In the pages of Sapir, to my mind one of the finest Jewish journals now being published, Jordan Hirsch opens his recent essay on The Need for a Jewish Sovereign Wealth Fund as follows:
The golden age of American Jewry is indeed ending — and the Jewish community can’t see past its fading reflection. The institutions upon which American Jewish flourishing once relied are crumbling. It’s time for American Jewry to build new foundations for its next phase of achievement, and to build them stronger than before.
It’s a bold claim, with far-reaching implications.
One of the most common responses that I’ve heard to Hirsch’s piece (an essay that much of the establishment seems not to wish to discuss publicly) is that without the very institutions that Hirsch argues have outlived their utility, Israel might be in danger of losing the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that now assures Israel’s receiving some $3.8B in American military aid each year. “That aid is key to Israel’s very survival,” these people argue, “and you’re going to pull the plug on the institutions that pride themselves on their role in making sure the MOU gets renewed?”
Seems like a very fair question.
Interestingly, though, just days after we recorded our conversation below with Jordan Hirsch and Eyal Hulata, a leading security expert in Israel, the following announcement appeared all over the press:
Why would Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggest, however obliquely, that the MOU is not necessary? Is it because the MOU undermines Israel’s becoming more militarily autonomous? Or perhaps, is it because, as many in the Israeli press argued, he knows that it’s not going to be renewed anyway, so he might as well say that we don’t need it?
Hirsch’s piece has far-reaching implications for what American Jewish institutional life should look like, the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, and Israel’s security (among a host of other issues). Many of those important implications are beyond the scope of the conversation at the heart of Israel from the Inside, but the issues of Israel-Diaspora relations, Israel’s security and related subjects are squarely within our purview.
In today’s conversation, Hirsch and Hulata discuss the Sapir article, and what Israel does and does not need from America to remain secure and independent.
Jordan Hirsch is a Senior Fellow at Palantir, an American company that specializes in software platforms for big data analytics, and a Senior Fellow in the Technology, Security, and Global Affairs Program at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law.
Jordan was also a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University and a Next Generation National Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Jordan began his career in journalism, serving as a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal and an editor at Foreign Affairs. Jordan graduated from Columbia University and Yale Law School.
Dr Eyal Hulata is a senior international fellow at the FDD (Foundation for the Defense of Democracies), and the first foreign visiting fellow in FDD headquarters. From July 2021 to January 2023 Eyal served as Israel’s National Security Advisor and head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC). Eyal was appointed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennet and served after their succession also for Prime Minister Yair Lapid. During his tenure, Eyal coordinated the national effort on Iran, coordinated the maritime border agreement with Lebanon, and co-headed the Strategic Consultation Group with his American counterpart, Mr. Jake Sullivan. Prior to that Eyal served for more than 20 years in the Israeli intelligence establishment, of which a decade was in senior executive roles.
Eyal is a graduate of the IDF elite technology leadership program “Talpiot” with a B.Sc in Physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He also holds a PhD in physics from Tel Aviv University, and an MA in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
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The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.
For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.
