Scenes of West Bank, Gaza Violence ‘an Embarrassment’ : American Jews Distressed, Divided

WASHINGTON — American Jews are profoundly distressed over the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and divided over what Israel should do to end the crisis, community leaders and others said in interviews.

Jews feel a “great sense of pain and anguish . . . an embarrassment” due to scenes on television of Israelis shooting Arabs, said Hyman Bookbinder, head of the American Jewish Committee.

They also think it is “terribly unfair” that Israel is taking all the blame for a situation that stems from the failure of all sides to deal with the Palestinian issue, he said.

Some criticized the news media for overplaying the story and for failing to put it in its proper historical context.

Bookbinder said the press “generally has tried to hang on to a story” such as the one unfolding in Israel. Further, he said, there has been a “gross overstatement” of the situation, with the media often neglecting to point out how Arabs have rebuffed efforts to deal with the Palestinians over the years.

Joseph Puder, executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel, a conservative group, said: “It’s as if there is no violence anywhere else in the world. Anybody who knows the facts ought to be aware that Arab riots took place in the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s. . . .” The disturbances--the worst in Israel’s 20-year occupation of the territories--have prompted an unusual degree of public criticism of Israel’s actions by American Jews as well as a public airing of their differences.

Leaders of mainstream Jewish organizations insist that the riots have not caused a major schism in their ranks, but they acknowledge that many Jews are upset and confused over the situation.

Bookbinder and others said the disturbances in which Israeli troops have shot and killed at least 25 Palestinians since Dec. 8 have not weakened American Jews’ attachment for the Jewish state, born in 1948 as a haven for Jews from around the world.

“Pain, yes; disappointment, yes; confusion, yes,” Rabbi Alexander Schindler said. “This does not mean there is an alienation from Israel.” Schindler is president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a leader of the Reform movement.

Morris B. Abram, head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York, said there is “no split” over Israel’s policies among the 45 groups represented in his umbrella coalition.

Concern Over the Future

Others, however, said recent events have prompted heated discussion about the future of Israel among America’s 6 million Jews, who provide crucial financial and moral support to Israel.

“We are probably as divided as Israel itself,” Schindler said.

In rough terms, the views of American Jews mirror those of Israelis over the future of the West Bank and Gaza, where 1.5 million Palestinians live.

One side favors relinquishing total control of the territories and providing some kind of self-determination to the Palestinians; the other opposes that option as a threat to Israel’s security.

Some people said American Jews are reluctant to publicly castigate Israel.

“I can tell you flatly that a number of my friends do not believe what they are saying in public,” said Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg of Englewood, N.J., a professor at Dartmouth College and vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

“In private, they are saying to the Israelis, ‘For heaven’s sake, cool it,’ ” Hertzberg said.

Groups on the liberal end of the spectrum tend to be most critical of Israel.

“Even among very moderate groups there has been grave disquiet about what Israel had done,” said Ezra Goldstein, co-chairman of the New Jewish Agenda, a progressive group. “I think the American Jewish community is extremely concerned.”

Puder, of Americans for a Safe Israel, said the United States should let Israel deal with its own internal matters.

The main problem, he said, is that Arabs have refused to deal with Israel to reach some kind of peaceful solution. “The Arabs ought to realize that Israel is going to stay,” he said.

Regardless of their views, however, everyone said the Palestinian problem must be confronted--by the Israelis, the Arabs and the United States.

“We have let this damn thing fester and we are all still conspiring to keep the rat hole open,” Hertzberg said.

“It’s a subject that has to be addressed,” said Seymour Reich, president of B’nai B’rith in New York. “It is not going to go away.”

Many American Jews said President Reagan should use his influence with Israeli and Arab leaders to sit down to talk about the future of the territories.