[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

Gideon Levy declined to also suggest that the European Union and other
various governments as well as wealthy private individuals who have been
bankrolling Peace Now and left wing politicians and pouring money into the
"peace process business" turn off the taps. A whole generation of Israeli
politicians, journalists and academics have been supported by the "peace
process" gravy train. Maybe that's because Gideon Levy also enjoys trips
around the world paid for by foreigners.]

Let's be done with all the Talanskys
By Gideon Levy Last update - 09:20 11/05/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982102.html

Revealing the identity of the primary witness, Morris Talansky, in the
lastest Ehud Olmert affair raises questions that go beyond the prime
minister. Serious questions need to be asked about the relationship between
American Jewry and Israel.

Granted, Talansky is a mere individual, but he is not the only one.
Jerusalem is full of wheeler-dealers, functionaries, lobbyists, donors and
philanthropists. There are rich men and middlemen, envoys and delegations,
many of them with good intentions, but some without.

They wheedle and schnorr and contribute to various causes. It's the kind of
schnorring that begins with Shaare Zedek Medical Center and could end in
court. The question here is why did Talansky, or any other Jewish American,
invest, allegedly, in Olmert? What do they receive in exchange for this pot
stirring?
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It's time to reorganize the system, to air out the relationship between the
world's largest and second-largest Jewish community - a relationship that
has long become distorted and even harmful. It is time to say to the
American Jews directly, as is customary among relatives: Leave us alone.
Take your hands off Israel. Stop using your money to buy influence in
Israel. Stop "contributing" to advance your interests and views, some of
which are at times delusionary and extremely dangerous to the future of the
country you're supposedly trying to protect.

No thank you, we're doing all right. No thank you, some of you are causing
us great damage. If you want to wield influence, do it in your own country.
You have a lot of power and influence there. Perhaps too much; it's none of
our business. You are American, not Israeli citizens, and no amount of money
can or should change this fact. War and peace, social justice and
government, education and religion in Israel are a matter for its citizens
alone.

Our door should of course remain open to visits, immigration and displays of
interest. But the extent of American Jewry's intervention in our affairs has
long become intolerable. It's time to show them the door - the one that
separates them from us.

Israeli politicians from all parties engage in an overly close rapport with
American Jews, and of course, their money. The American Jewish establishment
may support all Israeli governments blindly and automatically - this, too,
is inexplicable and raises weighty questions. But under the official
countenance of not intervening in our internal affairs, they have a thumb in
every pie.

Sixty years old, economically sound, enjoying the great superpower's massive
support, which is unequalled worldwide - Israel is strong and mature enough
to manage without the interference of American Jewry.

The name of the game, of course, is money. Everything is about money, even
if it is concealed under a pile of cliches and promises. From the prime
minister to the mayor of a remote town, from hospital director to community
center manager - all look to Jewish-American money. That's a guarantee for
unhealthy relations. If it could be justified in the state's early days,
when everything was still new, it no longer has place in a 60-year-old state
that can and should build its own community centers and avoid the price it
will be charged for schnorring. We are dealing with an impatient, aggressive
Jewish community, whose aggression is reflected in its relations with
Israel.

In many areas the damage is direct and considerable. The settlements in the
territories, for example, would not have thrived and grown had it not been
for the big money flowing from American Jews. A Ynet investigation released
around two years ago found that American Jews sent $100 million to the
settlements in the past decade.

Dozens of Jewish associations foster and finance the most nefarious project
we've ever had here, from the One Israel Fund to the Hebron Fund, from
American Friends of Ateret Cohanim to Shuvu Banim. They are all fattening
the settlements, some openly and others under the table.

By so doing the Jews are helping to shape and mutilate another state. It's
not only money: The loud, blatant Jewish right wing, which crushes any
display of a different opinion in America, is trying to do the same in
Israel. Camera, a McCarthyist group that persecutes journalists in the
United States, is directing its absurd persecution and slander campaigns
against the Israeli media as well. That is also part of the distorted
relationship.

The contribution of American Jewry to Israel may on balance be positive.
They financed and built for us quite heavily; we in turn offered them a safe
haven and a source of pride. Neither side of this equation is relevant any
longer. We no longer need their money, certainly not at the price of their
interference, and it is doubtful we can still offer them that haven or
pride. Let's part as friends, then. Let American Jews attend to their own
business, and us to ours. And let's be done with any more Talanskys.