New York Magazine Features a Critical Article about “My Grandfather the Zionist"

New York Magazine of June 23, 2021 featured an article by Abraham Riesman, a staff writer, about his grandfather, a lobbyist for Israel who, he says, covered up war crimes such as the massacre and imprisonment of Palestinians. The article is entitled, “My Grandfather the Zionist: He Helped Build Jewish American Support for Israel. What’s His Legacy Now?”

In a critical, but loving, article about his grandfather, Robert Riesman (1919-2004), who was active in promoting Israel in Rhode Island and with that state’s representatives in Washington, the author declares that he no longer believes the myths that the Israeli lobby spreads in the media, and notes that neither do many other younger Jewish Americans. The pro-Israel consensus, he writes, “is in decline.” The mistreatment of Palestinians, he argues, is in violation of Jewish moral and ethical values, and “keeps me up at night.”

Riesman, 35 years old, writes: “Israel is now tearing the Jewish community apart. In my grandfather’s day, Israel was the great unifier of the American Jewish community. Now it is the great divider, both inside our own community and in cleavages with other ones. Bring up Israel with any American Jew and you can feel the atmosphere tighten. There is no topic that incenses us more, whether the emotions are pride or shame, defensiveness or hatred, fear that not enough of our co-religionists support the Jewish state or rage that they support it too much. The left is done with Israel, particularly since the last Gaza assault, which heralds disaster and disunity.”

In Riesman’s view, “Jews and Gentiles who had previously betrayed no interest in the topic have taken up the cause of the Palestinians who are governed and besieged and, in many cases, killed, by an occupying state. My grandfather probably would be infuriated by me. In recent years, I’ve developed a level of fixation of the place that rivals even that of my grandfather. The conclusions we have come to, however, are worlds apart.”

His grandfather’s defense of Israel, even covering up its misdeeds, was, Riesman writes, “…sincere based on his assessment of Jewish safety. In his eyes, Israel was always under mortal threat and if his people lost their citadel in the Middle East, who knew what other dominoes might fall.” His grandfather, he notes, could dismiss the expulsion of Palestinians to make way for Israel in 1947-49 because Jews had been victims of genocide in Europe.

Even his grandfather’s attitude was complicated: “Grandpa held no particular affection for the country (Israel). As he put it, it was really like a relative you had to support, whose company you didn’t particularly enjoy, who gave you no excitement, no stimulation. He said, ‘It was because Israel was threatened that it became precious. When it wasn’t threatened it was an inconvenient relative; when it was threatened, it became something you liked.”

Riesman concludes: "I retain a sliver of hope that he (my grandfather) could understand that I, like him, want to save the Jews. I have chosen to see them as my family, for better or worse, and I believe that backing the status quo in Israel is not just immoral and wrong, but a recipe for disaster. I am not alone in this—Israel’s own politicians and security officials have long said the occupation makes Israel less safe. I believe Jews should have free access to the Holy Land. I do not in any way want to see them driven into the sea or killed. But nor do I want to see Palestinians to be massacred and imprisoned. I don’t think my grandfather wanted to hurt Palestinians, but their concerns didn’t keep him up at night. For me, they do. They are part of my family too. Until they are safe, the Jews will not be safe. Israel and the Palestinians will not fix their problems without audacious solutions, solutions as audacious as, say, the creation of a Jewish state 70-odd years ago.” **