A Tension: a State of Jews or a Jewish State?
Published
by
Leah Levane
JVL Introduction
This lecture by Yaacov Yadgar was given at Gresham College on 20th October 2021. In the lecture, Yadgar highlights the tensions and inherent contradictions between what is understood by different people as The State of Jews and a State that is Jewish. He argues that the Zionists always wanted a State of Jews – and a secular one at that – but still based its claim on an interpretation of the bible.
This article was originally published by Gresham College public lecture on Thu 14 Oct 2021. Read the original here.
What Does It Mean for Israel to Be a Jewish State?
What do we mean when we refer to the State of Israel as ‘the Jewish State’? What does it mean for the politics of the state to be identified as ‘Jewish’? And what does it mean for an academic and intellectual field to study Israel as a Jewish state?
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The problem with those who are not Marxists is that they don’t grasp that identity is not and never has been fixed. There have been multiple Jewish identities and Zionism is probably the last such.
As Sivanandan put it. We are what we do. Otherwise we simply get bogged down in the morass of identity politics and navel gazing.
As for what a Jewish State really means. Well that too is not too difficult. It is a state of Jewish racial supremacy and that is how Israeli Jews now see that too. Hence the ‘death to Arabs’ chants which have replaced the old ‘death to the Jews’ slogans.
I am debating on Wednesday 19 January 7 pm with Ronnie Barkan on or around this very question.
Is Israel a Jewish or a White Supremacist State?
Debate between Tony Greenstein and Israeli anti-Zionist Ronnie Barkan
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2022/01/is-israel-jewish-or-white-supremacist.html
It is not a question of skin colour, how easily the words white supremacist state trips off the tongue. Perhaps the state envisaged by Eugene Terreblanche would by definition qualify but did Marcus Garvey want an equivalent? How many times will so-called progressives describe world events (including climate change) as a racial, skin colour problem?
White Supremacists starts the debate on what we should call them, which is critical to challenging the double, treble and quadruple speak they are getting away with at the moment
The Jewish Community that supports JC are currently being thrown out of the Labour Party on charges of anti semitism
I care not a jot what it is, just so long as it knocks them back on their feet and leaves no one in any doubt what they are
I’m very aware that im not qualified to make this judgement
In the closing paragraph I wonder if perhaps the second Jewish should read Isreali?
Is this the paragraph you mean? “In the video (but not in the transcript or the slide presentation) you will find some interesting questions at the end. These include whether non Jewish citizens of the State of Israel can be Jewish in the way that, for example a Jewish citizen of France is French? And, of course, what of the treatment and status of Palestinians?”
If so this is what I meant to say, but do explain your concerns. I think it harks back to whether being Jewish (and possibly not religious) can be a nationality – as in, if Israel is a Jewish State, then could all the people be considered Jewish as I am British (and Jewish). I do not think anyone was advocating this but it is an interesting question to consider .
Digger and I had a further email exchange; in response to my initial reply, he wrote:
Thanks for the answer Leah. My concern was for equivalence, Jewish is not the nationality, I struggle to see your point.
There are laws which specifically deny full citizenship to non Jews. So, no I don’t see how residing in Israel would make them Jewish. Maybe I’m missing something?
In reply:
Thank you for this -I think that is perhaps the point being made by the questioner. If we see Israel as a State of Jews (rather than for Jews) then everyone in the State could be considered Jewish. However, this seems an absurdity since, as you say, Jewish is not the nationality – but in Israel there is no such thing as Israeli nationality, although there is Israeli citizenship, which is denied to many.
You may find this link of interest: Is “Israeli” a Nationality? – The Israel Democracy Institute: https://en.idi.org.il/articles/6516#:~:text=In%20Israel%2C%20however%2C%20citizenship%20and%20nationality%20are%E2%80%94and%20should,citizenship%20of%20all%20Israelis%20is%20listed%20as%20%22Israeli.%22
in terms of explanation of the situation, rather than us, in any way, thinking this is a good thing. Consider what would happen to “the Jewish State” if it were to become a State with equality for all its citizens and no discrimination about who could become citizens, either through privileged access or discriminatory exclusion. The impact that would have on Israel as a Jewish State is what many who support Israel fear (“the demographic threat”) Here is an extract from that link:
“Should the State of Israel recognize “Israeli” as a nationality rather than defining citizens as Jewish, Arab, and Druze? In an article published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, II Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern and Jay Ruderman assert that it is imperative for the State of Israel to continue distinguishing between citizenship and nationality.
For Americans, the definition of national affiliation is straightforward: it goes hand in hand with citizenship. If you are an American citizen, you are also American by nationality. The same applies to the French, Germans, and many others. In Israel, however, citizenship and nationality are—and should be—different.” (my emphasis)
The distrinction between being Jewish and being Israeli in the above exchange between Digger and Leah Levane demonstrates the logical and moral absurdity that results from conflating a race (the Jews), a religion (Judaism) and a state (Israel). These are all false distinctions: the only race we should be interested in is the human race; a religion can be adopted or dropped and therefore is not an immutable fact of identity; and a nation that defines itself by blood is racist and therefore incompatible with democratic values. This is not to deny the importance of tradition, heritage, family, upbringing and religion, only to say that none of these factors justify our making a distinction between persons in law or worth as human beings. The argument that it is right to base an individual’s claim to citizenship and rights on such characteristics is for obvious reasons essential to Zionism and the state of Israel as it is currently comstituted, but anyone who claims to hold humanitarian views should reject it as self-serving, specious and illegitimate. One of the many admirable and courageous things about JVL is that its members, in spite of their ethnicity and heritage, largely reject the claims of Zionism in favour of the humanitarian position.