The land of Israel has not known peace for generations, but Jeremy Ben-Ami remains hopeful for his people’s homeland. After a 25-year career in government, politics and communications, including time as an adviser to President Clinton, Ben-Ami, 49, founded J Street, an advocacy group for “pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans.” He currently serves as president of the three-year-old organization. On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Ben-Ami is scheduled to speak at D.C.’s Politics and Prose bookstore about his newly published book: “A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation.” Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I am Jewish, and a member of a Reform synagogue. I appreciate most about Judaism the code of morals and ethics that really were pioneered by the Jewish faith. They rest the notions of right and wrong in how we act toward each other here on Earth. Who we are is determined primarily by how we act toward others, and by acting in ways we’d want to be treated ourselves. That idea is so fundamental to the faith.
Because of that, we as Jewish people have an obligation to remember how we’ve been treated when we were the minorities and persecuted in others’ homelands. We have a very real obligation in our own homeland to consider how we treat those among us.
How do your Jewish values support and promote a two-state solution, when many would claim Judaism supports exactly the opposite?
The last time I checked, Jewish values were not defined by lines on a map. We get into dangerous territory, and we make the conflict between these two peoples that much harder to resolve, when we see those borders as defined by God. This is a real-world territorial dispute between two peoples who believe this land is their home.
In the recognition that just as I don’t want to be kicked off of land, and just as I don’t want to be treated as a second-class citizen, so too I shouldn’t try to kick people out and treat them as second-class citizens. If we remember the humanity of the other side, we’ll come much more quickly to a solution that reflects justice and fairness and an appreciation of each other’s humanity.
You spent your childhood surrounded by adults quite influential to the creation of the Israeli state. Was there anyone in that mix who especially influenced your faith, or your beliefs today?
Very much my father did. Every Friday night we’d read together from the Pirkei Avot — which translates roughly as the ethics or sayings of the fathers. In that book is an amazing legacy of wisdom and teaching from the great rabbis — it’s the fundamental code of ethics of the Jewish people. That was hugely influential, and my father really drove it home as a guide for whatever we would do in life.
My father’s politics couldn’t be more different than mine. He was a disciple of a right-of-center brand of politicians in Israel. He would’ve strongly disagreed with my political views, but strongly approved of my commitment to, and devotion to what in his mind was an unbelievably important cause — the protection and survival of Israel as an independent and democratic state, and as a Jewish homeland.
Why does J Street oppose alliances with the American religious right? Where has its widespread support for Israel gone wrong?
The question I ask in the book is whether or not this is an alliance that is natural for the majority of the American Jewish community. I believe that on so many basic questions, our views and our values are in opposition to the views and the values held by Christian Zionists. And not only do our values not really align on most issues, but the reasons why we support Israel are fundamentally different from why the Christian Zionists support it, which has to do with end-times theology, and which at the end of the day doesn’t have the best interest of the Jewish people at heart.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
All human beings matter, regardless of their religion, ethnic background or belief system. We share a fundamental common humanity. The overwhelming majority of people want the same thing — the best for their families and kids, a good job, the opportunity to do well for the next generation. Those shared human interests allow me to define win-win resolutions to even the most difficult conflicts.
– Leah Fabel
