A Different Kind of Achdus

Settlers in Elazar resisting law enforcement (VIN)

What a ‘splendid’ example of Achdus. The similarities of these two observant communities are stark. They are both strictly observant of Halacha; are both dedicated to their cause; and are willing to put themselves out for it.

They even have similar attitudes towards the Israeli government – sometimes using Nazi epithets or imagery to describe how government authorities treat them.  And they both have a patron ‘saint’ to look up to for inspiration. For Satmar it is R’ Yoel Teitelbaum  (the original Satmar Rebbe). For extremist Religious Zionist (RZ) settlers  it’s R’ Meir Kahane.

And yet I can’t think of two more polar opposite communities in the observant Jewish world than these two.

I recently stated my contempt towards Satmar because of their recent use of Nazi imagery in reference to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).  Such behavior is worthy of expulsion from Orthodoxy by mainstream Charedi leadership. But I have similar feelings about the extremists of the religious Zionist Right in Israel because of the contempt they have for the law. And their violent resistance to enforcement of it.

 VIN reports thefollowing: 

The Israeli military has begun demolishing an illegally-built carpentry workshop in a West Bank settlement as dozens of Jewish settlers are rallying against the move.

The military says it’s acting according to government directives, after the Supreme Court ruled that the building was among 17 that were built illegally on private Palestinian property and had to be torn down. Such court rulings are relatively common.

The settlers in Elazar in Gush Etzion, in the southern West Bank, linked arms and chanted slogans as the military prepared to tear down a wood carpentry workshop in the settlement on Wednesday. 

It is obvious from the images on VIN that the demonstration was more than just chanting slogans. There was violent resistance! And that will no doubt be followed by the common tactic of screaming police brutality.

I understand their commitment to their ideals. I am even sympathetic to them. I too believe the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. All of it including the West Bank (Judea and Sumeria). I just do not believe that we are in any position to act on those beliefs. And that acting on them is counterproductive in the extreme at the cost of spilling the blood of innocent Jewish people!

The RZ settlers on the other hand believe it is imperative to do whatever it takes to settle those areas and to defy any opposition to it. Including defying the law and then reacting violently to it when it is enforced.

Like Satmar they have a right to their beliefs.  Whether anyone agrees with them or not. What they do not have a right to is what is depicted in the pictures at VIN. The army had every right to demolish illegally built structures. Defiance of the law begets government sanctions. They don’t like the law? Fine. Let them get their people elected and change the law. But breaking the law comes with consequences. So does violent resistance.

I know that there are other differences between Satmar and these settlers. The primary one being that the settlers all served the army and have put their lives on the line for their people. But that does not give them license to break the law and then reacting violently to enforcement of it.

So as widely disparate as Hashkafos of Satmar and these RZ settlers are, when they are arrested for breaking the law and convicted of it, they ought to be locked up together in the same cells. They can discuss politics there all day long. They can call themselves Nazis all day long too. They can even have violent demonstrations against each other.

But at the end of the day, there is not much difference between them when it comes to commitment to Halacha and their hatred of the government. They both deserve our disdain; our condemnation; and each other!