Israel's missing agenda

- Theodore M. Hesburgh

As our boys made their way down from Lebanon this past summer they returned to a country that was not the same as the one they left just a few weeks earlier. Three soldiers kidnapped, the north and south of Israel under daily missile attack, dozens killed and hundreds injured; the Second Lebanon War led to serious introspection as to Israel’s future and direction.

It was clear to many that the so-called Convergence Plan was no longer relevant and a different approach was needed. The people of Israel turned their eyes to Prime Minister Olmert looking for answers, looking for leadership, and most of all looking for direction. On Rosh Hashana eve in the Prime Minister’s annual New Year interview, Olmert shared his vision with us when he said “a prime minister does not have to wake up every morning with an agenda.” Not exactly the post war vision his citizens were looking for.

This worrisome lack of a clear agenda for the country has plagued the Olmert government ever since. It is no surprise that hot topics ranging from electoral reform to peace negotiations with Syria have made brief appearances at the top of the national debate. With no direction coming from the Prime Minister's office, the media has tried to present something, anything, for us to grab on to.

'Tsunami of anti-Semitism'

Just a few days ago another opportunity to help shape a national agenda presented itself and once again the wrong decision was made. It was announced last week that the Diaspora

Affairs Ministry, which functions out of the Prime Minister's Office, was being shut down. The Diaspora Affairs Ministry was founded in 2000 and has dealt with anti-Semitism, working to restore Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust and involvement in the Birthright and Masa programs, which bring Jewish youngsters from all over the world to Israel.

The Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism recently reported that Anti-Semitism continues to rise in Europe, leading England’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to warn that "a tsunami of anti-Semitism" was sweeping across the continent. The same is being reported with regard to growing anti-Israelism on college campuses in the United States. This troublesome trend has taken on a life of its own and experts predict this will be the challenge facing Israel and the Jewish people in the 21st century.

Anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism clearly affect our international standing, Aliyah, and Jewish identity and support abroad, but there are clear ramifications back home in Israel as well. The sharp increase in the

number of young Israelis leaving the country, and the ever-growing disgust towards anything remotely Jewish or Zionistic among Israel’s youth, shows that in a global world these messages do not only sow their seeds of hate in someone else’s garden, but in our own backyard as well.

Ari Harow is National Executive Director of American Friends of Likud and heads the Likud Anglo Forum in the Likud Party