Zionist government wanted

(This opinion piece appeared on Yediot's Ynet website. The author almost gets it right. Just substitute "faith-based" for "zionist" and we're good to go...)

Zionist government wanted

In past 15 years, Israeli leaders have replaced Zionist vision with 'two-state vision'

Ron Breiman

Published:

03.11.07, 21:31 / Israel Opinion

What priorities does the State of Israel need on the brink of its 60th anniversary? The Kadima prime minister indeed claimed that a leader did not have to have an "agenda" (as this is referred to in the media lingo) and that his job is merely to manage (and we can only bemoan such management.) Yet is it possible to manage without objectives and an agenda? Reality speaks for itself: The absence of vital management components is conspicuous, particularly when this is joined by denying and forgetting the Zionist vision and replacing it with the "two-state vision" in Olmert's and Livni's hollow and repetitive slogan. The only basis for the State of Israel's existence is the Zionist vision that reconnects the people to its country after thousands of years with the absence of political independence. The way to realizing this vision is through the concentration of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel. Therefore, immigration and absorption are the most important national missions. It is sad to see the various immigration absorption ministers insulted when they are appointed to this post and watch them pass their time at this important ministry doing nothing and waiting for an opportunity to be promoted to a more senior post, such as foreign minister for example. True Zionist leadership would have placed the Zionist vision – immigration, absorption, and settlement at all parts of the country in general and particularly in the Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and the Negev desert – at the top of the national priority order, rather than the "peace vision," which is unfeasible in our generation or the "two-state vision," which is a recipe for eliminating the Zionist vision. True Zionist leadership would have turned the Immigration Absorption minister into the most senior and challenging post. True Zionist leadership would have dealt with developing the environment, economy, tourism, and higher education, and would have made sure to spread the population throughout the western Land of Israel not only in the coastal plain. Government leads Israel to bankruptcy True Zionist leadership would have advanced settlement activity instead of planning evacuations. There is no message that is more negative to a Jew who considers moving to Israel than the forceful expulsion of Jews in their own country, on the orders of the Israeli government. In 1937, when the Jewish community in the country was 20 times smaller than it is today, the British Peel Commission proposed that Jewish immigration be limited to 1,000 per month, that is, 12,000 per year. Seventy years later, with a powerful country, military, and economy, Israel makes do with this level of immigration per year and nobody views this as a failure or problem that requires a change in the national priority order. In hedonistic Israel, the phrase "changing priorities" refers to undermining Zionist settlement activity and promoting the vision of the other nationality, the enemy. In the State's first years, and under a Zionist leadership that knew how to present challenges, set objectives, set a personal example and demand efforts and sacrifice, we witnessed immigration and settlement that turned the newly born country into a wonder and model of admiration. In the past 15 years, under a leadership that abandoned the Zionist vision and replaced it by the empty gods of "peace," "new Middle East," and the placing of the individual ahead of the collective and arrogance above our roots, Israel distanced not only from the Zionist vision, but also from the slogan of a "country that is fun to live in," and has turned into a subject of ridicule both at home and abroad. The current government's conduct led Israel to bankruptcy in all areas. The time has come to replace it with a Zionist government that will place true Zionist values at the top of its agenda and be tested according to them.

Click here to rate this post on JBlog