In The Mix

By Julie Wiener

So, as you no doubt have already heard, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to complaints from major American Jewish groups, has pulled the controversial “Come Home Quick, Before You Assimilate Into Nothingness” commercials which are apparently, according to a representative from Israel’s Ministry of Absorption, part of a $300,000 campaign.

Netanyahu also affirmed via a statement from Ambassador Michael Oren that he “deeply values the American Jewish community and is committed to deepening ties between it and the state of Israel.”

Even the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman weighed in on the commercials, telling the Associated Press that the ads were “unsubtle, crude and heavy-handed.”

Echoing the ad campaign’s assertion that American spouses will never understand Israelis, Foxman said, “Most Israelis don’t understand how American Jewish life works.”

The Israeli-Diaspora relationship is starting to feel as dizzying as Alice in Wonderland.
A tip of the hat goes to The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and The Jewish Channel for bringing to our attention this series of scare-tactic commercials the Israeli government’s Ministry of Absorption ran to encourage Israeli Jews in the U.S. to return home before it’s too late.

By too late, I mean before they start dating clueless Americans (Jewish or otherwise) who don’t “understand” Israeli holidays like Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance, and before they start having children who call them Daddy instead of Abba and talk about Christmas instead of Chanukah.

To my delight, Goldberg had much to say about intermarriage, noting in his discussion of the Israeli government’s ad campaign that while his views are “complicated,” intermarriage “can also be understood as an opportunity.”

“I don’t think I have ever seen a demonstration of Israeli contempt for American Jews as obvious as these ads,” Goldberg wrote.

He added, “These government-sponsored ads suggest that it is impossible for Jews to remain Jewish in America.”

I hope some American Jews put together a parody version highlighting the dangers of Americans making aliyah and producing bizarre offspring who call them Ima (Mom), cut in lines, and are ignorant about July 4 and Thanksgiving.

There could be two versions of this: the secular Israeli child who hates all things religious and the Orthodox Israeli child who hates all things secular.

Bear in mind, I say this lovingly, as an Israphile who has lived in Israel and even hosted an Israel birthday party for my daughter who occasionally, of her own volition, calls me Ima.

Julie Wiener is associate editor of The New York Jewish Week. Contact her at julie.inthemix@gmail.com.