ELKAN’S VIEW 10 June 2015

France has a long and inglorious record of anti-Jewish actions. Although there were good times, and considerable mediaeval Jewish scholarship came from France (Rashi was a Frenchman) the Jews always felt uncomfortable. Even when the country aspired to the highest ideals – Liberté, Egalité , Fraternité – the Jews always felt excluded from full participation. It was the treatment of Alfred Dreyfus by the French army in 1895 that inspired Theodore Herzl to convene the first Zionist Congress which half a century later led to the establishment of the State of Israel. The Dreyfus affair forms the subject of the new thriller “An Officer and a Spy” by Robert Harris.

The recent statement by the chief of the telecom company Orange, substantially owned by the French government, that he would wish to withdraw from Israel “tomorrow” is the latest statement of this attitude. Given at a press conference in Egypt (where else?) it produced a storm of protest in Israel. The French government have said that it is purely a commercial decision and bears no relationship to the fact that the French company has an arm’s length contract with an Israeli company called Partner which has the franchise in Israel to operate Orange. Obviously the Israeli Orange company also serves people – Jews and Arabs – living in the West Bank and therefore all of them must be tarred with the same anti-Semitic brush.

The economic boycott of Israel which used to be proposed and advanced by Western nations has long since faded into obscurity, to be succeeded by the BDS movement which is largely an initiative of the Western left. It nonetheless clearly has anti-Semitic aspects to it and the French were delighted to go along with the Orange’s Chief Executive. Orange is the new Yellow.

In the meantime Haim Ramon who owns Partner is left without an international name for his product. I used to use Orange in Israel but then changed to Cellcom on purely commercial grounds. If Partner relaunches its brand under a different name I will be tempted to go back to them, if only because France would no longer receive a proportion of the company’s profits.

ELKAN’S VIEW 3^rd June 2015

Jewish settlement in Croatia, where I will be when you read this, has had a long and very colourful history, although recently both sad and bloody.

Jews are believed to have settled in Croatia around the third century when Roman influence was very powerful there. Archaeologists have found remains of a third century synagogue, and it seems clear that one stage the Jews took refuge in the palace of the Roman emperor Diocletian, and even built a synagogue there.

One of the earliest references is a letter from the Spanish Rabbi and diplomat Hasdai Ibn Shaprut referring to a Jewish community in the territory, and it would seem that the King of that area sent a delegation to Cordoba which included “Mar Shaul and Mar Joseph”, both Jewish names and titles.

Sephardi Jews arrived in Croatia after the 1492 expulsion from Spain, and although Jews in the area suffered various restrictions, some of the more enlightened leaders encouraged their settlement on the basis that as merchants they would promote trade and therefore prosperity. In the 19^th century the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and by 1873 the Jews had full legal equality. There were a number of flourishing communities in the interwar period especially in Zagreb.

In April 1941 Axis Powers invaded Yugoslavia and this proved to be the doom of Croatian Jewry. The ultranationalist and anti-Semitic Ustaše party established the Independent State of Croatia and enthusiastically erected a series of concentration camps. The most notorious of these was Jasenovac the cruelty of whose methods was said to exceed even those at Auschwitz. A total of 32,000 Jews, or 75% of the country’s prewar Jewish population, was murdered.

The list of righteous Gentiles who helped the Jews is large and includes both Muslims and Christians.

After the war many Croatian Jews made Aliyah to Israel but there are synagogues in Dubrovnik Split and Zagreb. There is a strong and flourishing cultural identity including the Zagreb Jewish Film Festival.

Like many other communities however the Jewish community of Croatia wonders how long it will have a future.

ELKAN’S VIEW 27^TH May 2015

Last week I went with two of my grandchildren (and their parents) to spend Shavuot in Kibbutz Keturah which is in the Negev about 50 km north of Eilat.   Keturah was founded by a group of American immigrants in 1973, and although everything is theoretically in Hebrew everyone appears to speak English.

The kibbutz is in the Arava, the sort of dry desert through which the Children of Israel passed on their way to the Promised Land. One can understand here how difficult and soul destroying the journey was. The heat is dry – it went up 37 while we were there – but the Kibbutz has been planned carefully with plenty of trees, some very thoughtful water supplies, and above all a very pleasant swimming pool where most people seemed to spend several hours in the afternoons.

The kibbutz is also the site of one of the largest solar energy fields in Israel. Sunshine is of course a very plentiful commodity in the Negev, and the land is available. The Kibbutz is also involved in bio-technology, fish farming (at Eilat), and such modern matters as a computer repair unit that operates all over the country.

When Masada was excavated a number of seeds were found, and experimentally these were carefully germinated. One of them produced a Judean date palm and this tree, known as the Methuselah tree and grown from a 2000 year old seed, flourishes in the kibbutz.

Religiously Keturah is observant, but there are members from a number of different strands within Judaism. Over the Ark in the beautiful Kibbutz shul was the verse from Psalm 126 “”Shuvah et shviteynu ka’afikim BaNegev – bring back our exiles like streams in the Negev” which when they flow, do so with force. To those who live there from all corners of the Jewish world, and to those of us who had the pleasure of spending a wonderful Shabbat and Chag with them, this verse which we sing at the beginning of Birkat Hamazon, has particular resonance and relevance. We were living in the middle of the rebirth of the Negev.

ELKAN’S VIEW 20^TH May 2015

One of the most irritating things about Western commentators on the Middle Eastern situation is that they ignore reality and assume that the Arabs are really European gentlemen of a slightly darker hue. Nothing could be farther from the truth and no settlement is possible in the Middle East without an appreciation of this fact.

The Arabs have a long and glorious history. Up to the 13th century they were in many ways the intellectual drivers of civilisation and even to this day the numbers that we use are described as “Arabic numerals” and are really variations on the Arabic alphabet.

But their civilisation works in a completely different and non-democratic way to that in which Christian Europe developed. Arab society is tribal, has loyalty to its particular conception of the Muslim religion (such as the dispute between Sunni and Shia which is currently tearing the Middle East apart), and is comfortable with strong authoritative government. The assumption that the Arabs really want democracy and given the chance will embrace it is simply naive.

The Arab Spring, a concept of journalists more than anything else, has now evolved into a yet more violent and inhumane society.

The same lack of reality applies to commentators on Israeli politics. The fact that Bibi got in with a substantial vote is an indication that there is no overwhelming expectation in Israel at the moment that there can be an immediate settlement with the Arabs. Since there is no one on the Arab side who can sign a peace agreement and make it stick, the urgency to negotiate one has diminished. The incredible Abbas, now in the 11th year of his four year term as president, cannot deliver, is afraid to try, and in any case makes precondition demands which he knows Israel cannot possibly meet. The possibility of an aggressive terrorist state on the West Bank of the Jordan makes any moves in that direction unacceptable to the majority of Israeli voters.

In meantime the situation is stable and we can live with what we have.

ELKAN’S VIEW 13^TH May 2015

I have just lived through two general elections, in both of which I had a vote and in neither of which I voted.

As a citizen of Israel I have a vote in the elections. However I was in England on 17 March, postal voting is not easy to arrange, and I still have no idea who I would have supported. In 2013 it was Yair Lapid, but I’m not sure I would have voted for him this time.

As a citizen of the United Kingdom I have a vote for 15 years after leaving the country which I think is wrong in principle, and I choose not to exercise my right.

Both elections produced unexpected results although possibly both for the same reason.

In Israel it seems that people came into the polling booth, heard “the still small voice” and perhaps reluctantly preferred the leader they knew than the one without experience.

It ought to have been easy for Netanyahu to form a coalition instead of waiting until the last hour constitutionally possible but the outcome of the trading between factions has produced a result that is unsatisfactory. Many good up-and-coming parliamentarians have lost their seats because they were too far down the electoral list. The proportional representation system does not allow constituencies and there is no direct accountability between the citizen and his representative.

The Israeli system, with all the conflicting parties trying to grab what they can for their supporters, is disastrous. Netanyahu’s Cabinet has had to be expanded far beyond what is needed, and will cost much more than the country should be paying.

The result in the UK, although equally unexpected, has produced a government which has a degree of unity, and which is able to move forward with a sense of purpose. In my opinion and viewed from the Israeli perspective, the result is satisfactory, far better than it might have been.

Contemplating what might happen in America in November 2016 has suddenly become very interesting!