Dario Teitelbaum, the Argentine-born head of the World Union of Meretz (WUM), the international network for supporters of Israel’s left-wing, social democratic Zionist Meretz party, as well as other progressive Zionist groups, was in Toronto last month, where he met with local groups and activists affiliated with progressive Zionism. He spoke to The CJN about the state of Zionism, the upcoming Israeli elections and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
What was the specific purpose of your trip to Toronto, and how does this relate to WUM’s overall agenda?
I came to Toronto to meet people, to create a dialogue around the agenda of the WUM and to meet with groups like JSpace, Hashomer Hatzair and people from different factions of Jewish Zionist politics and the Reform movement.
WUM is in charge of maintaining the relationship between Israel and leftist Jewish groups in the Diaspora.
The WUM is a way for people with the same way of thinking to come together around the policies of Israel we’re trying to promote. We do kind of bridge-building, to keep people around the world within the idea of Zionism, to keep it relevant to daily life.
Our attempt is to keep people within Zionist organizations and working with Israel, while having the right to express dissent about Israel.
What are some of WUM’s concerns about the current state of Zionism?
We’re concerned that Zionism right now is considered to be equal to the political right, to the messianic conception of Israel. Somehow people today, when you talk about Zionism, understand it as being part of the right or that it means blindly supporting any action taken by the Israeli government. So we’re trying to say that we support the State of Israel, but we also criticize Israeli policies, especially those regarding the conflict with the Palestinians.
There isn’t legitimacy for, on one hand loving Israel and, on the other hand, criticizing it. It’s not happening deeply enough. I believe that being a Zionist today means supporting the peace process in the Middle East.
What are WUM’s biggest concerns at present regarding the current Israeli government’s methods?
Meretz believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading using a policy of not doing. The government is very conservative and is always responding to situations, but not taking initiative. They have been losing opportunities, like they did after the war in Gaza this past summer. Hamas was really weak, and it was worth re-opening negotiations after the war, but instead, now we have Palestinians going to the UN, trying to get into the International Criminal Court, taking Israel to task for violations of human rights. We must look at where this situation is taking us.
Do you believe that the war last summer seriously damaged Israel’s reputation internationally?
Before reputation, I care about life. On one hand, we in Israel were living under the threat of missiles for 14 years, so the government has to defend the population. But only defending the population is not good enough. Every two or three years we have another round of violence and nothing moves forward, and the situation in Gaza gets more difficult. That brings people in Gaza to a situation where they feel they don’t have anything to lose.
We talk in Israel about living in a kind of continuous state of trauma. The last military action [in the summer] lasted 50 days, which created a huge damage to the population. Half the population had to leave their region and have a kind of exile within their own country, and there was a general kind of loss of confidence in the military.
We need to take steps to change the situation and not accept this kind of living for people around the Gaza Strip and the north of Israel. That’s what we demand of Netanyahu.
How would the Meretz party have responded differently to the events of last summer, namely, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers?
That’s a hypothetical question and difficult to answer. The question is, really, what we would have done to avoid a situation like this. We would change the approach to the conflict in such a way to avoid such a dilemma.
Do you believe a two-state solution is still possible?
I think that’s one of the main issues Israel is facing right now – whether the situation we’ve created is irreversible or not. I believe we still have time to stop creating new settlements, to create an atmosphere that’s pro-dialogue with the Palestinians. I’m speaking idealistically, but I’m worried. I know we have very difficult partners and we have to choose the right people to talk to and reinforce them, and not give more power to the most extreme elements. Today, through terrorism and rockets, the most extreme set the rules of the game.
What are the Meretz party’s major campaign issues in the upcoming Israeli election?
Since the Labor party [led by Isaac Herzog] joined forces with the centrist Hatnua movement [led by Tzipi Livni], they’ve been trying to reach out to centre and right-wing voters, so Meretz is now the one and only left-wing Zionist party.
We are going to present our platform not only regarding the peace process but also regarding what’s happening in our society in Israel. To have the economy in the hands of [the country’s wealthiest] 20 to 25 families is crazy. To increase, year after year, the level of social injustice in Israel and the lack of prospects for the younger generations, we’re going to put all of that on the table.
We now have three women in the first five positions in our party. The feminist and gender equality viewpoint is also going to be part of our agenda, and it’s not something ideological for us. It’s just part of life.
There are people who say Meretz only has one issue, and that’s not true. To have a two-state solution is one of our main issues, but while other parties are going to try to make the issues of the country seem like they’ve disappeared and not bring them into the election, we’re going to bring them back to the table.
I think today there is [formal] equality among Israel citizens, but it’s not something meaningful. For minorities, at the level of law, everything looks OK, but at the level of life, minorities – and I’m talking about women, working immigrants, different populations in Israel that don’t get the rights they’re supposed to – there is much to improve.
