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The Jerusalem Post quoted B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin in an article about how the new, likely right-wing Israeli government will affect relations with American Jews moving forward.
Forty-five days after the elections in Israel, prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is finalizing the agreements with his future coalition partners: Shas, UTJ, the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit and Noam.
US Jewish organizations are closely following the formation of the right-wing government, wondering how the future coalition will act on issues that world Jewry cares deeply about, from the Law of Return and the grandfather clause, to Kotel arrangements, to other civil issues, as some of the future coalition partners have reportedly raised demands to halt electricity generation across Israel on Shabbat and expand the number of separate beaches, while Netanyahu has promised, in media interviews and in Knesset speeches, that there will not be a halachic state, and the incoming government will lead “in the way of the national Right and liberal Right.”
Many are waiting for the formation of the government
So far, most organizations have released polite statements on Israel’s high voting turnout and congratulated the presumptive prime minister, but many of them are waiting for the formation of the government before making any statements on policy matters.
“Until there’s a government in place, until we know which individuals will be in which ministries, until that government starts to introduce and debate and implement policies, I believe it’s premature to have a public discussion in the news media about issues that may or may not be relevant,” said William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “We are certainly expressing ourselves in private to key government officials and to the incoming government. But at this point, much of the discussion is based on speculation, and I’m very content to work with this new government as we worked with previous governments and to engage with them in productive dialogue for the furtherance of the US-Israel relations and the relations between Israel and American Jewry.
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Similarly, B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel Mariaschin said that the organization had worked for the past nearly 75 years with a host of Israeli governments, “focusing on issues where we feel we can make the most impact.”
“The continuing threats posed to Israel by Iran, anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, most recently including the one-sided ‘commission of Inquiry,’ and the rise of terrorist attacks across Israel are matters that cross political lines. As advocates for a strong and viable Israel, we’ll continue to work with our interlocutors on advancing that agenda,” he said.
“Given the chaos and uncertainty that wracks the region, we will work to support all efforts to widen the circle of those countries that see Israel for the vibrant, innovative democracy that it is,” said Mariaschin.
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