How would you respond if someone wanted you to ‘describe Israel?’ Most likely, the word ‘Jewish’ would be part of your answer—and for good reason: Israel is different from all other nations. It is singular. It is unique. It is the only Jewish state in the world.
To a member of Likud—Israel’s strongest political party—this Jewish uniqueness is cause for national pride. That’s why voters choose Likud—they feel strongly pro-Israel. But to an Israeli Leftist, this same Jewishness is a personal horror. Jewishness to a Leftist is a mark of Cain that Jews wear before the world. It is a humiliation that causes constant shame, much like a hated but indelible tattoo on your forehead.
As Likud prepares for a January 31 primary, those eligible to vote should understand how the Left helps one of the primary candidates, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu has chosen Left over Likud. His political behaviour, as illustrated by his political choices, reminds one of a bride who says she is uncertain about her groom but who discovers that every time she makes a decision, she chooses that same groom. So if Mr. Netanyahu appears uncertain about demolishing homes in Judea and Samaria, he nonetheless repeatedly rejects his Likud Platform’s commitment not to uproot such homes and-- even when he could justify a temporary delay-- embraces the Left’s call to demolish. With each such decision, Mr. Netanyahu demonstrates his commitment to the same groom.
When Israel’s High Court rejects common-sense requests to employ standardized judicial rules of evidence in disputes over Jewish ownership of property in Judea-Samaria—and decides in favour of Arabs who can present no evidence of ownership--Mr. Netanyahu chooses to side with Leftists who claim that forcing the Court to use rules of evidence is a ‘threat to democracy’. When a Knesset bill seeks to correct such egregious legal behaviour, Mr. Netanyahu does not support a pro-Likud rendition. Instead, he works to kill the bill. He chooses the Left of Peace Now, not the Right of Likud.
Today, the Left represents less than twenty per cent of the electorate. This (less than) twenty per cent wants to de-Judaize Israel. They want to transform the Jewish state into a ‘state of its citizens’ . They want to create a completely secular entity in order to become a cosmopolitan Europe-like state in the Middle East. Israel would no longer be Jewish. The world would cease to have a Jewish state.
In Israel, when disputes arise between Arab and Jew, the Left traditionally takes the side of the Arab just as Likud traditionally takes the side of the Jew. The Left believes that the side of the Jew is illegal. They seek to appeal to—and find votes among—the secular in Israel who sometimes seem to fear Judaism almost as much as—if not more than-- the Arab. This Left is the ‘anti-Likud’ in all matters Israel.
We can understand Mr. Netanyahu’s attraction to the Left when we look at Israel’s Left-controlled or (if not controlled, then) Left-friendly national media. Mr. Netanyahu wants to win. Who might help him? Israel’s media has a shameful history of slanting news against the Right and the religious, often for political purposes (as they did with Oslo in 1993). When Leftists and/or hostile secularists provoke public anger at the nationalist, religious or Haredi (ultra-religious) communities, non-Left observers have good reason to suspect Leftist manipulation for a political goal: they’ve done it before and, as Caroline Glick has written (Jerusalem Post, October 21, 2011), they’ll do it again.
Why would the Left support Mr. Netanyahu? Because he has chosen Left over Likud—and the Left knows it. If public anger explodes at anyone religious or nationalist, Netanyahu benefits because his chief rival—Moshe Feiglin-- is both nationalist and religious. What non-religious but pro-Israel Likud member will even consider Mr. Feiglin should ‘nationalist’ becomes ‘terrorist’ and ‘religious’ become ‘anti-Israel’? Given the language used by politicians and Leftists over recent ‘settler’ activity and during an uproar over ‘Haredi buses’, the media has ignored its investigative obligation and outdoes the Left shouting ‘Fire’. Should the media continue to foment public anger in this manner, non-religious Likud voters might indeed choose to forgive Netanyahu’s political bigamy with the Left in order to demonstrate their anger at ‘extremists’.
If that happens, Mr. Netanyahu would receive the mandate he needs to remain ‘married’ to Likud while he ‘cohabits’ with the Left. If you vote for Mr. Netanyahu in such an environment, you enable political adultery. It is as simple as that; and if you have been influenced to vote for Netanyahu because of recent news stories, the odds are outstanding that you will have been suckered once again by the media.
Beware anti-religious and anti-nationalist news stories before an election. Israel’s future depends on your intelligence.
No comments:
Post a Comment