Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

3. Israel Diaspora Relations in Comparative Perspective

3 Israeli-Diaspora Relations in Comparative Perspective Gabriel Sheffer The purportedly extraordinary distinctiveness of the Israeli case, the consequent inappropriateness of comparing it to other states and the inability to draw theoretical conclusions from its experience has first and foremost been attributed to the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. It is claimed that consequently security and defense considerations have been uncharacteristically predominant in its development and eventually it acquired the characteristics of a garrison state.l In the second place, observers are most likely to mention either the "U.S.-Israeli special relations ,"2 or the Israeli-Jewish Diaspora bond as further endowing Israel with exceptional singularity. Others may add the Jewish Diaspora's remarkable persistent and unsurpassed contributions to the establishment of the Jewish state and the ensuing American government's continuous political and financial support. Popular views about these seemingly unusual, and for some even menacing connections between the Jewish Diaspora and Israel,3 have been augmented by equally widespread, albeit debatable, notions about modern ethno-national diasporas in general, and about the place of the Jewish Diaspora in this category of social and political entities in particular. Thus it is still a common belief, reflected in respected dictionaries and encyclopedias , that the term "Diaspora" should exclusively be applied to the Jews' "Exile." It is equally widely held that with the exception of the Greek communities outside their homeland, whose ancestors in the ancient period had "invented" this term in the first place, it is inappropriate that other dispersed ethno-national communities either use it or be described as such. This is expressed not just by politicians or laymen, but also by scholars 53 54 Gabriel Sheffer dealing with these issues.4 These arguments are, of course, not new ones. They are as old as the emergence of a large organized Jewish Diaspora in the wake of the destruction of the First Temple. More then two millennia later, after the establishment of the modern Jewish state, which were almost unattainable without the extensive help of the Diaspora, these arguments have become more rampant and reinforced the notions about Israel's uniqueness. The goal here is to reexamine such notions, and particularly the views regarding the singularity of Israeli-Diaspora relations. No less central here is another goal-to present the theoretical implications of that analysis for the study of other homelands and their relations with their own diasporas, which constitute a new form of trans-state political systems.5 The significance is not confined to the possible contribution to the development of Diaspora studies but also to the study of current trans-nationalism and trans-statism. These will be achieved by referring to the historical origins of diasporas, to the positions they occupy in their host countries, and to the outcome of these factors, and mainly by considering the more vexing questions related to host country-homeland-diaspora relations. The focus in the final part of this chapter will therefore be on three issues, which currently are of interest in the rapidly growing field of diaspora studies and the general study of trans-state politics. First is the locus of the dominant concentration of power in such dispersed trans-state political systems. This is important because most discussions of such distribution of power have been connected either to established states or to regional coalitions of such states. The second theoretical issue is closely related to the previous one and pertains to hegemony in political trans-state networks that connect homelands (which these days are usually states) and diasporas residing in one or more host countries. The third theoretical issue pertains to the outcome of such complex interactions between the various segments of these trans-state systems that can be subsumed under the caption of "dual and divided loyalty."6 The Historical Context Contrary to the argument that the Jewish Diaspora in itself is unique, it is easy to show that since antiquity, namely before or simultaneously with the emergence of the Jewish and ancient Creek Diasporas, other ethnic diasporas existed as well. These were created by both voluntary and imposed migration, maintained their ethnic identity even when permanently settled in new host countries, established loose communal organizations, developed "international" networks, even if only rudimentary, and kept regular contacts with the homeland or with other groups of the same Israel Diaspora Relations 55 ethnic origins residing either in the territory which had been perceived...