The audience draw for an event often correlates with the prominence and/or popularity of its keynote speaker. The annual JNF breakfast, held at The Rockleigh on Sunday, May 4, was no exception. Jacqueline Yehudiel, the organization’s director of Northern New Jersey and Rockland, estimated the number of attendees at 500, considerably higher than the previous few years. The draw was professor, lawyer, author, guest TV commentator and Israel advocate extraordinaire Alan Dershowitz. He did not disappoint.
Following Yehudiel’s introduction and a brief video defining the work of the JNF, as seen through the eyes of those who have experienced the organization first hand, event chair Ruth Pomerantz took to the podium. She observed that “Had there been an Israel, there would not have been a Holocaust,” a sentiment later echoed by Dershowitz. She went on to repeat a common refrain of late, noting that “In the U.S., there has been an insidious anti-Semitism percolating in both synagogues and college campuses,” later expanding on that observation and connecting it to Israel’s need to continually fight and defend itself.
In keeping with recent JNF tradition, Pomerantz’s remarks were followed by those who held young leadership roles. Karin Berger, a recent alumna of Alexander Muss High School in Israel, spoke of how she was raised in a house that emphasized Israel advocacy. She shared the noteworthy plans of several of her classmates in this regard, and then drew loud applause when she announced her own decision to make aliyah and volunteer for the IDF. Josh Goodkin, a young professional who is part of JNF’s fastest-growing initiative, “JNFuture,” then appeared at the podium in a red cape, using the theme of superheroes and heroes to urge audience members to further embrace the JNF.
About an hour into the program Dershowitz took the stage. His portion consisted of a sit-down Q&A, with JNF CEO Russell F. Robinson doing the asking. In reality, the brief questions were nothing more than cues for Dershowitz to share his thoughts and insights. After Robinson provided a short bio of Dershowitz, noting that the former Harvard professor had been included in a Jerusalem Post list of the 50 most influential Jews, the heart of the event commenced.
Robinson asked, “Why do you spend so much of your time and efforts defending Israel?” Dershowitz explained that he had been fortunate to have grown up in a time after World War II when Zionism was very popular. He was raised in a Modern Orthodox, Zionist, home, and was taught the virtues of defending the underdog by his father. As a result, he spent much of the first 20 years of his professional career defending African-Americans, prisoners on death row and others who needed a strong advocate. He explained that Israel wasn’t under fire at that time, but “then came the hard left.” Suddenly Israel was viewed very differently and fell within his underdog designation. He noted that he now spends over 50% of his time on issues related to Israel, and has defended the Jewish state at over 100 college campuses.
Dershowitz launched into a story that illustrated the extent of current animosity towards Israel. He was asked to appear at Columbia University to make the case for Israel. He agreed to do so, but was curious why a professor from Columbia wasn’t tapped, rather than someone from Harvard. The response was that of 61 professors who were asked, not a single one was willing to step forward. “They were terrified it would hurt their careers,” he explained. He went on to elaborate. “If you are a young professor trying to get tenure, your chances are lowered considerably if you are known to actively support Israel.” He added that “Although there are professors who side with Israel at every university, they are unwilling to publicly share their views in a school setting.”
Dershowitz spoke of the ramifications he personally faced at Harvard after becoming a vocal supporter of Israel. Until then, he consistently received the highest ratings in end-of-semester student evaluations. As word got out regarding his Israel activism, things abruptly changed. He suddenly started receiving across-the-board ratings of zero, even when the category was his knowledge of law. That memory must have triggered something in him, because he then took senior professors to task. “I have never met a less courageous group than tenured university professors who won’t risk their popularity to make a case for Israel.” He didn’t find this to be so with pro-Israel students, who he said have shown the courage their professors have been lacking.
Dershowitz then pivoted. “People say they are Pro-Palestinan. No they are not. They are anti-Israel. They don’t care about Palestinians and that is a fact.” As proof, he noted, “The same people who boycott Israel want to do more business with Iran, more business with Cuba, more business with Russia and with China. This is not about human rights.” Dershowitz, clearly unsettled by this reality, continued. “People say Jews control the media. They have too much power. Look at the New York Times. Is that how we control the media? We don’t have enough power.” He concluded by stating “When Jews have power, there is peace. When we don’t, there is the Shoah.”
Robinson then asked, “What is the recipe for success regarding BDS?” Dershowitz responded with the observation that there are two BDS movements. “No university will accept a BDS boycott of Israel. It will hurt them. We are winning that battle. However, the other movement, and what BDS wants, is to propagandize the young, who will be our future leaders.” His solution is that we need to make the case for Israel to all groups, “which means conservatives as well as liberals, Blacks, Latinos and gays.”
Robinson’s final question was “Why is Israel so important to you?” Dershowitz offered that Israel is the aspiration that we had sought after for so many years. He then shared that he has a picture in his office of the Israeli Air Force flying over Auschwitz. “It’s a reminder of what could have been.”
By Robert Isler
Robert Isler is a freelance writer. He can be reached at [email protected].
