The view from Ha’aretz By Lauren Epstein JFLV Intern
The old saying goes, “two Jews, three opinions.” Certainly, the Jewish people are known for having strong opinions and for not being at all shy about letting their views be known. It makes sense, therefore, that Israelis share this quality as well. During my 10-day trip over the holiday of Passover to Israel, I was privy to the varied thoughts and opinions of Israelis regarding President Barack Obama’s monumental first visit while in office. The consensus was that they were glad he came and content with the messages presented in his speech. Plus, Israelis especially got a kick out of the president speaking in Hebrew. While Israelis were generally pleased with the president, they wondered why he chose to come when he did, “wreaking havoc on traffic conditions and Passover preparations and plans,” as one person said. This chaos was endured by Israelis and tourists alike in Jerusalem throughout Obama’s stay, when barriers and heavy security descended on the city. Our cab driver from the airport to Jerusalem was an observant Jew who was very amiable, but he grew increasingly frustrated with the president as a result of the time that the security measures added to our route, because he was anxious to get home in time for Shabbat. This cab driver, in particular, represented the
MARK NEYMAN/GPO/JTA
Editor’s Note: Lauren lived in Israel for three months during high school and recently traveled there again, this time with her family, for Passover.
President Obama places a stone on the headstone of Yitzhak and Leah Rabin during a visit to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, March 22, 2013.
opinion of the more skeptical contingency of Israelis. He was very religious, more right wing in his political views, and not convinced of Obama’s loyalty to Israel. When I asked him about his opinions of the president’s visit he conveyed his disapproval of Obama’s more left wing approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He cited the reasons for his distrust and disapproval, the first being the president’s lack of visitations to Israel during his first term, which he said was filled with visits to various Arab countries. The second reason the cab driver cited was his middle name, constantly referring to the president as Barack Hussein Obama, attributing to the president, in this way, the role of an Arab sympathizer. He felt as though the visit was “good for the president’s publicity” and argued that that in itself was the reason behind the Obama’s visit. He concluded by saying
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that Obama was like any other politician, even comparing him to “Bebe” Netanyahu, in that respect. Once at our hotel, we met up with some fellow Americans for a lovely Shabbat meal. Of course, the topic of Obama’s visit and the resulting lengthy trips from the airport to Jerusalem came up. This group shared a more optimistic opinion. A mix of Democrats and Republicans, this bunch agreed that on the issue of Israel, the party of the president should not matter; rather, what counts is the politician’s dedication to the State of Israel. It seemed to them that Obama was in fact dedicated to the well-being of the State of Israel. Overall, the group was very happy with the messages expressed by Obama in his speech. The group of visiting families then went to the youth hostel where my brother and his classmates were staying, and there heard firsthand accounts of the presidential motorcade driving through Jerusalem and of students’ interactions with Obama through the window of a car. The students told us how excited their Israeli madrichim, or counselors, were for him to come to Israel, expressing a sense of hope in his leadership. The kids told us how much these native Israelis, just out of army duty, admired Obama and his peaceful methods. They expressed their overwhelming desire for peace at any cost and the need for change in the approach taken to reach that difficult goal. They also expressed their tremendous respect for the U.S. president for trying new, progressive methods towards achieving peace in the tumultuous region. Oh, tov lihiyot shuv ba’aretz! – It’s good to be back in the land of lsrael!