Many years ago, Israeli radio would air “missing relatives” announcements each day after the 1 p.m. newscast. Today, I feel like submitting my own notice, this time, for the missing Jewish organizations abroad.
After watching the hostile, near-violent reception of the Israeli delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest, I ask myself: Where are the well-funded Jewish organizations – the Jewish Agency for Israel, the World Zionist Organization, the European Jewish Congress? Where did they disappear to? Why has the public sphere in Europe been abandoned to anti-Israel forces?
Have our communal leaders fallen in love with the trappings of bureaucracy? Do they no longer have a real support base, or is it just plain cowardice disguised as diplomacy?
Decades ago, the World Union of Jewish Students, under the leadership of a young Yona Yahav – today the mayor of Haifa – mobilized Jewish students around the globe.
With passion and resolve, they dominated the streets and campuses of Europe, unafraid and unapologetic.
It’s time to take responsibility
These students, often with minimal resources, knew how to rally support for Israel and to fight fiercely in the crucial battle for public opinion.
Now, we live in an era of countless organizations, even multiple government offices, locked in turf wars over funding and credit. We have plenty of institutions, but no presence on the street.
It’s time for a reckoning. The Israeli government and global Jewish organizations must realize that their role is not to sip cocktails at glitzy events. Their mission is to sweat, mobilize, and enter the muddy trenches of public debate, shoulder to shoulder against well-organized Palestinian advocacy groups.
Only then can we stop posting figurative “missing” notices and start seeing real demonstrations of support for Israel across Europe.
The writer served in the press office of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization from 1979 to 1988.