Washington — Jews are not single-issue voters; and Jewish organizations, with a few exceptions, are distinguished by their interest and involvement in the full range of issues facing American society.
But you’d never know it these days as the community responds to what is universally seen as a dire emergency facing Israel. That narrowing focus may be temporary, but it is already affecting Jewish domestic interests in Washington, state capitals and city halls across the country.
The tough challenge facing community leaders in the days ahead is finding ways to balance domestic and Middle East priorities, despite Israel’s pressing needs.
Finding that balance will be even more difficult because every group wants to get in on the pro-Israel action — in part out of genuine desire to help, but also because, institutionally speaking, it’s the smart thing to do.
The new and overwhelming emphasis on Israel is affecting Jewish communal interests in several ways:
• Time, energy and money. Jewish organizations have only so much of these political raw materials. In the past year, the resources of most groups, even those with a strongly domestic focus, have been poured into the pro-Israel cause.
“We still work on these domestic issues, but there’s absolutely no question it’s harder to find the time for them,” said an official with a major multi-issue Jewish group here. “Israel should be a higher priority right now, but it’s frustrating knowing there’s much more we should be doing on the domestic issues that our community really cares about.”
Lobbyists who usually focus on issues like funding for Jewish social and health services, or immigration and refugee policy, are instead organizing pro-Israel events and pushing Middle East legislation, much of it purely symbolic.
Not going away
Community agencies are spending much more time countering Arab propaganda in their own cities and towns, dealing with skewed coverage in local newspapers and responding to anti-Israel outbursts. That means significantly less time spent on close-to-home issues.
But those domestic issues aren’t going away. Other groups are working with undiminished energy, many advocating positions most Jews oppose, or vying for slices of a shrinking government funding pie that also nourishes countless Jewish agencies.
There may also be a philanthropic aspect to the shift in focus. There are reports that Jewish donors are giving more of their money directly to the pro-Israel effort and to Israel relief funds. If that trend continues, the multi-issue groups that try to balance pro-Israel and domestic activism could find themselves strapped for cash.
• Politics. When political observers want to cite examples of the Jewish community’s disproportionate political clout, they point to the single-issue groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), with their pinpoint focus and straight-ahead style.
But the Jewish community’s political presence is also linked to its breadth of activism. Individual Jews and Jewish groups are involved in countless areas of public debate, which contributes to relationships and coalitions that form a vital pillar of Jewish political strength.
If today’s narrowing of focus continues, it could ultimately isolate the Jewish community and undercut the coalition-building process — the heart and soul of domestic Jewish activism, but also something that has benefited Israel over the years.
The problem is compounded by the intense passions swirling around the Middle East debate today. Many of the Jewish community’s traditional domestic coalition partners are liberal groups that have been cool to Israel or even hostile as it fights Palestinian terrorism.
There is a new awkwardness in sitting down with Israel’s critics, and an understandable anger about old friends who have shown a shocking tolerance for Palestinian terrorists and little sympathy for their victims.
• Allies. That gap may be widened further by Israel’s new best friends. More and more, Israel’s political allies come from the religious right, in many cases the most extreme elements of that sector.
The support is welcome because it offsets the unbalanced criticism of Israel that still emanates from “mainstream” Protestant denominations and liberal human rights groups.
But when Jewish groups court support from the religious right, they risk creating the impression they are abandoning their cherished domestic principles — such as church-state separation — to win points for Israel.
They also risk losing support from ordinary Jews who, surveys show, still regard the religious right as a serious threat to their personal and religious liberties.
Supporting Israel during her time of trial is important for all Jewish groups. But so is maintaining the strong domestic focus that has traditionally served the community well — and contributed to its overall strength in a way that benefits Israel, as well.
Former Madisonian James Besser has been Washington correspondent for the New York Jewish Week, the Baltimore Jewish Times and other leading Anglo-Jewish newspapers for 15 years. He is also author of the humor book “Do They Keep Kosher on Mars?”
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