Israel & Foreign Aid

Let me begin by saying that I believe in foreign aid.  I think properly used, foreign aid can be a significant tool in our national security in addition to making the world a generally better place. 

We give a significant amount to Israel each year - $3 Billion.  It is the largest recipient of US government aid.  That equals a little more than 1% of their entire GDP and almost 4% of the government budget.  It essentially goes there with no strings attached.  A group of legislators have proposed that we raise that amount to about $3.7 Billion and Israel is hoping to see it raised to between $4 & $4.5 Billion.

To put those numbers in context.  The population of Israel is roughly the same as either New Jersey or Virginia.  New Jersey is the state with the lowest return on its federal tax dollars in the US and actually ends up with roughly a negative $23 Million each year.  That is, NJ sends $23 million more to the federal government than comes back to the state.  Virgnia is the state with the highest amount of return from the federal government.  It receives about $97 million more than it sends in in federal taxes.  Look at those numbers for a second and realize that the state with the highest return on its federal tax dollars gets back less than 1/3 of what we sent to Israel this year... and there are obviously strings on much or most of that money.  Israel, on the other hand, continues to break international law with the building of settlements.  Additionally, 1 of 3 Israeli families receive some kind of government welfare including large numbers of ultra-orthodox Jews who live on state subsidies for religious study.  Some studies show that 65% of ultra-orthodox men do not work but instead spend their time being paid by the government to study torah and scripture. The ultra-orthodox are also the fastest growing Jewish segment of the Israeli population.

Some economists are arguing that the Israeli economy will collapse under the weight of its welfare system.  It is no wonder that they are hoping for a significant increase in our aid... On top of those who are paid to not work, Israeli citizens receive other benefits that US citizens do not.  All universities are subsidized by the state and students pay only a small percentage of the actual costs.  Health insurance is universal and looks to me roughly like Medicare for All.  One could easily argue that we subsidize all of these benefits.

So what do I think we should do?  I think that aid should be tied to real actions that reflect our values.  Should we dictate to Israel how they should live?  No.  But neither should we subsidize their choices when they conflict with our own.   Here are two examples.  We refuse welfare to criminals in the US... tie our aid to the dismantling of settlements and to better treatment of the Palestinians.  We hold as one of our deepest values separation of church and state... tie some aid to the removal of special perks for ultra-orthodox sects.

Iran deal... what's at stake?

I have to say that I'm more than  little puzzled at the strong reactions against the proposed deal with Iran.  It significantly attenuates Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon.  It opens the doors for inspections wider than they have ever been.  It strengthens the pro-western factions in their government.  It offers relief to the crushing burden of sanctions, borne largely by the least able.It strengthens the strongest enemy of the radical Sunni groups like ISIS. 

What are the arguments for the downsides?  It does allow for an infusion of cash to Iran and will cause a shift in power in the region, but that looks to happen regardless of whether the agreement is embraced by the US.  It has been argued that more sanctions might get us a better deal... but the European community has said that they will not observe sanctions any longer so this will happen regardless of what the US does.   Iran is not trustworthy.  Again, nothing changes there.  At least with the agreement there are inspections.  In addition, it calls for the dismantling of a significant percentage of their centrifuges which would push out the time frame needed to procure enough material to make a bomb from as little as 2 months (currently) to a year or more.  Finally, if Iran broke the agreement, that would catalyze the world community against them. 

Significant leaders in Israel are frightened by the agreement but other significant leaders have spoken in favor.  An important observation here is that Iran, while not being trustworthy has also shown itself to not be crazy.  In spite of rhetoric to the contrary, they have not taken steps that would threaten their future as a nation.  Israel on the other hand is crazy.  They have shown repeatedly that they will do whatever is necessary to defend themselves and that they would not hesitate to use matching force and more.  If Iran was to produce a nuclear weapon and use it against Israel, it is abundantly clear that Israel would respond with their significantly larger nuclear array and Iran would be completely annihilated.  Without the continued focus of the world on Iran's capacity to build nuclear weapons, it is precisely the Israel capacities that push them to develop these weapons.  Many military leaders in Israel believe that this deal does indeed serve to make Israel more secure, not less, and will serve to stop Iran's program to develop these weapons.

So short of diplomacy, what is the option another than another war costing trillions of dollars and 100's of thousands of lives?  We have seen the long term results of wars in the Middle East and they are not positive.  Given the strong points of the deal vs. the single option of war, why would anyone argue against it?

The cynic in me sees only one reason - oil.  If sanctions are lifted and there is no war, Iran will likely flood the world market with oil, driving down the cost - they need the money.  Fracking and enhanced drilling techniques will become too expensive to be practical and profits will drop significantly for the oil companies.  From what I can see, the only ones who benefit from this agreement failing are the oil companies and the end result is once again seeing young men and women dying to preserve the profits of multinationals.

Huckabee is not worthy

Mike Huckabee should be ashamed of himself but instead he is doubling down.

You no doubt heard his condemnation of the Iran deal as the equivalent of marching Israel to the doors of the oven.   Now, he is certainly entitled to his opinion of the deal.  He is even entitled to some degree of hyperbole as a candidate.  He is not entitled to such thoughtlessness if he really wants to be taken seriously as a candidate to be president of the most powerful nation in the world.  He has put himself in the same category as Donald Trump... a buffoon making inflammatory statements just to get attention.  Worse than that, he has denigrated the title "Christian" as he has shown himself to be a liar, willing to say things he knows are not true to further his own ends.  When called on his comments, he reaffirmed them.

Let's think of the implications of his statement...  He has equated our president with Hitler.  He has condemned the many thoughtful people, including the majority of Israeli citizens, who support this diplomatic attempt to solve complex problems in a difficult part of the world as naively working for the destruction of the people of Israel.  He is instead advocating yet another war (beyond negotiation, there is no other option) that likely cannot be won, condemning many families both in Iran AND in the United States to suffer needlessly while at the same time, allowing Iran to move forward with a nuclear weapons program. At the same time he is ignoring the strong safeties built into the deal simply because they do not fit his political ambitions.

Mike Huckabee has removed himself from any serious consideration as a political candidate and has called into question his right to call himself a follower of Jesus.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Gaza, etc.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.   Saturday is the anniversary of Nagasaki.  Every year I grieve on these days.  I know the argument is that these bombs ended the war... and frankly that doesn't matter.  The bombs were still immoral.  I hear the argument that Israel is protecting itself and if large numbers of civilians die, that is just the cost of war. 

I'm reminded of the words of a wise Jewish teacher -  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  There are times when survival is not the moral option.  I dare not impose my religious understandings on folk who do not share them, but I can raise the questions... at what point does the cost of survival cause us to cease to be who we claim we are?  At what point does the oppressed become the oppressor?  When does taking on the characteristics of our attacker destroy our soul?

More than once in the history of the United States we have given up our collective soul for profit, for security, to win.  In those instances we have ceased to be the people we claim to be and have lost our best selves.  We have given away our souls.  Dropping atomic bombs on civilians in Japan twice was one of those times.  I believe the continued occupation and settlements in Palestine may be doing the same to Israel.

not a smart move, Israel...

Israel has announced that it is going ahead with construction of just under 1200 new homes in occupied areas.  Not a smart move, Israel.  Here's why.

1.  The vast majority of the world sees these settlements as violations of international law.  OK, obviously Israel doesn't care, but there just may come a time when they'll want the positive feelings of the rest of the world. 

2.  Every new settlement makes a 2 state solution more difficult and too many more will make a 2 state solution impossible.  Those Israeli settlers aren't going to want to leave their homes should Israel decide to give that land to a Palestinian state (really unlikely) and they certainly aren't going to want to or be welcome as citizens of a Palestinian state.  You can't have a 2nd state that looks like Swiss cheese - filled with little holes of Israeli sovereign land.   Every acre of settlement is an acre of ground that could have been a part of that 2nd state and for the above reasons never can.  Every acre removed from consideration makes the 2nd state less tenable for the Palestinians.

3.  The status quo is not tenable.  Israel is essentially maintaining an apartheid system right now.  There is no good end for that.  It does not promote safety for the Israelis or justice for the Palestinians. 

4.  Moving the Palestinians to Jordan or some other Arab country obviously is not a tenable solution... it hasn't worked yet.

5.  A single state destroys Israel.  If they continue to maintain the current apartheid system, they continue to lose any moral authority and their national soul dies.  If they allow the Palestinians to become full citizens, they maintain moral authority but lose their identity as a Jewish state as very quickly the Jewish citizens would become a minority.   In either case, the ideals and visions that led to the founding of Israel disappear.

I don't see any easy way for Israel to turn back the clock and dismantle settlements already there... but they can stop pushing forward.  If they do not, they make the possibility of peace less and less likely.

It doesn't work

Since 1947 Israel has been killing Arabs as a means of making their people safe. Radical Palestinian groups are still throwing missiles at them.

Since 1947, radical Palestinian groups have been attacking Israel to obtain freedom and redress for the Palestinian people. They are still living behind barbed wire and walls and still do not have a land to call their own with a functional government.

The strategy doesn't work. Neither one. For 60 years both sides have been pursuing strategies that do not bring peace, do not bring prosperity, do not solve the problem.

So what strategies would work? The crazies on either side actually have strategies that would work. There are crazy Zionists who argue that killing all of the Palestinians would solve the problem. And there are lots of crazy Arabs who argue that killing all of the Jews and wiping Israel from the map would solve things. They're both right. Completely annihilating one side or the other would stop the violence. The problem of course is that either "solution" is completely immoral and absolutely unacceptable.

Are there other solutions? I believe so, but nobody seems to have the political will or the courage to make it happen. Perhaps it is as simple as convincing the mothers of Israel and Palestine that they must love their own children more than they hate the other side's. And they must be convinced that keeping their children alive depends upon peace, not more bombs or missiles or bullets.

First and foremost, the Palestinians must have hope for the future. They must see that they will have a place of their own, education, jobs, and self-determination. Only Israel can give that to them. Until they do, the violence will not end and Israel's children will continue to die. And the Israelis must feel secure. They must be able to trust that their very existence is not threatened. They must know that their children will not need to take up arms just to survive. Only the Palestinians can give that.

Both sides must abandon their primary orientation to the other. The Palestinians must stop hating. Yes, Israel has done terrible wrongs to them. The entire world has done terrible wrongs to them going back to the Balfour Declaration. They must stop hating. Hate is not a healthy or a constructive lens through which to see the world and it has not served them as a people. And Israel must give up its fear. Yes, the fear has real reasons behind it. Nobody can read history and not understand the fear of the Israelis. Indeed, it was a healthy orientation that probably enabled the survival of the Jewish people, but it has become dysfunctional. It impedes them from moving forward and building a secure world.

Peace is possible but both will require leaders of vision and strength and both will require the support of the US and the rest of the international community.

theology matters

I've been watching the developments between Israel and the Palestinians with deep pain and grief. While it is clear that Israel certainly has the right to defend itself, it is equally clear that the actions of both sides - Hamas and Israel - have been profoundly immoral and counter-productive to the ends either is supposedly seeking. The violence doesn't work and this situation is a prime example of that fact. It has been going on for decades and nothing is solved nor will it be until someone has the courage to stand and say, "Enough!"

That said, I want to address the issue of theology as we watch this. People often act as if theology is just a mind game that doesn't impact the real world except when talking about radical Islamists. I would say that theology - the way we understand God - is central to the way we behave and is critical in all of our interactions.

Regarding Israel, I have heard many Christians completely support their actions for one of two reasons - either saying that Israel is "The Chosen People" and basically can do whatever they want on "their land." Or... coming from some kind of dispensationalist stand that sees this all as a part of God's plan as revealed in prophecy and that peace in the Middle East is a bad thing.

Both are bad theology and result in the support of policies that are, let me say it flat out, sinful, immoral, and counter to the yearnings of God. Other theologies that we sometimes see at play are a deist view that God is in reality absent so our faith need not inform our actions at all or a theology commonly known as atheism which likewise allows for a variety of other kinds of moral structures for evaluating actions. Some have a theology that sees God as vengeful and concerned primarily about retribution. Finally there is a theology that sees mercy, justice, love, and community as the primary yearnings of God. Each would result in very different ways of evaluating the situation and in very different resulting actions.

For too long the church has neglected its role in teaching good, critical theology to church members, instead allowing them to be spoon fed garbage from popular authors with sensational visions of the future or allowed them to embrace some cultural theology that just reinforces whatever culture they happen to live in.

If the churches did and taught good, critical theology, we'd be standing up shouting for Israel and Hamas to stand down and to seriously work towards a permanent solution to the conflict and we would be using all of the leverage we have to that end.

Prince of Peace

On Christmas what better way to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace than by signing a letter urging the incoming Obama administration to work for a just peace between Israel and Palestine. Consider adding your signature here.

December 1, 2008
The Honorable Barack Obama
President-elect of the United States
Presidential Transition Team
Washington, DC 20270

Dear President-elect Obama,

As Christians of the Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Protestant traditions, we are united by a Biblical call to be peacemakers and a commitment to the two peoples of the Holy Land who yearn for a just peace. As Americans, we urge you, Mr. President, to make achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace an immediate priority during your first year in office.

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has gone on too long. It has caused untold suffering for both sides, created economic hardships, and provided a rallying cry for extremists.

As people of faith and hope, we believe peace is possible. Majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians continue to support a negotiated solution based on two secure and sovereign states as the best way to end this tragic conflict.

In order to achieve a durable peace, your Administration must provide sustained, high-level diplomatic leadership toward the clear goal of a final status agreement. Building on past discussions, we ask you to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make historic compromises necessary for peace.

Your commitment to working for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel can help strengthen U.S. security and improve stability and relationships throughout the Middle East. We believe that Jerusalem – home to two peoples and three religions – has the potential to become a powerful symbol of hope and coexistence for people across the region and the world.

We know the work for a just peace will not be easy. It will require great courage and resolve, but the risk of inaction is even greater. Without active U.S. engagement, political inertia and perpetuation of the unbearable status quo will make achievement of a two-state solution increasingly difficult. Moreover, we are concerned about the negative impact a further delay will have on the Christian community in the Holy Land, whose numbers continue to decline.

We call on all Christians and people of goodwill to join us in praying for the peace of Jerusalem and in supporting vigorous U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure Middle East peace. Mr. President, as you take up the many challenges facing the United States and the global community, we urge you to work for a better future for all the children of Abraham in the land that is holy to us all.

Sincerely,

Rev. Fr. Mark Arey
Ecumenical Officer
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

The Most Rev. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian
Primate, Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America (Eastern)

Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette
Moravian Church in America

Tony Campolo
Eastern University, St. Davids, PA

Sr. J. Lora Dambroski, OSF
President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Marie Dennis
Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Sr. Donna Graham, OSF
President, English Speaking Conference JPIC Council
Franciscan Friars (OFM)

Ken Hackett
President, Catholic Relief Services

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Minister for Mission and Ecumenism, Alliance of Baptists

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Dr. Joel C. Hunter
Senior Pastor, Northland Church
Member, Executive Committee of the
National Association of Evangelicals

Archbishop Cyril Aphrem Karim
Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church
for the Eastern USA

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA

Rev. Michael E. Livingston
Executive Director
International Council of Community Churches
Immediate Past President, National Council of Churches

Reverend John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service

Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee

Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley
General Secretary, The American Baptist Churches

Richard J. Mouw
President, Fuller Theological Seminary

David Neff
Editor in Chief, Christianity Today

Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren

Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer
President, The Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church

Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church, (USA)

Very Rev. Thomas Picton, CSsR
President, Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Dr. Tyrone Pitts
General Secretary
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Bob Roberts, Jr.
Pastor, NorthWood Church, Keller, TX

Leonard Rodgers
Executive Director
Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding

Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba)
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Rolando L. Santiago
Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church

Dr. Chris Seiple
President, Institute for Global Engagement

Robert A. Seiple
Former Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom

Ronald J. Sider
President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Richard Stearns
President, World Vision, United States

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

Constantine M. Triantafilou
Executive Director and CEO
International Orthodox Christian Charities

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Jim Wallis
President, Sojourners

The Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

The Right Rev. John F. White
Ecumenical and Urban Affairs Officer
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Iran

As I listen to the bluster and watch the posturing between Iran and Israel I can't help but think about the elementary school playground. Here are two guys with too much testosterone, each trying to mark out his territory. Both are threatening the other and both are reacting from fear. Either one could become the aggressor if the threat from the other seems imminent. After all, if you're really afraid of what the other can do, a preemptive strike makes sense (just ask W about that). So if you're afraid that Bully A might have a good right hook, sucker punch him before he has a chance and make sure that he can't get up. Of course, if he does get up, there might be serious consequences.

Israel practices air strikes, Iran shoots off missiles. Plans seem to be in place and everyone everywhere is talking about a war sometime around the US election with ether Israel of the US bombing Iran. All of the parties are afraid and fear blocks out rational thinking. The problem is that we aren't talking about children in the schoolyard. We're talking about nations. We have already seen the results of an ill-planned war in the middle east and the results would be disastrous if another is added to the mix. Just as with the current war, more aggression would just add to Iran's influence and power. Leaders who sing "bomb, bomb, Iran" only make things more unstable and more dangerous.

So what are the options. Someone needs to talk. Someone needs to tone down the rhetoric. Someone needs to bring reason to the table and diffuse the testosterone. The US needs to use all of its influence to calm Israel down. The world community needs to work together to stop Iran's nuclear program while at the same time giving them something so they don't feel as if they've "lost."