An evening with Einat
Dr Einat Wilf, former Labour MK and Foreign Policy advisor to Shimon Peres, has addressed a packed-out gathering at Sydney’s Central Synagogue.
Robert Goot, Jeremy Jones, Dr Einat Wilf and Dr Colin Rubenstein
She spoke on the international campaign of delegitimization of Israel, what the international Jewish community can do combat mistruths about the conflict and the widespread vitriol and hatred that are often seen in debates about Israel.
“The establishment of a Jewish state merely redirected an ancient hatred, rather than making it go away… There are things that Israel can do better and policies that could be wiser and smarter, but over the years I’ve learnt its more about what Israel is rather than what Israel does.”
Dr Wilf stressed that unreasoned debates were rampant and that rejection of Zionism in many intellectual circles is an entry point for people before they can be accepted. Due to her identification as a Zionist she began to feel she was rejected by European socialists, amongst others, with whom she shares many similar, liberal views.
She said a biased view of Israel can be recognised by the use of key buzzwords, such as “apartheid,” “genocide” and “baby-killers.”
“All around the world, people have absorbed those few words… We have to make sure that every lie is dismantled because if you leave it, it stays, it sticks… we need to expose what the other side is trying to do.”
“If you create an intellectual environment by which the world considers Israel and Zionism the greatest evil… this creates an intellectual atmosphere where people who know very little but consider themselves people of goodwill believe it is incumbent upon them to make sure this evil no longer exists.”
Dr Wilf spoke on the need of the global community to combat delegitimization and the spread of falsehoods, stressing that the fight was not just in Israel.
“It will have to be a global mobilisation effort,” she said.
Dr Wilf is a senior fellow with the Jewish People Policy Institute and Adjunct Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. She was a member of the 18th Knesset for the Labor and Independence parties and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
Born and raised in Israel, Dr Wilf has written three books on Israeli society, including “It’s Not the Electoral System, Stupid’ and served as an Intelligence Officer in the IDF.
Dr Wilf travelled to Australia and New Zealand as a guest of AIJAC. The event at Central Synagogue was jointly hosted by AIJAC, the ECAJ and Central Synagogue.
Dr Wilf’s talk illustrated why Israel’s peace efforts are futile.
She appropriately pointed to the leftist/islamofascits mantra of “apartheid”, “colonial”, “baby-killers” and stated that these must be countered on every occasion. She rightly said that the time for diplomacy was over and action had to be taken.
But how can she propose action when she bewails not returning Judea and Samaria to Jordan? You cannot act if you are at the mercy of a potential hostile regime. You cannot act if you walk on egg-shells, lest you offend a non-native regime that has to appease its hostile radicalised indigenous majority?
Dr Wilf’s problem is that while she has woken up to the betrayal of socialism by the current left wing, she is too emotionally tied to her left wing ideals to admit that for Jews it does not work.
As much as I admire left wing ideals, I deplore the Jewish left’s refusal to engage with reality. We must assert our rights – yes, surprising as it may be, Jews have rights, like everybody else – we must abandon trying to please and placate others and we must deal with what is rather than what we would like it to be.
Dr Wilf had not yet fully made the transformation from internationalist idealist to Jewish/Israel focused realist.
there are over 1.3 million children in Israel going to school each and every morning without breakfast.Families are living in tents because they cant afford a decent shelter.
Why?
This is a blight on the State; while at the same time the rich are getting richer and richer.
Where is Zionism?.
The Arab Israeli conflict is much less important.