Rosh Hashana - What of the Future?

On the eve of Rosh Hashana many of us - probably not all, reflect on the events of the past year and certainly, from a political standpoint, we in Israel have very little if anything of which to be proud.  From a personal and moral point of view, each to his own conscience. When it comes to human dignity, we have the Nation-State Law 1 that is an affront and an insult to Israel’s non-Jewish minorities, the Regulation Law 2 - (passed on 6th February 2017) legalization of land grabs for religious Zionist settlers in territories occupied during the June 1967 Six Day War.

Stealing land “in good faith” is now legal. How on earth can stealing land from its owners, whether Palestinian or others, ever be considered legal if carried out in “good faith” whatever the hell that means?  The trend in Israel is a swing towards an extreme right-wing regime that is a threat to Israel’s once vibrant democracy and a move towards a totalitarian ideology. Israel’s democracy can best be described today as an “eroded democracy”.

Today Israeli citizens, who oppose the present Israeli Government, are viewed as traitors and are ostracised and are even told to leave Israel as their ilk is not welcome in Israel by many right-wing supporters. Those who do not agree with the Likud-Bayit Ha Yehudi with the ultra-Orthodox non-Zionist "coalition tag-along's" agenda are viewed as enemies of Israel. There is no limitation to the number of terms a serving prime minister can be re-elected. PM Netanyahu, who is suspected of criminal activity and under police investigation in at least three cases, is still in office and his wife Sarah is on the road to being charged with fraud. The majority of the Israeli public still supports Netanyahu. They view these cases against Netanyahu as trumped up and a conspiracy by Israel’s enemies to bring down Netanyahu. Even in the US, Donald Trump cannot serve more than two terms as president. The US has hope that Trump will not remain president indefinitely. Why cannot Israel’s prime ministerial term not be limited to a maximum of two terms (eight years) as in the US?

The Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked 3, is doing all she can to weaken Israel’s Court system and making it conform with her party agenda. Judges appointed to the High Court of Appeal must be conservative and not conflict with her Jewish Home Party 4 (Bayit Ha Yehudi) agenda. She even stated that her efforts to introduce more conservative figures to the Supreme Court have made it more representative of the Israeli public as a whole rather than “a branch of Meretz” — the dovish left-wing political party. This, of course, is absolute nonsense. It is as if she has appointed herself to be the "supreme" Chief Justice and decide what is legal and what is not according to her boss, Naftali Bennett and his sidekick, MK Bezalel Smotrich, a right-wing extremist and dyed-in-the-wool Kahanist. These are the MKs that Netanyahu tries not to upset. Even senior members of the legal committee, past and present, who are certainly not identified with Meretz or any other political party, take strong exception to Ayelet Shaked’s statements. It appears that in Shaked’s view, true justice can only be achieved by Israel’s Law Courts if it complies with the agenda of her judge appointees according to her party agenda. Ayelet Shaked has hopes of running for prime minister in the future 5.

The list of intimidation of private citizens who are suspects of being anti-Israel (that means opposition to the present Israeli Government) continues to grow. There have been interrogations and harassment of returning Israeli Citizens at  Ben Gurion Airport.

For those who are interested in the erosion of the law system in Israel can consult the website of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel. Check out the summary of the present summer Knesset session on this link.

It is really sad that Israel’s electorate is moving in a dangerous, uncompromising right-wing direction and there is no doubt that at this rate, the chances of Israel moving towards fascism and a clamping of mouths direction in the coming New Year is not as remote as one would like to believe.

Despite my Pessimistic Prediction (I hope that I am proved wrong) I wish my readers a Happy New Year - a year of Peace between all our peoples and neighbours, Health and Happiness in the coming year.

References:

1. "Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law:_Israel_as_the_Nation-State_of_the_Jewish_People. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
2. "Regulation Law - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_Law. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
3. "Ayelet Shaked - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayelet_Shaked. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
4. "The Jewish Home - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jewish_Home. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
5. "Ayelet Shaked: I may run for prime minister eventually - Israel News ...." 18 Jul. 2018, https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ayelet-Shaked-I-may-run-for-prime-minister-eventually-562767. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.

The Nation-State Bill is the Apartheid Road

The Nation-State Bill is on the road to be debated in the Knesset. It is the total opposite of the Declaration of Israel’s Independence that states that “ it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

The Nation-State Bill makes it legal to establish “Jewish Only” settlements and to exclude non-Jewish citizens of Israel. This bears a strong similarity to apartheid South Africa’s Group Areas Act of 1950 created by the apartheid government of South Africa and assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas. An effect of the law was to prevent non-whites from living in the most developed areas.

What would happen if the US or Europe would legalize the prohibition of Jews living in certain towns? No doubt Israel would be in the forefront in accusations of anti-Semitism against these countries for passing these racist, anti-Semitic laws and rightly so. However, in Israel, there appears to be a growing racist phobia against non-Jews, especially amongst Netanyahu’s sycophants in the Knesset that would ensure a comfortable majority in the second and third reading of this despicable Bill if it reaches the final readings.  

In other words, it negates Israel’s Declaration of Independence of 1948.

"If the value of equality is not anchored in the legislation alongside the other enumerated national characteristics of the state, the law may eventually erode Israel's democratic character."

The following illustration of the Nation-State Bill  comes from Haaretz

The ramifications and interpretations of what is a non-Jew can be defined as Arabs of Muslim or Christian faith, LGBT Community, Reform and Conservative (Masorti) Jews. There are many MKs in the Netanyahu Regime, who claim that Reform and Conservative Jews are not Jews. These MKs are mostly members of ultra-Orthodox Parties (Shas and Yahadut Hatorah) and even members of the right-wing religious Zionist Bayit Ha-Yehudi Party.

PM Netanyahu is reported to be determined to get this Bill passed before the upcoming general elections in 2019. He is desperate to get the extremist right-wing votes as well to increase his party majority in the Knesset.

President Reuven Rivlin and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit oppose this racist Bill as well as top members of the Law community.

If this Bill in its present format gets overwhelming support in the Knesset then Israel’s democracy will be compromised. The damage to Israel’s image will be great and it will be on the road to becoming an apartheid, fascist state.

The Israeli Electorate is becoming increasingly right-wing and it will not be surprising that King Bibi Netanyahu will increase his support. As it is today, the present Netanyahu Government with its sycophants is damaging Israel’s democracy.

The present Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, has already started her campaign to weaken Israel’s Law Courts by appointing judges whose views are conservative and serve her political agenda. There are members in her party with extremist right-wing MK views such as Bezalel Smotrich that have a lot of clout in the present government. Smotrich and Shaked are on record for demanding the release of a minor who has spent two and a half years in prison for his part in the in the July 2015 Duma arson murders of three members of the Dawabshe family. Smotrich’s ideology is very similar to the well known right-wing racist, the Late Rabbi Meir Kahane - the founder of the neo-fascist Kach Movement.

The next stage will be censorship of culture that is not supportive of the present government right-wing agenda. Israel’s passionate, Miri Regev, Minister of Culture and Sport is doing a great job in destroying Israeli Cinema projects as well as theatre productions not conforming to her political views and those of the Netanyahu Likud shenanigans in the Knesset.

Press freedom and media will be the next victims of draconian measures. As the situation is today, people who support NGOs such as Breaking the Silence, B’tzelem, Peace Now and do not support the illegal settler movement and their unofficial allies Price Tag (pyromaniacs who burn and destroy Palestinian property) are ostracised and viewed as traitors. These are the inevitable measures that may follow as a result of the Nation-State Bill if passed.

The so-called mantra of Israel being an apartheid state will become a truth.

Jerusalem - A City more Divided than Ever!

Israelis wave flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City 

This past week, almost coinciding with the glitch-filled Trump visit, including the notorious, loutish behavior of MK Oren Hazan, who pushed his way through to take a selfie with President Donald Trump, which was the only achievement of Trump’s State visit to Israel. Another celebration took place after Trump and his retinue boarded the plane to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis.

But as to whether the US considers Jerusalem to be in Israel, whether in the eastern or western part of the city, that question remains unanswered, even after Trump's ceremonial visit.1

Some Israeli politicians have felt that Trump's visit to Jerusalem is a sign of obvious recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the city, including the Old City.2

This celebration - the 50th Anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem during the Six Day War of 1967. There was tremendous euphoria when Eastern Jerusalem fell into the hands of Israel at the time and for a few years after that until the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, together with the additional surrounding territory.3

The cracks in this euphoria began when settlements were built in occupied territories for religious Zionist zealots. These occupied territories are controversial and Israel was not able to enjoy the fruits of victory for very long as a new reality of illegal settlements were established, including in areas around Eastern Jerusalem that belonged to East Jerusalem Palestinians.

Jerusalem, while being united territorially, was never united demographically and still remains so to this day. This year, while Israel celebrated the unity of Jerusalem, it became clear that cracks in that unity is growing wider and wider so much so that those who celebrated and made themselves the most felt were the right wing, religious Zionists.

An activist with IfNotNow is carried away by Israeli police during a Jerusalem Day protest, Jerusalem, May 24, 2017. (JC/Activestills.org)

It became a political fanfare of showing who are the bosses of Jerusalem today! The Israeli flag waving, tzitzi-dangling, kippa-cladded youngsters of the extremist right wing Zionist religious, Bayit HaYehudi Party, (whose leader is Naftali Bennett) and the religious, fascist, extremist, MK and Deputy-Speaker, Bezalel Smotrich, were raucously parading the streets.

It was a frightening spectacle to watch.

These noisy demonstrations’ sole purpose was to provoke the East Jerusalem Palestinians and those who are against the occupation seeking a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Most secular Israelis were not part of this hateful, provocation and there were counter-demonstrations resulting in arrests. The loutish and provocative behavior of the right wing religious, Zionists were left to their own shocking behavior.

The message of this whole charade was a message of power and to show the world that Jerusalem is the property of the right to extreme right-wing settler movement that wishes to colonize the West Bank. There was nothing that one could view as promoting peace. There was no hint of good will or a feeling that Jerusalem belongs to everybody who lives in it irrespective of their creed or race.

Many of us cringed with shame when we saw how the masses of right-wing Zionist religious youth with their raucous, provocative screaming did their utmost to display their power over the Palestinians and others who do not share their racist, extremist views. It was an exercise of hate for the stranger in their midst.

Naturally, there were arrests and detentions of those who opposed this mass exercise of hatred and self-righteousness.

The despicable behavior of the religious, Zionist extremist right-wing is further proof that Jerusalem is far from being a united city. Unity is not based only on free access to every part of Jerusalem, but also on the desire of all Jerusalemites to accept each other. Tolerance towards all people whether they are Christian, Muslim or Jew is not part of the extreme right wing agenda as illustrated by these loutish demonstrators.

This disgraceful, Israeli flag waving and crude slogan screaming of “who is the boss” proves that Jerusalem will remain a city divided by hate for many years to come.

The United States and most other nations have not recognized Israel's annexation of territory captured in 1967, and both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.4

1.  24 May. 2017, http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Trump-visited-Jerusalem-but-was-he-in-Israel-493801. Accessed 27 May 2017.
2. 24 May. 2017, http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Trump-visited-Jerusalem-but-was-he-in-Israel-493801. Accessed 27 May. 2017.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem. Accessed 27 May. 2017.
4. 24 May. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/world/middleeast/jerusalem-day-israel-palestinians-western-wall.html. Accessed 27 May. 2017.

A Stench of General Elections in the Air as False Alarm

General election fever in democratic countries is a time of excitement. This takes place every four or five years when the citizen gets ready for the one day that he/she feels like a king or queen as the right to vote for a government of one’s choice is exercised. All the political parties gear themselves up by making empty promises and populist statements that can never be fulfilled. Despite these pitfalls, there is a dearth of polls - most of which are misleading with questionable predictions as was in the American Presidential Election of November 2016. The polls in Israel are no less accurate yet they have their pundits.

In Israel, election results are predictable, especially today. It is a foregone conclusion that the right and the extreme right wing will win the elections if held today. No party will get an absolute majority, but the right wing block with its plethora of parties with similar ideologies will form the next coalition government that will be even more radically right wing than the present.

It all started with PM Netanyahu wishing to close down the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation in order to privatise it and make it more cost-effective as well as being more of a government mouthpiece. This would mean firing 1000 employees.

The Finance Minister, Moshe Kahlon was prepared to go with Netanyahu on this and in the end, Netanyahu changed his mind after consulting with the employees’ representatives who felt that they were on the firing line. Netanyahu opposed the move but Kahlon was not prepared to back down on Netanyahu’s original decision. The closing down of the IBA is scheduled to occur on 30th April 2017. This would be replaced by a new broadcasting company called Kan that would receive a smaller budget. It would also be run by the Communications Ministry and tow the government line. In other words, Israeli and TV services would be handcuffed to a certain extent and lose their independence.

At the time of writing both Netanyahu and Kahlon are on the edge of brinkmanship and no agreement on this issue has been achieved by these two players despite the numerous meetings between the two. 

According to latest reports, an agreement between Netanyahu and Kahlon has been reached. A compromise has been made. No elections for the time being until the next storm in a teacup when we shall all be getting a feeling of deja vu for the umpteenth time.

National elections for the Knesset must take place once every four years, though early elections have occurred more often and few governments have reached the four-year limit.

General Elections in Israel have a habit of being very predictable. The Israeli electorate for the most part over the years has moved away from the left of centre and towards the right and extreme right. There are no signs that this trend will change in the foreseeable future.

The right wing parties - Likud, Kulanu, Jewish Home Party, Yisrael Beitenu, Yesh Atid (a sitting on the fence party that could under certain circumstances move to the right as its leader, Yair Lapid, is a shallow populist and adapts his views to suit his electorate) would probably form the next government. Yesh Atid has a problem with sitting in the same coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties, who are not well disposed towards Yesh Atid. Nevertheless with a little push and shove and monies pledged to their ultra-Orthodox yeshivot as a bonus, this problem will undoubtedly be solved.

The present government is the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. It is unfortunate that it is a government with no foresight and prefers to allow the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict to remain unsolved. It is a government that puts great emphasis on illegal settler expansion for which the taxpayers pay the price. Those who oppose the occupation are viewed as traitors and automatically categorised as BDS supporters. Nothing could be further from the truth. Democracy is also being eroded and people are being intimidated for their views if they do not coincide with the ruling government coalition. The stormy Minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev,  a great pundit for PM Bibi Netanyahu has threatened to withhold state funding for cultural projects that she defines subjectively as being hostile to Israel according to her narrow definition of culture. She does not even have minimum knowledge or understanding of Western culture and is condescending towards those whose appreciation of Western culture is important. A person in her position should be tolerant and accept all forms of culture whether North African, Oriental, Western or whatever, especially in Israel which is a melting pot of different cultures. So what if artists are not always portraying Israel in a positive light on stage.

Even in Judaism, the Orthodox establishment rabbis are becoming more intolerant of those who are different and many of them are even racists. Examples are Rabbi Dov Lior, Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, and  Rabbi Yosef Elitzur.  They have the final say on Halachic rulings as to who is a Jew and whether couples can marry according to their narrow interpretation of Halacha if one of the partners “Jewishness” is suspect. Under this government, the ultra-Orthodox parties have never had it so good. Under this government, there has been a rise of Jewish religious extremism and it is truly frightening. The Jewish Home Party is predicted to increase its strength according to the latest polls. It is a party that is racist and composed of people like MK Bezalel Smotrich, whose far-right views can only be described as virulently racist. He is a typical example of the ideology of the Jewish Home Party that is not very far from fascism. If one wishes to find a parallel to South African apartheid ideology, it is in Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home Party with its bunch of intolerant bigots and herrenvolk.

The Netanyahu Government under pressure from this despicable Jewish Home Party also has a Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked - a young, attractive Jewish Home Party Party firebrand with an agenda of wishing to appoint judges with right-wing views to the High Court of Appeal. She has already antagonised the present Judge President, Miriam Naor and senior judges.

This Jewish Home Party is a danger to democracy and is even interfering with the Courts to enforce its own agenda. The same can be said of the leader of this despicable party of Jewish Nationalist extremists, Minister of Education (or Brainwashing Indoctrination), Naftali Bennett, makes no bones about the education system he would like to envisage.

If general elections in Israel would result in a new government that is more open, does not erode the Israeli Court system nor tries to monopolize culture and with it censorship of films and books not supportive of the government, as well as improving the education system rather than letting it slide into the agenda of the Jewish Home Party and its inherent racism, perhaps there would be hope for a government that is all embracing of all Israel’s citizens irrespective of race, colour or creed, then the time will be ripe for elections. Naturally an honest desire for peace with our Palestinian neighbours involving making the compromises to achieve that even though the Hamas camp is not willing to negotiate. At least some moves will be made in the direction of negotiations. If the Palestinian leadership (Hamas and the PA) are not willing, at least Israel can go on record as making a genuine effort by halting settlements as starters.

Having premature elections, when there is no sign of any change, is a pointless exercise in futility and frustration. It only consolidates the present governmental stench of the right to extreme right wing party hacks in all their colours.

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"The Jewish Home" of Racism and Intolerance

The title of this post is not the true Israel but a fair section of the Israeli population that have placed their eggs in the basket of Mifleget Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home Party). They received 8 seats out of 120 seats. This party is the diabolical metamorphosis of the now defunct National Religious Party (Mafdal). It is a macabre mix of extreme right wing, religious Zionist ideology laced with hatred for the Arab Community of Israel and those who do not share their intolerant and bigoted world view. It is an illegal settler ideological party that is against the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Those, who disagree with their worldview are considered traitors to Israel.

This party, despite its relatively small representation in the Knesset, is the fear of PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud. It drags the Likud (once the liberal, moderate right wing party of Menahem Begin also known as Herut or Revisionists) into an extreme right wing direction. The leader of this political, pseudo-fascist abomination, Naftali Bennett (Minister of Education) is the pet fear of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who views him as a threat to his power base. Netanyahu and his party hacks are moving more to the extreme right, giving these party members much influence over the machinations of passing laws with a racist and anti-democratic edge. An example was the recent passing of the Regularisation Law as a result of a populist desire of Bennett and his MK hacks. The difference in ideology between the Likud and Habayit Hayehudi is marginal.  

Speaking after the law was finalised, Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Jewish Home, who was one of the forces behind the legislation, thanked the American people for electing Donald Trump as president, "without whom the law would have probably not passed". 1

Another bill instituted by Moti Yogev MK of the Bayit Hayehudi Party called the Muezzin Law forbidding the call to prayer using loudspeakers between the hours of 11.00 pm and 7.00am. This law was aimed at the Muslim Arab Community of Israel and is another example of the hate that this extreme right wing party has for observant Muslims. There are enough laws in Israel against noise pollution that are not enforced. If the existing Noise Pollution Law was enforced then it would prevent the disturbing ear-splitting Muslim “call to prayer” from the minarets. Why single out the Muslim Community for their “call for prayer”? It is a populist law aimed to gain more support for the right-wing Jewish Home Party. Even the Attorney-General of Israel, Avichai Mandelblit, is opposed to this law. There are many mixed cities with both Arab and Jewish residents such as Haifa, Akko and Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The Jewish citizens’ representatives living in these cities managed through dialogue with the Muslim religious authorities to arrive at an agreement and there was never any problem between the Muslim and Jewish Communities on this issue in the past.

The observant Muslim Arab Community is a minority group in Israel and as such are sensitive towards discrimination as well as any threat towards the “call to prayer” by the muezzin. The government showed a total lack of sensitivity to the needs of this community by trying to pass a law forbidding or curtailing their traditional custom of calling their faithful to prayer from the minarets of their mosques.

HaBayit Hayehudi has done a great disservice to Israel by introducing bills that are discriminatory and very pro-settler occupation in territories under international dispute.

There are members of this party that embrace ideologies resembling the ideology of the outlawed neo-fascist party - Kach of the Late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose ideology was deportation of Arabs from Israel and discriminating against them.

Bezalel Smotrich, who represents the Jewish Home party, praised the passage of the Regularization Law in early February as a “historic day for the settlement movement and for Israel”.2

Smotrich is a right wing extremist who created controversy by expressing support for apartheid in state hospitals with an emphasis on the Maternity Wards. Jewish and Arab MKs soundly condemned Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich for racist remarks; Israeli commentator Ben Caspit says Smotrich and his supporters are akin to 'Judeo-Nazis.'3

“Judeo-Nazis” is an apt description of the Jewish Home Party. They have an aggressive racist programme that is no credit to Israel. If the Late Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, an observant Jew in every sense of the word and one of Israel’s greatest thinkers, has used this term to describe Israel over 30 years ago, today we see that he was ahead of his time.

There is no place in Israel for a party that is divisive, racist and polarises the various population groups. It is very unfortunate that this party is gaining in strength and will be a powerful player in passing discriminatory laws.

There are other groups in Israel that share the views of this racist party - the divisive Jewish Home Party. A disgraceful group that comes to mind and is close in ideology to the Jewish Home Party is Lehava (Hebrew: למניעת התבוללות בארץ הקודש‎‎ LeMeniat Hitbolelut B'eretz HaKodesh; "Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land") is a Jewish far-right organization based in Israel that strictly opposes Jewish assimilation, objecting to any personal or business relationships between Jews and non-Jews. This group is under the leadership of Bentzi Gopstein a right-wing Kahanist extremist with Judeo-Nazi ideology.

A report by Uri Misgav of Haaretz on Apr 12, 2016, reports the Judeo-Nazi problem well:

“The Judeo-Nazis in Israel's Legislature

Racism is always offensive and it is important to fight it. But even racism has its shades, too. Knesset Member Bezalel Smotrich’s vocabulary is that of the master race.

Bezalel Smotrich speaking in the Knesset, November 16, 2015. Olivier Fitoussi

Why Israelis should be grateful for their racist politicians

Smotrich and segregated maternity wards are a sign of madness with no cure

Are we really any less racist than Smotrich?

Many true and informative things have been said and written, even on these pages, about the racist show of MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Heyehudi) and his wife. But one point has not been clarified enough, and it is important that it be clarified, despite the discomfort in dealing with its implications. This point overshadows all the political and social arguments by which the Smotriches and their comments were examined. It is impossible to continue running away from what's before us.

The Smotriches spoke of the holy and pure moment of the birth of a Jewish child. Of the demand that Arab hands do not interfere and pollute this holiness and purity. Of the refusal to share the physical space with Arabs, because Arabs are by necessity enemies. Of the baby that is born to an Arab mother and in another 20 years will murder the baby of the Jewish mother.

This is not just ordinary racism. Racism is always offensive and it is important to fight it. But racism has its degrees, too. This is the vocabulary of the master race. Of racial purity and its holiness. Of inferior races that could pollute the master race. Of the lebensraum cleansed of the enemy’s impurity. Of infants who will grow up to be murderous enemies because they belong to the enemy race. This is a Nazi way of thinking. The Smotriches and their followers are Judeo-Nazis.

A Judeo-Nazi movement exists on the margins of Israeli society. It is hard to estimate its size. It is not very broad in scope, but it exists. It makes various appearances in public in Israel. For example, the Lehava organization run by Benzion Gopstein (“Don’t even think about going out with a Jewish girl”); part of the activities of the La Familia soccer fan club (“Beitar Jerusalem will be pure forever”); the burning to death of Mohammed Abu Khdeir; the fatal arson attack on the home of the Dawabsheh family, and the celebration of the death of their 18-month-old son Ali at a wedding.

The time has come to recognise this phenomenon. Neo-Nazis exist in almost every Western nation. For some Israelis, the Holocaust was only a regrettable mistake in the address. At neo-Nazi rallies in Germany against Muslims, Jews waving Israeli flags participate. In last year's elections, the Judeo-Nazi denomination also won the right to enter the Knesset. It fell just short of winning more than one seat. Statistically, that is logical. Representative democracy reflects the segments of its society.

What is not understandable, and what is unforgivable is the attitude towards Smotrich. This is the true mirror he set up for Israeli society this week: Not everyone is like him, but everyone accepts his existence as something legitimate.

The only thing that needed to be done was to boycott him. To ignore his existence. Not to share a word with him. Certainly not a smile or handshake. Even the media did not stop interviewing Smotrich and his wife with chilly politeness. In the previous century, Likud tried to prevent Meir Kahane from running for Knesset, and after he was elected most MKs boycotted him. After that, his movement was outlawed.

Look at what happened in Israel over the past year. The Tekuma faction chose Smotrich in second place on its slate in its primaries. The party that calls itself Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) recognised the results and adopted him. After that along came Benjamin Netanyahu and promised voters they were a natural partner. Promised and kept his promise. The result is that the Judeo-Nazi faction is represented by a party that received the justice and education portfolios.

But it does not end here. Netanyahu has a coalition of 61 Knesset members. Smotrich’s vote keeps it alive. He was also appointed a deputy Knesset speaker and runs some of its sessions. The Judeo-Nazi faction sustains the government of Israel and serves as a deputy head of its parliament. It would be interesting to see what we would have said if this had happened in a different civilised country, shall we say Germany”.

1. 6 Feb. 2017, https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/136952-170206-israel-parliament-set-to-finalize-settlements-bill. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

2. 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/02/israel-mp-benefited-from-controversial-law-on-illegal-jewish-outposts. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

3. 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/02/israel-mp-benefited-from-controversial-law-on-illegal-jewish-outposts. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

  

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