A Point of View: Seeing the glass half full - for now

Perspective is everything.  The glass can be half full or half empty.

These unoriginal thoughts came to mind after two significant events in the life of the state of Israel and the Jewish people - the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Israel and the meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The tendency in the Israeli press was to focus on the negative. The Pope was widely criticized for the things he failed to say or said in an infelicitous way. And the Washington summit meeting was picked apart for the alleged lack of warmth between the leaders and for the pressure points and disagreements.

Pope Benedict XVI at Yad Vashem

In each case, the specific criticisms were not misplaced. At Yad Vashem the Pope failed to speak in appropriately emotional terms about the Holocaust, referred to the "killing" rather than "murder" of the Jews, and never mentioned the German or Nazi perpetrators by name. And the unresolved issues between the US and Israel - settlements and the concept of a two-state solution - leave much uncertainty.
    
Having said this, we must not lose sight of the forest for the trees. Both events, in my view, at bottom are important positive developments for the Jewish people.
    
In the case of Benedict XVI, it is exactly because he is not as adept as his predecessor in finding the right thing to say at the right time, that his visit was so important. The challenge in Catholic-Jewish relations is to make sure that the remarkable progress in those relations achieved during the papacy of John Paul II are not merely the reflection of an extraordinary individual but of the institution. The fact that Benedict XVI came to Israel, visited the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, and met with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, and it was not seen as a major breakthrough is what is truly significant. It is part of the process of the Church internalizing change, just as the Pope's visit to a New York synagogue reinforced the historic visit of John Paul II to the Rome synagogue.

As time moves on, this kind of reinforcement together with the filtering down of the new teachings of the Church will be the most important elements of the relationship. Yes, it would have been satisfying had Benedict said the right things in the right way, but let's not lose sight of how the visit reflects and reinforces how far we have come.

Similarly with regard to the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, amid the question marks, the fundamentals were upheld. The great threat to Israel's security comes from Iran and its nuclear program. The President acknowledged that threat to Israel, importantly made clear that it is not merely a threat to the Jewish state, indicated that US engagement with Iran was not open-ended, would be revaluated by the end of the year, and said that, if dialogue did not produce results, all options would be on the table. I'm not sure that Israel could have asked for much more on this issue from the new President.

PHOTO: AP

Moreover, the fear of some that the White House would insist on a "sequencing" of events in which Israel would have to make significant concessions to the Palestinians before the US would commit to action against Iran - on the grounds that only that way could the US win over the Arabs to support steps against Iran - was not realized. It is true that Israel may not have achieved its own version of "sequencing" - first Iran, then the Palestinian issue - but that was never truly in the cards. What seems to have emerged are parallel and simultaneous tracks for the two issues, with neither one being held hostage to the other.

Here is where the glass is half empty; where a half full perspective fully comes into play. Undoubtedly, there will be tensions between the US and Israel on certain Palestinian-related issues, particularly settlements. The truth is Obama is hardly the first president to push an Israeli prime minister on this issue. If, however, the Administration lives up to its commitment on the priority challenge facing Israel from Iran, then whatever unpleasantries may emerge regarding settlements will be seen as a price worth paying.

I am hardly a Pollyanna. Differences with the Church and the Administration will likely emerge. However, let's keep our eye on the ball. Catholic-Jewish and US-Israel relations were further advanced by the two major events of May.