In Defence of Oren

So, I’ve read ‘The Book’:  Michael Oren’s Ally.  Then, after finishing it, I re-read some of the book’s most scathing critiques.

Let me state from the outset, that I think Oren presents what is probably the most fair, even-handed critique of the troublesome last few years of official Israeli-American relations.  On one hand, he dispels the worst of the charges of Anti-Semitism on the part of President Obama by attesting that The Big Snub (where Obama supposedly walked out of the room and left Bibi hanging) didn’t quite happen, and by systematically showing that there have been exceptionally positive moments in the Bibi-Obama relationship that don’t always get reported in the sensationalism-hungry media.  On the other hand, he applies the rational analysis of a true academic thinker – not just someone with the letters PhD after his name – to the language Obama has used in various speeches, and to his attempts to understand Obama’s various fallings-out with Netanyahu, to try to grasp what the man is all about.  And that analysis reveals some of the ambiguities of the 44^th President of the US that leave most of us – excepting his most loyal fan base and his biggest knee-jerk detractors – perplexed and sometimes, troubled.  If you want proof of this, contrast Oren’s reaction to President Obama’s first inaugural speech (before he was the Ambassador, whilst he was teaching at Georgetown) and Obama’s speeches, early in his first term, in Cairo and Istanbul.

Oren does not pretend that this book is a work of objective, academic history; in his foreword he makes it clear that he’s presenting a memoir, a first-person account of events in which he has an emotional investment.  This makes the charges of subjectivity, leveled by The Forward’s editor-in-chief Jane Eisner and repeated sometimes verbatim by others who want to demonise Oren, well…irrelevant.  He tells you from the outset that it’s a labour of love!  And yet, if not entirely objective he is patently fair-minded, clearly a passionate centrist, one who tries to see the merit in different people and their positions.  I refer you to his concluding chapter, where he is now an MK in a party (Kulanu) other than Netanyahu’s Likud (although they are in the current coalition) and he expresses his opposition to Bibi’s speech to the US Congress and the most vocal aspects of his opposition to the Iran Deal whilst at the same time, trying to show how the Deal is a potential disaster to Israel.

Actually, Oren’s entire narrative is infused with mixed feelings about Bibi, whom he never especially favoured before being selected to be ambassador, being clearly more to the ‘dovish’ side of centrist than the ‘hawkish.’  Yet Oren tried to serve Bibi loyally and in getting to know him personally, developed a more positive view of the man than either the American or Israeli press wants you to have.

So why are a number of prominent Jewish voices so negative about Oren’s book?  At least, why do I think so?  I know that I’m going to ruffle a few feathers by saying this, just as Oren ruffled feathers in writing the book.  And forgive me – I know you won’t, you’ll mutter charges of ad hominen – but it comes down to two main features of the Jewish-American political landscape.  One, the ongoing love affair of Jews with the Democrat Party but particularly with its current standard bearer, President Obama.  And two, the conflict of identification as liberal, and wanting to see oneself as liberal, at a time when the liberal world is increasingly, and gleefully demonising the State of Israel.

Although Eisner dismisses Oren’s alleged lack of comprehension over why American Jews overwhelmingly backed Obama, it becomes quite clear in the book that Oren completely ‘gets it’; what he doesn’t get is why, after six years, they still see Obama as an almost-messianic figure who is beyond criticism.  Just listen to the cries of ‘foul’ that come from some quarters in the Jewish community – Oren, Bibi, the Republican Caucus, Rabbis like me who have gone over to the Dark Side – criticises the guy. 

So now take Oren’s minor thesis – I say ‘minor’ because it’s little more than a sidebar to the thrust of his narrative, although it seems to be a major point of contention – that perhaps, the continued (and often unconditional) support of President Obama can be attributed to a lack of confidence and basic insecurity of our position as Jews and Americans.  It may be spot-on, it may be totally wrong, or it may be somewhere in between.  But given Oren’s observations and the tone of the book, it certainly is not wrong-headed.

If you haven’t yet read Ally, it’s a good and thoughtful read.  Buy a copy, or get it on your Kindle, and put it in the queue of things to get around to!  Read it in good health…