Hertzberg Cautions Against a Doom and Gloom Scenario on U.s., Israel Relations

Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, cautioned today against the “gloom and doom scenario” of future U.S.-Israeli relations following the failure of President Carter and Premier Menachem Begin to resolve their differences at their talks in Washington that ended yesterday. “At the same time,” he said, “it would be false optimism not to concede that American Jews feel a growing sense of worry and dismay at the current trend of U.S. policy in the Middle East.”

Speaking to 500 delegates at the AJCongress’ national biennial convention here in what was his valedictory address as president of the organization, Hertzberg voiced optimism over the future of American-Israeli relations and the continuity of Jewish identity in the U.S.

“Israel’s security is an essential element of American security,” he said. “President Carter understands that–and so does Prime Minister Begin. Whatever the differences, they are about tactics on how best to achieve Middle East peace while protecting Israel’s security–not over the basic American commitment to a strong and viable Jewish State.”

There is no reason, Hertzberg said, “for any gloom and doom scenario that forecasts a rupture of U.S.-Israel relations. All parties to the Middle East conflict need to get past rhetoric and the battle over “formulations” and return to the negotiating table and the long and hard process of dealing with concrete issues and specific arrangements,” he said.

GROWING SENSE OF WORRY, DISMAY

However, Hertzberg added, “At the same time, it would be false optimism not to concede that American Jews feel a growing sense of worry and dismay at the current trend of U.S. policy in the Middle East as evidenced by the linking of American military aid for Israel with arms sales to Egypt and Saudi Arabia; criticism of Israel’s positions coupled with praise for President Sadat; and the American role in the United Nations resolution calling on international peace forces to replace Israeli troops without a clear mandate to prevent the return of PLO terrorists.”

With respect to the future of American Jewry, Hertzberg said that notwithstanding “interfaith marriages, voluntary “drop-outs” from Jewish life and the lowest birth rate of any ethnic, racial or religious group in the country,” there is “a less publicized but equally significant…growth of Jewish consciousness among large numbers of Jews, many of whom came to Jewish life for “secular” reasons.”

According to Hertzberg, “Today many of them are Jews out of sentiment or stubbornness. Our task, or responsibility, our burden–and our glory–is to help them become Jews out of knowledge, out of pride and out of love for a heritage that is neither strange nor foreign but that is embodied into their consciousness and their daily lives.”