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A few U.S. Jewish leaders have been blunt in criticizing the actions of the Begin government. Vorspan asserts flatly that "Israel's West Bank policy is crazy. It would destroy the Jewish and democratic character of Israel if the West Bank were to be annexed." Says Max Palevsky, a Los Angeles businessman and fund raiser for Israel's dovish Peace Now movement: "It is clear now that the Begin government is not interested in peace. It is intent on annexing Arab territory."
These are still the views of a distinct minority. But the very fact that they are being voiced in public points to a much broader split—or, more accurately, confusion — in American Jewish opinion. Says Arnold Ellison, a regional director of B'nai B'rith in Atlanta: "If you want to sum it up, you will find a division equal to that within Israel itself," where the policies of any government have always sparked vehement and at times vitriolic debates.
Many American Jewish leaders have long contended that U.S. Jews have no right to criticize any Jerusalem government; unlike Israelis, they do not face the prospect of having to pay with their lives if their policies are adopted and proved wrong. Others insisted that such criticism by American Jews would call into question U.S. support on which an increasingly isolated Israel depends, and might even give aid and comfort to anti-Semites. Sums up Mrs. Toby Ansin, a member of the Bade County (Miami) Council of Arts and Sciences: "The general feeling among American Jews has been that Israel has enough enemies already, so keep your criticism to yourself."
It was the Lebanon invasion far more than any other factor that exploded that consensus. The nightly TV pictures of the civilian casualties prompted an intense debate that has since spread into synagogues, offices and living rooms across the U.S. Even families have been divided. David Perlman, an official of the Internal Revenue Service in Chicago, defends the Lebanon incursion as "regrettable but necessary." His wife Carole, a statistician for the Chicago board of education, demurs, "I was repulsed by the carnage. I support Israel, but it is important to differentiate between the country and the government."
Deeper still is the division in the minds of individual Jews. Says Steven Sher, producer of a daily Jewish radio program in the Chicago area and cantor of his synagogue in the suburb of Glenview: "We are all now confused in our feelings about Israel. There are of course those strong concepts of homeland, of Zionism, of our religion bound up in Israel, which are very powerful. But there is reaction to what seem to be insupportable actions Israel has taken. I find myself deeply torn." Adds Stephen Antonoff, a leader of the men's organization in The Temple, the largest Jewish congregation in Atlanta: "These reservations would never have been spoken of to non-Jews in the past."