Arriving in Israel following a historic trip to Jordan last week, a group of American Reforms rabbis voiced optimism about the prospect of an Israeli- Jordanian peace.
“Our mere presence (in Jordan) was a statement,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America. “Our visit would not have been feasible or proper two to three years ago.”
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin met with the group of rabbis here on Sunday.
During his remarks, which included a positive assessment of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Beilin appeared to backtrack from comments he made last week disparaging the contributions made by Diaspora organizations as “charity.”
The Reform group, including 80 American rabbis, was the first official rabbinical delegation ever to visit Jordan, which is technically in a state of war with Israel.
The group had been scheduled to meet last week with Crown Prince Hassan, but the meeting was canceled because of what Jordanian officials called a mix-up in the arrangements between the palace and the Jordanian representatives in Washington.
Hirsch conceded delegates had been disappointed by the cancellation, but said they did not feel slighted.
Hassan did find time last week for a first-ever official interview with a journalist from an Israeli daily paper.
As headlined on the front page of Friday’s Yediot Achronot, Hassan expressed his wish for a “warm peace” with Israel.
During the rabbinical group’s meetings with academicians, economists and other prominent Jordanians, the group managed to convey the message “that many more American Jews support the peace process than criticize or object to it,” said Hirsch.
Noting that while his group “did not do a scientific survey,” Hirsch expressed the view that “in the course of our discussions, people conveyed the impression to us that it’s no longer a question of whether there will be peace between Jordan and Israel, but when.”
The fact that America rabbis “were being protected by members of Jordan’s security forces” during the visit was a powerful and hopeful sign, said Rabbi Daniel Polish, from Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
But the group’s inability to enter Jordan with Israeli-stamped passports and the lack of a direct travel corridor between Eilat and Aqaba on the Israeli- Jordanian border were signs that the transition is still under way, Polish said.
He added that the meetings in Amman were encouraging because they reflected “a desire for the peace process to succeed.”
The Jordanians “understand the country has much to gain from a closer relationship with Israel,” he said.
During his address to the rabbis on Sunday, Beilin warmly thanked the group for its support of the peace process.
He said their efforts in Jordan had acted as a “kind of counterbalance” to the activities of Diaspora groups opposed to the Israeli government’s peace initiatives.
But Beilin nonetheless stressed that the actions of these opposition groups were “totally legitimate.”
The debate between Israeli and American Jews “is something which should be encouraged,” said Beilin, even if “sometimes it’s not very pleasant.”
“You are more than welcome to be involved,” he said.
Beilin’s remarks appeared intended to soften the impression given in a highly publicized speech he made last week to the Women’s International Zionist Organization.
In that speech, Beilin said Israel no longer needs the “charity” of Diaspora fund-raising organizations.
“If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?” Beilin reportedly said last week.
His remarks prompted a harsh attack against him by Rabin, and unleashed a storm of protest from within the Jewish Agency.
In an apparent effort to mend some fences, Beilin told the group of Reform rabbis he is not interested in disparaging the efforts of any organizations.
He said the Israel-Diaspora relationship has to be changed to meet changing needs, and that Jewish organizations must respond by changing their priorities.
Beilin took care to note the role of Diaspora organizations in supporting aliyah, saying that “without the support of the Diaspora,” the recent wave of immigration “would have been very difficult for us to handle.”
At the same time, he emphasized he is “quite worried” about Jewish continuity in the Diaspora and believes that Israel needs to help ensure that continuity, primarily through education in the Diaspora and youth programs in Israel.
“We urge you to be involved” in these questions, said Beilin, “but being involved means a dialogue,” and that will be challenging, given the “revolutionary” transformations in Israel in light of the peace process.
“People are so used to wars and terrorism” defining the dialogue, he said, adding that they will no longer be the only issues on the agenda.
“It was easy for the Diaspora to accept us as a people (with) very deep problems, who fought against the whole world and needed help,” Beilin said.
But now, he said, “We won’t need so much help and we will have a dialogue between equals.”
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