Shalom Magazine

By Alexander Lewy
Exclusive for Shalom Magazine
You just woke up. It’s January 2013, a Republican is in the White House, and Congress is retaken by Democrats. Democrats made supporting Israel their top issue in the election and the Tea Party Republican President campaigned on vetoing the Foreign Aid bill, Israel’s lifeline for security investment. For the first time in your life, the United States stops foreign aid to Israel and withdraws from its involvement in the peace process.

You could have helped to stop this from happening. You could have taken a stand to prevent Israel from becoming a wedge issue in the 2012 elections. Why would I place this heavy burden at your feet? As a recently elected city official and someone who has been advising Members of Congress on Middle East policy since 2005, I know how important your voice is.

American politics have become so divisive, we risk labeling important issues that should be "All-American" as Democrat or Republican. With the 2012 elections about to kick into high gear, we need to be vigilant in order to spare Israel from these divisive politics. We’ve all seen the deterioration of civility in political discussion. We’ve seen one party calling the other party un-American. And just as we have a responsibility to restore civility in the political discussion, those of us with a passion for Israeli security have a responsibility to prevent Israel from being used as a wedge issue.