Israel is a small country which is recognized by 163 countries while there are still 36 countries that do not accept its existence. Its population is 9.73 million. Israel was created by those Jews who once migrated to Palestine as refugees in the early 19th. Century. The migrant Jews acquired land in Palestine and proclaimed to have a country of their own. In a journey from Balfour Declaration that announced a new State of Israel to the now Hamas Israel war, the strength of Jewish diaspora remains pivotal.
Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, Jewish leaders in London were the ones who pushed the British Government for passing a declaration for establishing a ‘Jewish homeland’ in Palestine. Chaim Weizmann helped the British in their munition industry during the World War 1. Though he was a chemist but he became more popular for his political activism. At the age of 11, he wrote a letter to his teacher that Jews must return to Zion (a synonym for Jerusalem). Nahum Sokolow was a national of Poland, through his hard work he became a renowned journalist who could speak Russian, Spanish, German, French English, Hebrew and Yiddish. He is the one who coined the name Tel Aviv. He also secured declarations in favour of a Jewish State from Poland, France, Italy and Germany.In the US, the Jewish diaspora has been exerting its political role since decades. American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is the most influential Israeli lobby group in the US. On the website of AIPAC, its written that it ‘supports those who support Israel’.
In 2022, it has supported both Republican and Democrat candidates by donating 17$ million to candidates. It is also mentioned on their website that 98 percent of AIPAC ‘supported’ candidates have won while they were also instrumental in defeating those who could undermine Israel and US relationship. AIPAC has a declared mandate that they want to keep Congress (the legislature of federal government of the US), ‘pro-Israel’. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken and thirty six other members of the US Congress are Jews. When the US Secretary of State was asked about any possibility of the US to pressurize Israel to end its war on Gaza, he said that Israel will decide when to end the war, not the US. During his interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, he highlighted the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, but blatantly avoided talking about the human rights violations being committed by Israelis. He also defended a sudden sale of 14000 tank ammunitions by the US to Israel.
The US has vetoed past two United Nations (UN) resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire. The last resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly was supported by 120 countries, abstained by 45 and opposed by only 14, which also included the US. It gave a clear message from the world that the war in Gaza must stop. On December, 22, 2023, a weak ‘plea oriented’ resolution has been adopted the by the UN Security Council (abstained by the US), to allow humanitarian-pauses for aid to reach the civilians in Gaza. The Israelilobbyist are not only influential in theUS; they are spread around the world working in unison for the cause of Israeli State. Andre Azoulay, is an Advisor to Moroccan King Muhammad VI, he is considered instrumental in normalizing relations of Morocco with Israel. His daughter, Audrey Azoulay is the Director General of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She joined at the time when the organization had already passed several pro-Palestine resolutions, but through her efforts, UNESCO has ‘reconsidered’ its stance over Israel. UNESCO has recently vowed to spread awareness about Holocaust. Ms Audrey’s efforts also resulted in the first ever visit of an Israeli delegation to Saudi Arabia in September, 2023.The Jews are not only pervasive in political sphere but they also maintain an influence on the world business. Ben and Jerry, an ice cream brand announced in July 2021 that it would stop selling its ice cream in Israeli occupied Palestinian territory, as it was ‘inconsistent’ with its values. After this announcement, Ben and Jerry had to face backlash from its parent organization, Unilever, which sold Israeli business of Ben and Jerry ice cream to Avi Zinger, a local businessman in Israel. While commenting on the battle Zinger fought to buy Ben and Jerry, he said he was over-whelmed by the support he received.The social media entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (who also happens to be Jew) is also providing a ‘verified’ education of Holocaust to its users. Oracle, run by Israeli born Safra Katz, has donated 1$million to Israel’s national medical service. David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel was instrumental in reaching Abraham accords, establishing US embassy in Jerusalem and US recognition of Golden Heights in March, 2019. History is filled with many examples of influential Jewish diaspora working for Israel. It is also imperative to note that Amichi Chikli, a diaspora Minister in Israel stressed upon convincing Jewish diaspora to educate their children in AlephBetSchools, named after first letters of Hebrew, especially designed for NorthAmerica. These schools are educating children about their Jewish identity. The ministry has allocated 40 million dollars for the project.
The Israeli State is increasingly being benefited by the Jewish diaspora. Jewish diaspora is supported by the Israeli State, it’s a reciprocal process. The Jewish population in the world is just 15.2 million in the world, less than that of Indian Muslim population (204 million) within India.
The unity of purpose in the Jewish community has made Israel strong. Wherever they serve, they have one agenda ingrained in them, it is to support ‘the Israeli State’ and to maximize its influence. The Jewish community has proved that united they stand, no matter how less they are. This is a lesson, that needs to be learned.
—The writer is Research Analyst Institute of Regional Studies Islamabad.
Mail: maryammastoor@yahoo.com
views expressed are writer’s own.
