Jews should think twice about supporting the Tories

I’m sure you’ve heard it before: our community is becoming increasingly one-issue oriented.

Privately or publicly, explicitly or implicitly, at some point, somebody Jewish has told you that he or she only votes based on one issue, and that’s “who’s best for Israel.”

It’s happened to me several times. I’ve even had a life-long socialist tell me she voted for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Tories for the first time in 2011 because “the Liberals and the NDP are wishy-washy on Israel.” If the current trend continues unabated, particularly among young Jewish Canadians, the long-term standing and health of the Jewish community in Canada may be affected.

According to the Prophet Isaiah, we are supposed to act as a light unto the nations. In the Canadian context, this can be interpreted to mean that we should serve as an example for other communities to follow. The steady abandonment of our broader commitment to building Canada is most certainly not that.

There are three indisputable facts that, when combined, make it clear that voting exclusively based on “who’s best for Israel” is ridiculous.

First, the differences between the actual policy positions of the Liberal and Conservative parties on issues related to Israel and the Middle East are microscopic. In fact, on some fronts, the Liberal party has been far stronger in its support of the Jewish state. It was the Liberals who, when in government, listed Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups. It was the Paul Martin government that announced it would not recognize the plethora of anti-Israel votes at the United Nations. It was the Grits who, for years, urged the Harper government to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization before the Conservatives finally acquiesced.

Harper isn’t exactly the Messiah either. His government does not recognize Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel. Canada’s Conservative government is even stronger than U.S. President Barack Obama in criticizing Israel’s settlement construction in the West Bank, claiming that such building is not just “illegitimate” (as Obama claims), but also “illegal.” The Harper government also allowed the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to buy the Canadian oil and gas company Nexen, even though CNOOC engages in billions of dollars worth of trade each year with Iran. The list goes on.

You might like Harper’s tone when it comes to Israel, but his actual policy stances – which is what a government actually does rather than what it says – paint a more complex picture.

Second, on the list of important Canadian foreign policy issues, Israel ranks pretty low. This is obvious. Far more important to Canada’s long-term security and prosperity are several policy fronts related to our relationship with the United States, the future of NATO, Arctic sovereignty, expanding trade with the Americas, deepening ties with emerging Asian powers such as China and India, and finalizing and/or expanding several trade pacts (some of which could include half of the global economy). Again, the list goes on.

Last, and also blatantly clear, is that Canada has virtually no ability to affect Israel’s security for the better or the worse. There is one country that matters in that department, and it’s the United States.

Despite the alarmist rhetoric often heard in our community, Israel is actually doing just fine. Thanks to, among other things, being a patron of one superpower or another since 1948, it is the most powerful state in the Middle East (with the possible exception of Turkey). Even while it is hampered by difficult geography, Israel has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to defeat several enemies simultaneously. Its security is certainly challenged, but it isn’t in jeopardy. What Canada says or does will not alter this reality.

I’m not here to say that you shouldn’t care about Israel. I’m simply urging you to be intellectually honest. Next time you go to the polls, instead of saying ”I’m voting for Stephen Harper because he’s the best for Israel,” tell yourself “I’m voting for Stephen Harper because I like his tone on a minute issue of foreign policy that Ottawa has no ability to affect.” Then ask yourself if you’re doing Canada and its Jewish community a service or a disservice by having such an explanation for your electoral preference.

Zach Paikin is a Canadian political commentator.