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December 10th, 2021 
Awake Goy “Very soon, my friends, we will need you,” Nachman Shai, the Israeli minister of diaspora affairs, told a synagogue audience this week in New York. The U.S. is trying to restore the Iran deal, and Israel will need American Jews to take its side, he said.
In a discussion at the Park Avenue Synagogue on December 6, about “Building a New Paradigm for American Jewry and Israel,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove asked Shai about “the role of American Jewry in shaping policy vis-a-vis the administration” on the Iran deal.
Shai responded that a “crisis” was coming between the two governments over the Iran deal, and when such issues arise, “American Jewry has always been there supporting Israel.”
This is one of the arguments I’ve been using in Israel for a long time… You want American Jews to help Israel in a time of crisis, you have to listen to them…
Because very soon, my friends, we will need you. A crisis is coming between Israel as far as I can see and the United States. Because I’m not sure that the Israeli government agrees 100 percent with the American position vis-a-vis the Iranian agreement or disagreement, I don’t know where we stand every single day. But it seems like that American government is ready to [accept] a new agreement that will include less restrictions on the Iranians, while we expect America to demand much more from the Iranians– what was missing in the previous agreement, which America withdrew from by Trump administration in 2018.
But now something is coming, and Israel made very strong– By the way, the U.S. also made very strong statements, but I don’t know what does it mean. I know from the Israeli perspective, a nuclear Iran is an existential threat on Israel, on Israel’s existence. You can imagine what it means.
So as I said, I repeat… You will need American Jewry soon. Like we have done in the past, during many crises, including wars but not necessarily wars, many issues between Israel and the United States, American Jewry has always been there supporting Israel.
But this dialogue cannot remain the same…That’s what I’ve been saying in Israel… Don’t take the American Jews for granted. Many of them are disappointed of Israel, many of them are very critical of Israel. And they will not follow you automatically– no longer. It’s a new generation of Americans. It’s not like your parents or grandparents that have been admiring the Israelis day and night…
But I warned my colleagues, listen to the American Jewry. Not only in times of tension and wars, but also in peaceful times. Because when we will need them, maybe not 100 percent of them will come and help us. That’s a very new thing- that’s something we have to be aware of.
This is a very important statement because it reveals the deal at the heart of the Israel lobby: Israel is on the front lines, facing existential threats, while we are comfortable prosperous Jews in America, so we must do our part and exert our influence on the U.S. government. And in years gone by 100 percent of American Jews have been on Israel’s side, or maybe 97 percent, depending what expert you ask. So that’s why the U.S. has given Israel unwavering support through massacres of Palestinians and unending illegal landgrabs in the West Bank.
Chuck Schumer told a Brooklyn Jewish group that he had voted against the Iran deal in 2015 because of “the threat to Israel.”
Even liberal Zionists feel this duty. J Street worked hard to support the 2015 Iran deal and is working hard now to try to restore the deal– but notice that it organizes the Jewish community by citing the opinion of Israeli security officials, not Americans. Because older Jews (the donor/influencing cohort) are still of the generation that Nachman Shai refers to, admiring Israel day and night. And though J Street is now working against Nachman Shai, it will do so respectfully: Shai is a Laborite who has spoken at J Street conferences, as have other lib/left ministers in the new government.
Younger Jews really need to consider whether Israelis are rational when they refer to “existential” threats. Israel has 100s of nukes, it is reported, many of them pointed at Iran. Iran has said it doesn’t seek nukes. Though it has also said the Palestinian people deserve freedom and it has supported resistance groups, Hezbollah and Hamas. This is what enrages the Israelis.
Postscript: Just today the American Jewish Committee sent out an appeal to American Jews signed by its Israeli director that gave her former military rank and said: “This May, when Israel once again came under attack, I can tell you that the Jewish state needed American Jewish Committee (AJC)—and you—on its side.”
Second Postscript: In that discussion Shai also deplored the high intermarriage rates of Israelis living in North America. He said that a leader of the Canadian Jewish community informed him that when Israelis marry in Canada, nine out of ten marry non-Jews, a much higher percentage than that of Canadian Jews marrying “out.” “This is a major source of concern,” Shai said. Because when Israelis marry out, they are deciding not to return to Israel, and Israel hopes that these high-achieving Israelis– “the top of the top” — will ultimately move back.
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