I've gotten notes over the last 24 hours requesting support for Boston's beleaguered Consul General, Nadav Tamir or calling for his removal. I chose to do neither, but for reasons having nothing to do with the actual dispute that have made headlines over the last few days.

On the issue itself, in my mind the Consul General is an employee of the Israeli government and it is the responsibility of his employer to determine the appropriate course of action. Regardless of how much or how little I agree with Mr. Tamir's interpretation of American-Israeli relations, he has a duty to report that information to his superiors through proper channels, just as he has a responsibility to keep himself off the front pages of the daily newspapers. And so the whole matter (at least for me) boils down to who leaked the letter to the public (turning a personal/professional reflection into a public controversy) or through inaction allowed it to be leaked. Since I don't know the answer to that question, I leave it to those in a position to discover the truth to do so and act appropriately.

Regarding taking a stand on the matter as a member of Boston's Jewish and Israel Activism community, I'm at a loss to see what is to be gained by taking such a position. As I've told friends and fellow activists over the years, we supporters of Israel face a challenging conundrum. We're more numerous than Israel's foes in the community, public opinion is strongly on our side and we have reasonable resources and lots of brain power to work with. And, just as importantly, we're in the right and (unlike our opponents) we don't have to lie to make our case (meaning we don't have to expend intellectual energy trying to remember what we said last week, or said to a different audience).

And yet, despite all these advantages, we continually feel besieged by less numerous, dumber (and uglier) opponents who are both on the wrong side of history and only get their way via dishonest tactics. How can this be? Partly, we're a victim of our success in having created numerous stable organizations (CAMERA, David Project, AIPAC, JCRC, CJP, CJUI, sorry for anyone I left off). Because these organizations exist and are supported by the community, we tend to look at them to manage challenges, rather than looking at them as part (but not all) of the solution, a solution that also requires we as individuals to do our part, alongside (but often separate) from institutions (which, I should add, includes the Consulate).

But we also have a tendency to use aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict as a surrogate for a whole host of conflicts, from US and Israeli elections to Left-Right politics (both domestic and foreign) in general. While these are legitimate (and critical) debates, I don't see any gain by making every issue a front in this conflict. I've noted above how the matter of Mr. Tamir's letter needs to be resolved between employer and employee. So is it absolutely critical that Boston's Jewish community line up on one side of the matter or the other?

Think of it this way: At the end of the day, Boston will have an Israeli Consul General. Either it will be Mr. Tamir for another year and then someone else, or it will be someone else before then. And that person will be part of the city's Israel/Jewish establishment who will do a number of good things (some public, some behind the scenes), but who will not be a solution to all of our challenges, anymore than any other Consul General has ever been (or ever will be). Given this, should the next year (or three) be spent with the Jewish community being understood (inaccurately, in my mind) as consisting of nothing more than Left and Right "wings" that fall into predictable categories on all issues of importance?

While I've chosen to not debate the contents of Mr. Tamir's letter in the context of what should happen next, I would say that it reflects an understanding of local Jewish opinion that is as bifurcated as what I've been reading about in the Globe over the last couple of days. I know too many people with too many complex opinions to assume we're nothing more than a Left that does and says this and a Right that does and says that. If this issue becomes yet another way for us to spend the next year thinking of one another in these terms (and being pissed off all the time), while Israel's opponents run roughshod over us (again), then we're all going to be losers in the long run.