With the 34th vote in favor of Barack Obama’s ‘deal’ with Iran, fundamental damage has been done to the United States’ position as a force for good in the world. The United States was formed around an idea, the idea of constitutional democracy as a defender of the rights of man. Presidents swear on the Constitution and before G-d. Theirs is a sacred responsibility to the ideas contained within the document. But these ideas are not limited only to citizens of the United States. The Declaration of Independence states: “all men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” It is through this universal belief in equality and rights that the United States has served as a fundamentally positive force in the world. Since 1776, the freedoms and opportunities enjoyed by the world’s peoples have risen almost immeasurably – and the United States has played a fundamental role.
It is this influence as a force for freedom that is threatened. As the debate over the Iran ‘deal’ unfolded, accusations of dual loyalty were laid of the feet of those who opposed it. But Americans have always had dual loyalties. They have loyalty to their nation. But more importantly, they have loyalty to greater ideas. I grew up in rural America – people were loyal to G-d and Country, in that order.
It is this idea that has enabled me to reconcile my own dual loyalties. I am a citizen of both the United States and Israel. I can be loyal to both because both nations are informed by a loyalty to G-d. If these two national loyalties became incompatible, then that would mean that something has gone wrong with the moral compass of one or both of the nations. For these nations to be at fundamental odds, there must be a dramatic disconnect between one of them and its basic adherence to a productive and timeless G-d.
To be a good and G-dly nation is not just to live well at home, it is to seek to impact the world in a positive way. Ultimately we believe in a better world – a far better world – and we have to do our part to make it a reality. The question is, how? In changing the world, individual interactions certainly play their role. On a larger scale, both trade and international interaction can spread positive values. And a nation can serve as an example to others. But there is a large and important role to be played by the foreign policies of states themselves. Foreign policy can help promote the spread of values and their success in the world. If you believe your ideals are universal, foreign policies that support them become a moral imperative.
Luckily, the Torah provides a few key pointers on what makes an effective value-supporting foreign policy. The first involves a war in Bereshit – between sets of kings. One group rebelled and the neighborhood bully came to suppress them. But the bully didn’t go right at them – the bully attacked and brutalized numerous other peoples; people who were third-parties to the conflict. Among them was Amalek. When the bully attacks the core rebel city of Sodom, they capture Abraham’s nephew – a man who embodied a shadow of Abraham’s own values. Abraham responds by raising a group of 300 men – we might consider them special forces – destroying the armies of the invading kings, and freeing the captives.
Afterwards, there is a great mystery. The Torah says that Abraham is in some way fundamentally fearful. The question is, why? I think Abraham was facing a very modern dilemma. Innocent people had been subjected to horrible treatment. Abraham could have intervened, but he didn’t. He only intervened when his own kin were involved. I think he was fundamentally afraid that he made the wrong moral choice. It is a feeling we should share today. But G-d says, quite clearly, that he did not. The implication is that choosing to intervene would not have forwarded the divine mission. Bringing force to bear to support those with whom you have no relationship does nothing to spread divine values. A reading of recent modern history can certainly support this.
Of course, Amalek doesn’t see it that way. Amalek burns with a need for revenge. Their unreasonable and unending drive for revenge ultimately condemns them – they are not builders and creators in the image of the divine. They do not construct relationships between man and the divine. They become spiteful destroyers and we must not allow their example to survive.
The second example comes immediately afterwards Abraham’s fear. G-d promises the children of Abraham will return, but only after the iniquity of the Amorites is complete. Abraham had covenants – treaties – with Amorite men. As his treaty was human, Abraham’s agreement was limited in time and would lapse when his children were not in the land. His personal obligations would not last more than three of four generations.
This brings a second rule, we do not violate our treaties – they represent not only our relationships, but the quality of those with whom we have those relationships. If we are good and holy, and they belong to our covenant, then they have some redeeming qualities.
A picture is beginning to emerge. Relationships are key: by defending our friends and respecting our allies, we spread our values in this world. These rules apply to the spread of any universal values.
Far later, in the Torah reading of Shoftim, we come to another foreign policy guideline. We are commanded to utterly destroy a city that wages war on us. But that command is preceded by what I believe are bounding conditions. We are commanded to choose kings who do not pursue military power (horses), pleasure (women) or money. When we choose a king, we declare our values. So, a divine nation must not serve the pursuit of power, pleasure or money. The reading continues discussing the importance of settling disputes through appropriate procedures, of valuing borders and of choosing appropriate and empowered judges. These are all the prerequisites to the war described at the end at of the reading.
If a nation embodies these values and practices, then others will have no legitimate cause to attack them. Those who do attack them, should be made a terrible example of. Just as mankind must punish murderers, we must punish murderous nations. This is why I believe it was moral to drop nuclear weapons on Japan and bomb civilian cities in Germany. To change their behavior, a War World I style settlement was not enough – there had to be punishment. Note that Abraham did not seek to destroy the cities of the four kings – just their armies. He was intervening for a relative caught up in a complicated war, he himself was not attacked.
The final example is a brief one: we need to resettle escaped slaves who run to us. We welcome those individuals who flee total repression. Of course, the Torah speaks of individuals – not of entire nations on the run.
Put together we have the bones of a policy that both spreads divine values and reflects them: Intervene on behalf of friends, respect treaties, seek greater things than wealth, pleasure and power and welcome those who escape tyranny. If you follow these rules, then you are obligated to make an example of those who attack you. Finally, set yourself against those who hold on to unreasonable and unending hatreds.
If you fail to adhere to these ideas – even if you are a really nice guy who avoids conflict – then you give life to murderers, enable the perpetuation of hatreds and undermine the spread of divine values. We’ve seen it happen time and again.
In our day, the government of Iran presents a clear cut case. Neither Israel nor the U.S. have territorial disputes with Iran, and we seek nothing from them – not glory, treasure or pleasure. Nonetheless, they wage constant war against both countries. Since the Vietnam war, no nation has killed more Americans than Iran. They claim to want to protect their Palestinian friends – but the promise of nuclear holocaust is not an act of protection – just of destruction. And even if the Iranian’s followed them, the international mechanisms which might constrain them are fundamentally flawed. Rather than seeking to enhance productivity, protect against destruction and enhance mankind’s relationship with G-d, they only serve to further empower the powerful. The wrong kind of king rules the mass of humankind.
The U.S. and Israel gain nothing by fighting every cruel and unjust regime. Our values are not extended by doing so. But we do have an obligation to stand up for our friends and respect our allies. The United States is very close to sacrificing the safety of Israel and its Arab allies on the illusion of peace with the evil tyrants who rule Iran. The United States isn’t seeking to support evil and it isn’t evil itself. The United States is trying to avoid war. But their policy is flawed. They are tossing aside their relationships in the name of shadowy dreams of new friendships.
Through Barack Obama’s efforts and Barbara Mikulski’s vote, the U.S. is throwing away the legacy of greatness it has built on that one phrase – “all men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” The Iran deal may not be supported by a majority of Americans– or even legislators – but the United States government is making it a reality. The United States is becoming a regime which the world knows cannot be relied upon. They are abandoning their great works.
Those who seek to support the divine must stay true to our friends and strike fear in the hearts of the evil. But instead the United States is staying true to its enemies and striking fear in the hearts of the good. I do believe, at some later time, that the United States will reverse its course. But by then, it may be too late for Israel.
From G-d’s protection of Cain onwards, giving succor to destroyers has never yielded good outcomes. Now, it threatens not only the existence of Israel, but the moral fabric of the United States of America.