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| Rabbi Hillel Goldberg (Photo credit - Avital Rotbart) |
Those who usually make this charge are Palestinian leaders, a few far left politicians that sympathize with them, sympathizers in the halls of American academia’s leftist faculty, and their sycophantic students. While there is a fair amount of that kind of racism and prejudice among the extremist right wing settler types that take pride in revenge pogroms in Palestinian villages, that is not the national ethos, nor is it in any way a government policy. Not even the current one.
But the sad reality is that racism and prejudice; resentment and hatred does exist in Israel and has existed going back to pre-state times. As noted by Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, editor and publisher of the Intermountain Jewish News:
Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews in Israel, especially if the Sephardim are religiously observant and the Ashkenazim are not, each carry a long history of resentments. The ethnic resentments illustrated in the vignette above (see there) are only one of the fault lines.
This has never been more overt than now. It isn’t only Sephardim that experience this kind of prejudice. It seem to be infecting the entirety of the Israeli people in one way or another. Which has recently become more overt than at any time in Israel’s history. The hatred that has been generated is palpable. Whether political or religious - the left hates the right and the right hates the left. Each side believing they have the moral high ground. In their minds, justifying their resentment and hated.:
There is also the resentment of Orthodox Jews who do not serve in the Israel Defense Forces and the reciprocal resentment of the secular elite that has little or no respect for the value of Torah study.
There are the resentments of the residents of Jewish communities in the West Bank for not allowing for an independent Palestinian state and the reciprocal resentment of the Israeli left for dismissing the holiness of the land of Israel, all of it.
I believe these attitudes are the single most motivating factor in protests on both sides. The hateful rhetoric one hears against the other side and their placards make that pretty obvious.
Is there any justification for that kind of resentment on each side? Well, as noted yes there is. Each side has legitimate issues with the other side. The hatred results when one side has the power to control the other. That is what happened when the law of the land was ultimately controlled by the left in the form of its liberal Supreme Court. And that is what is happening now that the right is in control and weakened the absolute authority of the court.
At its essence racism. prejudice, resentment and hatred are winning the day.
Is Israel doomed to live like this? Is it even possible? I don’t think so. To quote Lincoln: A house divided against itself cannot stand. And yet, I don’t see any kind of reconciliation in the offing. The two sides hate each other too much. And there is nothing standing in their way to disabuse them of that hatred. The left hates the right nd thinks they are all a bunch of racist religious fanatics. and the right and thinks the left is just a bunch of Godless, self centered, hedonists. It takes real leadership to change that dynamic.But as Rabbi Goldberg suggests:
The absence so far of leaders who can, in fact, unite, and not just speak the language of unity, be they politicians, rabbis, scientists, intellectuals or simple people, is also unparalleled. In the past, the loyal opposition stopped at the water’s shore. In the past, the likes of the leftist Yitzhak Rabin, hero of the Six Day War, appreciated the likes of the rightist Menachem Begin, even before Begin forged Israel’s first peace, with Egypt…
They who hold the power have the higher responsibility. Menachem Begin instructed his followers not to fire on the Jews who sank the Altalena, bringing desperately needed weapons to Israel during its War of Independence. There is to be no Jewish civil war, Begin declared, no matter the price.
Netanyahu must rise to the occasion. It is not too late. I know that people in power tend to try and hold on to it at all costs. Netanyahu has shown himself to be a victim of that mentality. But he has also shown himself to be a great leader in the past.
The conventional wisdom of the left, though, sees him as a narcissist interested only in himself. That would not only sell his mother to the devil, but will personally deliver her.
I don’t think that’s true. But I also think it will take a lot for him to summon up the courage to rise above the urge to stay in power at all costs and ultimately do the right thing, Which would be to work with the opposition and arrive at a consensus on - not only reforming the Judiciary but on all legislation. Legislation that everyone can live with. He is too smart not to see the reality of extreme divisiveness and the direction the country is is going. Fast.
Will he rise to the occasion? I don’t know but unlike his many fierce detractors, I truly believe that in his heart of hearts, Netanyahu is a patriot. This would be a good time for him to show it.
