish to bring them closer to us than even the rest of humanity.

The Arab world will understand that it is beneficial to make peace with Israel when we, the Jews, will soften our hearts and positively connect to each other. By making peace among ourselves, then to the same extent and even more so, we will see how peace emerges between us and the Arabs, the Palestinians and everyone else. By implementing positive connections among each other, the world would also receive the drive to do so.

As a principle, if there is Jewish unity, then unity and its myriad positive effects would ripple throughout the world. Likewise, if division and hatred reign supreme among Jews, then so too such negative qualities expand throughout the world.

We would thus be wise to imagine that the relations we implement among each other—even just in Israel, among everyone living within its borders—influences the whole of reality, all of the nations, and literally every person. I understand that it is hard to grasp, depict, and agree with such a concept, but it is nevertheless the truth.

Based on the video “Arab Times Editor Calls for Normalization between Israel and the Gulf States – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“Normalization With Gulf States Will Not Bring Normalization With The World” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Normalization with Gulf States Will Not Bring Normalization with the World

Recently, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times, wrote an op-ed that urged Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel, and criticized the Palestinians. Al-Jarallah stated that Gulf states should not support the Palestinians financially or mediate between them and Israel “whenever one of them throws a missile at Israel.” If they attack Israel, he suggested, “let them rebuild what they destroy by their own acts.” In conclusion, Al-Jarallah stated, “All the Gulf states should normalize relations with Israel due to the fact that peace with this most advanced country is the right thing to do.” As for the Palestinians, he vented, “Let the foolish fend for themselves.”

Naturally, the Israeli media quoted the op-ed extensively. Finally, someone in the Arab world has listened to reason, looked at the facts, and realized that the Palestinians are the aggressors and Israel is acting only in self-defense. I, too, was happy to hear about Al-Jarallah’s words, but I think that if Israel did what it is supposed to do, it would have no enemies at all, not even the Palestinians. After all, we are the people who conceived the motto “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and we are the ones expected to realize it.

An alliance with Israel may be great for the Gulf states, and I am certainly happy when any Arab country wants to make peace with us rather than fight against us. However, for Israel, this is far from enough. No peace that we will make will hold until we make peace with one another. Look, for example, at the peace we have with Egypt and with Jordan. There may be absence of active fighting between us, but there is a lot of hostility toward Israel, especially among the citizens of the two nations. Therefore, in the event of a war, Israel cannot trust these countries not to join its enemies.

We may not realize it, but Israel, the startup nation, was initially a startup society. Our “experiment” was unprecedented, and has never been attempted since. The idea was that people who came from foreign, often hostile nations, could form a nation by extolling the idea of unity itself. If successful, the “formula” would be a role model for humanity.

For centuries, we teetered between success and failure, but in the end, we failed the world: We fell into such diabolic hatred of each other that the world has never since tried to establish a nation based on mutual responsibility and loving others as yourself.

Nevertheless, the world did not forget our obligation. Not only our own scriptures remind us of our mission, but antisemites and historians also recognize it.

Among those antisemites is the most notorious Jew-hater in US history: Henry Ford, founder of the automobile company. In his antisemitic composition, The International Jew – the World’s Foremost Problem, Ford details his grievances against the Jews. Yet, here and there, he throws some very thought-provoking statements: “It may be that when Israel is brought to see that her mission in the world is not to be achieved by means of the Golden Calf,” he writes, “her very cosmopolitanism with regard to the world and her inescapable nationalistic integrity with regard to herself will together prove a great and serviceable factor in bringing about human unity.” Ford also complained that “the total Jewish tendency at the present time is doing much to prevent” Jewish unity.

Regarding being a startup society, Ford advises contemporary sociologists to study the ancient Israeli society. In his words, “Modern reformers, who are constructing model social systems on paper, would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

Similar to Ford, acclaimed historian Paul Johnson wrote in his comprehensive composition A History of the Jews, “At a very early stage in their collective existence [Jews] believed they had detected a divine scheme for the human race, of which their own society was to be a pilot.”

To this day, the world regards us as indebted. It cannot forge the kind of unity that it needs today—among nations and faiths—and it does not see the example it needs to receive from us. This is why the Palestinians can feel confident that the world will side with them. It blames us for every conflict on the planet, not only with the Palestinians, but also among themselves. And until we make peace with one another and become the pilot society, the social model that the world expects to see, we will remain the world’s pariahs.
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“Will Israel Let Iran Go Nuclear?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Will Israel let Iran go nuclear?

Recently, Israel has been discussing an attack on Iran, and the Iranians are not holding their tongues either. They published a map with targets in Israel, stating that they can hit any place in Israel, and that all it takes is for Israel to do one mistake in order for Iran to finish Israel off.

In terms of whether or not Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, I think that it is just talk. The Iranians—a civilization dating back to ancient times—are no fools.

So what if Iran has a nuclear bomb? Americans and Russians hate each other more than Israel and Iran, and they continue their existence with their nuclear bombs.

I am not afraid of Iran having a nuclear bomb. If Israel truly wishes to put an end to the Iranian threat and enjoy peace as any other country does, it is up to the people of Israel to establish peace with the upper force.

The upper force is a force of love and bestowal. When we meet the conditions to let the upper force envelop our planet with love and connection, then we will see how the Iranian threat, as well as several other negative processes taking place against Israel, will simply fade away.

Unfortunately, we Jews are not letting it happen, which is why the world increasingly turns against us. The law of nature is to be in wholeness, perfection and peace with everyone, to love all people in the world, and this process starts with us Jews first implementing such an attitude among each other. Until we undergo a shift in a direction of positively connecting to each other in order to be a conduit for connection to spread worldwide, we will continue bearing witness to increasing pressure upon Israel and the Jewish people.

Based on the video “How Should Israel Respond to the Iranian Nuclear Threat?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“Why Israel Has Become Corrupt” (Linkedin)


My new article on Linkedin “Why Israel Has Become Corrupt

Every year, Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, publishes its Corruption Perceptions Index. In 1996, when Israel was first added to the index, we came in at no. 14. In the 2021 index, we came in at no. 36. At the moment, I cannot see what will reverse the dismal trend unless some blow lands on us and straightens us up, if it does not destroy us.

When you read the lofty words in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the chasm between them and reality is staggering. The assertions that the State of Israel “will be founded on the basis of freedom, justice, and peace,” that there will be “complete social and political equality for all its citizens,” and “freedom of religion, conscience, tongue, education, and culture,” stand in stark contrast to the grim reality.

I come from the former Soviet Union, where the promises after the Bolshevik Revolution were even more ambitious, and the subsequent fall into corruption even deeper, so I have no expectations from declarations. Nevertheless, these words highlight the pretense in the leaders’ words, who really aim for nothing but their own renown and power.

We think that the founders of the country were idealistic and pure, but in reality, the only thing that has changed is that their expectations were a little more modest than today’s leaders. Since then, everyone’s egos have grown, and the self-centered aspirations of the leaders have grown proportionally. Today, no one takes anyone into account, and everyone is willing to do whatever it takes just to be at the top.

There is no boundary to where human egoism can grow or what it can do, none whatsoever. Today, people who should be behind bars are running the country. The concept of “concern for the citizens” no longer exists in anyone’s lexicon, not to mention their minds.

Until a blow by some force majeure forces us to reflect on the country that we want to live in, nothing will get better. I only hope that it happens before we lose the country altogether.

Having said all that, there is another way. It takes courage, persistence, and the conviction that the current path leads nowhere. But most of all, it requires solidarity and participation of many people.

That path is the path of education. We can choose to teach ourselves to live by the values that we believe are right, but to do that, we must help each other maintain our resolve that living in a just and equal society means first of all that we have a society to speak of. Living in a society means that we accept that we are dependent on each other, that we can and must rely on each other, and that we see to the well-being of all the parts in our society, or we are not really a society.

Next, we need to realize that maintaining mutual responsibility only on the physical level will not hold. We need to “translate” it into emotional commitment, which implies developing concern, care, and eventually love for one another.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is not an empty slogan that our ancestors concocted for political purposes; it is a tenet we must eventually live out among us. Once we achieve it, there will be no concerns of corruption or mistreatment. Just as these vices do not exist in a loving family, they will not exist in a loving society.

We will need to be brave. We will need to paddle upstream because the ego does not like sharing or caring, but if we want a future for the State of Israel, we simply have no choice. Solidarity, mutual responsibility, and mutual concern are not slogans; they are our weapon against the dissolution of the country.
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“Inflation – A Testimony To Our Disunity” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Inflation – a Testimony to Our Disunity

The rising prices in Israel mean more than a growing economic burden on lower income groups. In 2011, when the price of cottage cheese became unreasonable and housing prices skyrocketed, people took to the streets in droves demanding social justice. Now, while a boycott has been declared online against some of the major food manufacturers in Israel, there is no open outrage, no demonstrations or protests, no signs demanding social justice, and no fiery speeches about accountability. In fact, the public seems so indifferent that even the government is initiating price hikes.

But the public is not careless; it is simply jaded, disillusioned, and above all, divided to the point of paralysis. The government and corporations, for their part, merrily exploit it.

It is not as if there is nothing we can do. After all, we, the public, are the ones who pay. But if we do not cooperate, we cannot call the shots. When consumers are divided, they are like a herd of cattle being led by those who own it. If we could work together, we could cut the prices of countless products in half or even less.

So why can’t we cooperate? We cannot cooperate because we do not want to have anything to do with one another. We do not want connections and we do not want commitments.

Precisely because of it, the price hikes are an opportunity for us to recognize our real problem, which is our division, and solve it once and for all. By raising prices to levels that make it difficult for many of us to buy even the most basic staples, corporations are inadvertently forcing us to unite. In that sense, these profiteers are doing society a great service by making us look to each other for support.

Now we need to see what we can achieve with our solidarity. Solidarity is not a goal in itself. It is a foundation that enables us to create a society that not only functions justly, but maintains that just mindset through constant work on solidarity and unity.

Once we have achieved a certain level of solidarity, we are ready to move on to the next level. The ego is not passive. It is constantly growing, and today’s solidarity will not hold tomorrow. Therefore, once we have achieved it, we must strive to increase the affinity between us and build our solidarity on empathy and kinship.

As we climb the levels of closeness, the levels below become a given. For example, solidarity is a given among people who care for one another. Therefore, if we achieve affection, we have achieved solidarity.

In the current state of the Israeli society, we are so divided that we cannot speak of any positive feelings. However, if we rally around a common problem, and unjust price hikes are certainly a common problem, we can advance from there to deeper levels of connectedness. As we deepen the bonds between us, we will naturally be fair toward each other and we will not need to worry about price hikes or other forms of exploitation.
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“World’s Misconception About Jews, And The Jews’ Misconception About Antisemitism” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “World’s Misconception about Jews, and the Jews’ Misconception about Antisemitism

Not long ago, The Jerusalem Post published an op-ed by Conrad Myrland, CEO of a pro-Israel group in Norway. In the column, Myrland referenced a survey by the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority, which stated that “32% of Norwegians think it is correct or somewhat correct that Israel treats the Palestinians as badly as the Jews were treated during World War II.” To Israelis, this sounds horrific. We, who live here, know how far this view is from the truth. But to many people around the world, not only to Norwegians, it seems perfectly reasonable. I cannot blame them for thinking this. Antisemitism will not pass until we make it pass by carrying out our obligation to bring unity and brotherhood to the world.

Norwegians, like many others around the world, cannot sense, much less sympathize with what the Nazis did to the Jews. Being antisemitic, they exploit every opportunity to slander Israel.

We need to understand that antisemitism is far from over. The misconceptions instilled in Norway’s youth today will create tomorrow’s Nazis, at least in terms of how they will treat Jews.

The struggle against antisemitism does not end. It needs to be tackled every single generation.

However, it is important to realize that tackling antisemitism means far more than forbidding antisemitic displays. Censorship is like aspirin to cancer; it may relieve the pain for a while but it will not cure it. Focusing the struggle only on curbing antisemitic displays is a strategic mistake and a lost cause regardless of the budgets we will pour into it.

The only way that we can mitigate, and even dissolve antisemitism is if we begin to take our obligation to the world seriously. We need to realize that the only reason we exist is to be a model society.

We were created as a nation that is held by unity, and whose nationhood depends on the level of its unity. All other nations have natural affiliation among their members, but the builders of our nation came from different tribes at different times, and the only thing that held them together was the idea that unity and love of others should transcend all divisions and hatred, even among rival nations. This is why we were tasked with being a model nation, to show humanity how to create unity even in the absence of natural, biological affinity.

Accordingly, when we mistreat each other, the world blames us of mistreating others not because we treat others the way the Nazis treated us, but because we are denying it the example we owe it. It may be counterintuitive but when we are kind to one another, the world is kind to us; and when we are cruel to one another, the world is cruel to us.

The numbers speak for themselves: If you look at condemnations that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has issued, it is apparent that the world’s most tyrannical regimes get away with very little criticism, while Israel is constantly reproved. Between 2015-2021, for example, the UNGA issued 121 critical resolutions against Israel compared to 45 such resolutions against all other countries combined. Clearly, Norwegians are not alone in their critical stance on Israel. The world agrees with them.

If we are serious about “combatting” antisemitism, we have to combat the division within us. Unless we begin to strive to unite above the hatred and contempt we feel for one another, no efforts to lessen the world’s hatred toward us will succeed. Israel’s future depends not on its policy toward other nations or its efforts to explain its position to the world. It depends only on how Israelis treat each other, because when we deride each other, the world disdains us. When we support each other, the world approves of us.
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“Are American Jews And Israeli Jews Enemies?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Are American Jews and Israeli Jews enemies?

Today, most American Jews wish to disassociate themselves with the State of Israel. If tomorrow, the State of Israel would cease to exist, most American Jews would regret it for no more than a few minutes, if that. They wish to associate themselves more with America than with the State of Israel or the nation of Israel.

By doing so, they feel more aligned with American society; and on the contrary, by thinking, helping and caring about Israel, they draw hostility onto themselves from American society.

Only through uniting above divisions do we have the ability to give the people of Israel strength, i.e. connection between us and with the great force of nature that ties and holds us together, thanks to which we exist.

Back in the days of Abraham, some 3,800 years ago, the nation of Israel at its foundation was a gathering of 70 nations of the world. Abraham led them out of Babylon and brought them to the Land of Canaan. Since then, we have the name “Israel,” from the words “Yashar Kel” (“straight to God”), i.e. those who aim themselves straight at the upper force of love, bestowal and connection.

By uniting toward a common goal, united “as one man with one heart,” above the divisive egoistic drives, Israel becomes seen as a friend—from the love of Israel and the love of your fellow man, we come to collective love. This will protect us because we then connect to the single acting force in nature.

Based on the video “Why Do American Jews Separate Their Identity from Israel?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.