January 15, 2009
There are countless ways in which the Bush administration disappointed the majority of American Jews. In March 2003 this page worried that the war in Iraq was a war of convenience, not necessity, and that the administration had taken its eyes off the prize in pursuing Saddam instead of bin Laden. The torture of prisoners pained Jewish leaders who had long stood for human rights and dignity, and the consolidation of powers within the executive branch troubled Jewish patriots who have long defended the subtle and magnificent machinery of the Constitution. Jewish organizations tend to see social welfare and tikun olam as a partnership between the government and the people, the private and the public. The administration’s commitment to privatization and deregulation fed suspicions that its stumbling response to Katrina was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On questions of America’s place in the world, Jews were more divided. Some were appalled at the administration’s unilateralism; others felt that the disdain directed at us from Europe and the Middle East was a small price to pay for a principled defense of Western ideals. Jews also debated whether the president’s hands-off approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was to Israel’s benefit, or avoided the hard and even unpopular choices and allowed the situation to fester and now explode.
Still, on a few counts there is little debate over Bush’s legacy. Bush’s friendship to Israel was consistent and unabashed. It drew on deep wells of sympathy and admiration. He embraced Israel at a time when many of his allies were willing to toss her overboard, risking his own diplomatic capital in favor of a friend he knew to be in the right. Bush was also a passionate opponent of anti-Semitism, whether it took the form of Islamist rhetoric or the latest UN resolution. For that, the Jewish community owes him its gratitude. As his eight years of service come to an end, we pray his next journey is one for life, gladness, and peace.
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