Jews, Israelis and the Real World

The other day, Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Yehuda Ben-Meir, justified the establishment of Jewish settlements on the West Bank on the grounds of "the right of Jews to live anywhere."

We think this is an extraordinary statement. It is true, of course, that if we had a more ideal world—one which did not feel the need to divide itself up into nation-states—Jews might be free to go and set up housekeeping in whatever part of the globe suited their fancy. The same could be said for Catholics, Buddhists, Armenians and Moslems.

However, for better or for worse, this is not the kind of world we have just now. The way things have worked out, a Catholic is not just a Catholic anymore—he is also a Frenchman, or a Japanese, or a Bolivian. Nor is a Jew only a Jew—he is an Italian Jew, an American Jew or—that's right—an Israeli Jew. If he wants to travel, he needs a passport issued by his nation-state. To tell border officials that he is a Jew is not enough. If he wants to pull up stakes and move permanently to another country, he must first make arrangements with that other country's authorities, who will make him fill out visa applications and other tiresome documents. The most important identification on the documents will be that he is Italian, or American, or Israeli. The authorities may not even be interested in what his religion is. That's the way it is.

So we must contradict Mr. Ben-Meir. Jews do not have the "right" to live anywhere they want to, any more than do people of any other religion. This includes the Jews of Israel who are moving into the West Bank. The Palestinian inhabitants of that territory are objecting to the inflow of settlers not because they are Jews but because they are Israelis, who came in without visas and behind the barrels of guns.