The Puzzle of Israel

Published 04/21/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Haeeun (Blessing) Jee | 04/21/2023

Israel is a country full of contradictions. It is a free democracy – a shining example of what politics and governance can look like in the Middle East – whilst also running a system of territorial control and occupation that some have called apartheid.

It is emphatically the “Jewish State” of the world, but also one of the most racially and ethnically diverse places I have ever traveled to. There are Ultra-Orthodox – Hasidic and Haredi – Jews walking around donned in black and white at the same time that Tel Aviv has been named one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. The country is about the size of the state of New Jersey, but it holds outsized military, economic, and political power. Contradictions run deep throughout Israel.

I had the chance to spend my spring break participating in a program by iTrek, a non-profit organization whose mission is to expose university students to Israel. It is funded by private donors who support the pro-Israel mission. My trip was led by student leaders from Harvard Law School, and the theme was “Law & Policy.” Three out of five of the student leaders had deep familial and religious roots in Israel. Coming into the trip, I knew that I would be getting a (mostly) pro-Israel perspective, and was determined to learn all that I could about the country.

We started our trip in Tel Aviv, the modern face of Israel. With a booming tech industry, a laid-back beach culture, and global cuisine (it is one of the top cities in the world for sushi per-capita), it resembled some of the U.S. and European cities I have been to, like San Diego and Barcelona. We met with leaders engaged in what they called “start-up diplomacy,” trying to extend the soft power of Israel to the rest of the world through technological products. Several of them spoke about the importance of the Israeli military in contributing to this entrepreneurial culture. A mandatory conscription means that there is a built-in network for almost all young people as they will spend meaningful time with a unit of other young folks from all around the country. These connections become professional networks, business partners, and future investors. In addition, technology developed by the military is not patented so that innovation is encouraged.

In juxtaposition with this modernity, the old town of Jaffa – now really just a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv – was full of religious pilgrims from all around the world who came to pay respects in St. Peter’s Church. During Biblical times, Jaffa was a major port city and it was where Jonah took a boat to flee from God’s mission for him. Even now, something about the place felt otherworldly. There were old winding streets, vintage and thrift stores with “oriental” rugs, and Muslim men chanting in the same direction after a resounding call to prayer.

Every day in Tel Aviv, after our excursions, we listened to speakers who tried to introduce us to the political, social, and religious situation in Israel. One of the speakers, an Israeli-American journalist and writer, spoke about the amazing diversity of Tel Aviv but also said, perhaps hyperbolically, that he fully expected his Arab neighbors not to hesitate to slit his throat. Another speaker, a previous member of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), similarly spoke for the need for a true Jewish state set apart with its own land and government. She said there was a true existential need for a place where Jews could feel safe to live and return to. To her, it was a Western mistake to assume that Jewish identity was a religious identity. Instead, being Jewish is more of a tribal identity that is connected not only to religion but also to family and bloodlines, land, “the people,” and culture. (Thus, despite her atheism, she identified as fully Jewish.) She said that the Western world tried to divide this Jewish identity into separable units and then elevate the religious part while suppressing the other parts. This project failed violently in Europe with the Holocaust. Jews, even if they suppressed their other “tribal” identity elements, would not be fully accepted in modern society. A Jewish state would be the only solution to prevent Jewish extermination – and thus the Zionist movement was born.

This is, of course, at the heart of the conflict with Palestine. If a Jewish state is truly necessary for millions of Jews – or if this is what Jewish people legitimately believe – then what is to be done about the millions of Palestinians who lived and live in Israel and Israel-occupied land?

Most of the speakers from the week did not believe in a two-state solution. An Arab-Israeli journalist was particularly cynical about Arabs and Palestinians accepting Israel or compromising for a two-state solution. “The Palestinian leadership won’t be satisfied with less than all that they want,” he said. Instead, he was more focused on ensuring that there was internal equality and fair treatment for Arabs who were Israeli citizens. He did not mind a Jewish state as long as there was no discrimination against minorities – for him, these two ideas were not in tension. When we visited Roots, a non-profit focused on easing tensions between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the Jewish co-founder and organizer Rabbi Shaul Judelman said that he did not have hope for a macro political situation – "The peace process right now has no true partner in the Palestinians” – and rather, found his hope in improving the micro interpersonal relations.

Our visit to Jerusalem complicated the story. I learned about how much the city means to the Muslims, the Christians, and the Jews. We also visited the Holocaust Museum, called Yad Vashem, which was of course very moving and sobering. The horror of the Holocaust was in the back of my mind when we visited the Western Wall for the shabbat gathering. It felt like a giant neighborhood block party with communal praying, singing, and dancing. There were Jews from all around the world (I even bumped into a friend from HLS who was there on a birthright trip!) celebrating and worshipping together. People looked free, jubilant.

But this also reminded me of another wall that I saw earlier that week in Bethlehem – the West Bank barrier that separates parts of the West Bank from Israel. It was sprayed with activist graffiti, calling for Palestinian freedom and autonomy. As we walked along the enormous concrete wall crowned with barbed wire, I thought of other walls I had seen that ultimately fell – the Berlin Wall and the wall separating Protestants and Catholics in Belfast – and prayed that there would be a time when this wall would similarly no longer be standing.

At the same time, Israel is, internally, a thriving democracy. When we were there, we witnessed Israelis on the streets protesting judicial “reforms” that threaten to undermine judicial review. We toured the Knesset, which is the Israeli Parliament, and learned about all of the transparency mechanisms that ensure that the public is kept up to date with the hearings and legislation. We also met with a Justice on the Supreme Court who discussed how the Court hears appeals as of right (instead of a discretionary writ of certiorari like the U.S. Supreme Court), so any citizen can in theory have their case heard by the Supreme Court.

After eight days in Israel, I am still left with so many questions. There are no easy answers to my questions, but I am grateful I had this opportunity to experience this complex, vibrant country. I learned a lot about the Israelian legal system, multiculturalism, and Middle Eastern history and politics – and mostly learned I had a lot to learn. This is related to the Milken Institute’s mission to tackle complex global issues and make sure that each individual has the opportunity to a meaningful life – this can only be fully reached through political stability, peace, and legal representation.