Wednesday, March 5, 2014
I am waiting in Ben Gurion airport for the flight from Toronto to arrive and am reflecting on the past few days in Israel. I arrived ahead of the Path of Abraham group so that I could visit my son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. My flight from Toronto began with a security discussion–perhaps more extended than usual after I told the security agent that I was part of a multi-faith group that would visit Israel and Palestinian territories. She called her supervisor who politely questioned me about the mission. Our conversation was in Hebrew. I showed him a letter from the Consulate; he told me that his wife worked for the Consul General. He wasn’t alerted to the group and simply wanted to know more about our plans, the leadership and the participants who would be coming from Australia. After a few minutes, I was cleared to check in.
According to a long-standing exemption, students in Talmudic studies are exempt from army service. They believe that their study of Torah protects the country and is the secular equivalent of an institute of advanced study in the humanities. Most other people believe that this exemption and extended period of study leave the students—who marry young and have lots of children—dependent on government grants and private generosity. In the words of a cousin of mine, “parasites” who depend on her taxes for living expenses and her children’s army for protection. Recently, the Knesset approved a law (to go into effect in a number of years) that would end this exemption at age 24. The rabbis who lead the Haredi community called for a mass demonstration on Sunday (the first day of the work week) to block the main highway leading to Jerusalem and close the center of the city. All bus lines near the downtown area were either rerouted or cancelled. Schools were dismissed early and many people left work hoping to avoid the balagan(chaos). The Haredim were expressing their outrage and flexing their political muscle. Others insisted that they must “share the burden”. This animated many conversations throughout the country.
In Israel, I drove to Jerusalem, dropped off some gifts to my children, and went to my hosts to prepare for Shabbat. Much of the next few days was spent with family and friends. I attended the synagogue where my son helps organize the prayer services, enjoyed Shabbat meals and attended some celebratory life-cycle events with friends. During my day trip to the Tel Aviv area, I had two extended conversations about the two topics most in the news: the demonstration by the Haredi (very pious) community against new legislation that would require them to serve in the army and the visit of the Prime Minister to the United States.
The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi is an old nickname) was in Washington to meet the President of the United States, Barak Obama. He planned to discuss the proposed framework agreement developed by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the importance of continued diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran to reduce its nuclear program. Just before departure, Bibi was surprised by an interview given by Obama to Bloomberg News, where the President stated in strong terms the importance of Israel taking risks and steps toward peace. He also praised Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas. Netanyahu pushed back, reminding people and media of Israeli efforts to achieve agreements and placing the burden of any stalemate on the shoulders of the Palestinians. This too was the topic of discussion in the days prior to starting our Path of Abraham mission.
The group is slowly taking shape. There will be 33 participants: 8 Muslims (mostly from Australia), 16 Protestants, 3 Catholics and 6 Jews. Some arrived in advance and came to the airport from the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem. Others came today on an El Al flight. We’re meeting a few more in Rabin Square where our study tour will begin with a discussion about Israeli civic culture and then go to Jaffa to discuss the dual narratives which frames much of the political dynamic of Israeli-Palestinian relations.
