Avigdor Lieberman and Yuri Shtern

Have just returned from Israel seriously jet lagged but exhilarated by an immersion into Russian-Israeli reality. After two days at the Bar-Ilan conference which I wrote on above, I spent the remainder of the trip trying to get a handle on the whole Avigdor Lieberman phenomenon. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of my friend Yuri Shtern, number two in Yisrael Beiteinu, I was unable to get an interview with Lieberman, given the intensity of coalition negotiations, but I got a lot of insight from talking to members of the Russian elite, including many who attended the conference, as well as many grass roots Russians. What comes across is that much of the grass roots loves Lieberman as a man of strength and action who they believe will put the Arabs in their place and improve conditions for both Russians and “kal Am Yisrael” (all of Israel), whereas much of the Russian intelligensia is full of disdain for him as a demagogue only out for himself who will sell out the Russians in a minute once he gets comfortably ensconced in power.

The contrast between these two perspectives is shockingly wide. Obviously some of the antipathy of the Russian elite—especially the political elite—toward Lieberman seems to come from jealousy. There is a sense of vitality, but also danger about him; that he has an authoritarian flavor, a man on horseback, with a proposal to abolish the parliamentary system of political horse trading and desiring to create a strong executive—even stronger than in the U.S.—perhaps tipping the Israeli toward authoritarianism. That said, everyone agrees that he is the most creative player of the political game to come along in Israel in quite a while, that he has big ideas; that he could upset the whole apple cart.

Is he really an extreme rightist, a racist, as many on the left claim? Well, if memory serves me right, there were those in the peace camp a decade or more ago, people like Yossi Beillin, floating the idea of attaching Umm al-Fahm and the Triangle to Palestine in exchange for Israel keeping settlement blocs in the West Bank. Certainly, no one screamed ‘racist’ at Beillin. Indeed, When the left screams ‘racist’ at Lieberman, Russian-Israelis take it to mean that veteran Israelis relate to them collectively as racists, and it only strengthens the attachment of the Russians to the political right. The left has been making terrible mistakes in its approach to the Russians since the big aliyah started back in 1989, so this is just the latest blunder, but it doesn’t make it any less egregious. Of course, the idea of detaching these areas from Israel is only admissible if the Israeli Arabs living there agree to become part of Palestine, which they bso far do not, and since the Palestinian state doesn’t appear to be imminent, its all an academic question at this point anyway. But the left should get it through its thick head that hurling insults at Lieberman only strengthens him anjd further alienates the million-strong Russian community.

The main point here is that in advocating such a ‘transfer’, Lieberman is tacitly acknowledging there will eventually be a Palestinian state in the West Bank to which to attach the Triangle and Um Al Fahm, which would appear to contradict the perception of him as an extreme rightist. In reality, as Prof. Zeev Khanin, the organizer of the Bar-Ilan conference, told me, Lieberman is really a pragmatist posing as an ideologue and is much less committed to traditional Revisionist Land of Israel ideology than his rival Netanyahu. And let’s not forget that Lieberman is pushing for civil marriage, something Netanyahu would never touch in a million years. So if, in the wake of the Lebanon disaster, the Israeli pendulum is again swinging sharply to the right, I say better that it should swing to Lieberman and the Russians, rather than Bibi and the Likud. Well, I may get my leftist credentials revoked for saying that, but hey, I could use a little credibility enhancement among the Russkis, pravda?

I want also to pay tribute here to Yuri Shtern, who is seriously ill with a brain tumor, but exhibited enormous grace and class during his appearance at the Bar Ilan conference. He was pale and hairless from chemotherapy and it was clear that public appearances are very draining for him, but he not only gave a speech, but stayed for hours listening to other speakers and engaging in conversations. Yuri and I are far apart politically—at least on issues related to war and peace, but I will never forget writing about him and his efforts on behalf of the refuseniks and Jews marooned in the Soviet Union during the 1980’s—including his appearances at Reagan-Gorbachev summits in Geneva and Reykjavik to my visit to his sister in Moscow in 1985, during my very first trip to Russia, and so many other wonderful encounters over the years.

And now that the party that he built together with Lieberman from the ground up, is nearing power, Yuri may be too sick to play a meaningful role; almost like Moses leading the Hebrews to Land of Israel, but not himself being allowed to enter. I want to salute Yuri with all my heart for a good and useful life devoted to the service of the Jewish people.