Jabotinsky on National Health Insurance
As the American debate on health care rages, this reporter believes it is worth noting that the founder of the so-called right wing of the Zionist movement, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, advocated universal healthcare. Though opposed to socialism and the idea of class struggle--which he viewed as inherently menacing to his nationalist ideals--Jabotinsky essentially championed a variation of what came to be known as the Scandinavian welfare model.
"The basic needs of a human being, which today a person must fight for ... comprise in essence five elements: food, housing, clothing, the possibility of educating one`s children and the possibility of receiving medical attention in the event of illness," he wrote decades before the founding of the State of Israel. "In Hebrew, these five elements may be arranged according to initials: Mazon (food), Ma`on (housing),Malbush (clothing), Moreh, (education) and Marpeh(medical care). The five M's.
"With regard to all these elements, there exists in every country and in every period a certain conception of the required minimum. And the duty of the state, in my conception, must be to provide these to any citizen who declares that he is in need of them. This is the first of my `laws.` From this, it must be ensured that the state possesses the possibility to provide these `five M`s` to all those citizens in need of them. How will the state acquire this? The answer to this is my second `law.` The state will acquire this possibility by obligation from the nation, as today it imposes other taxes and requires that young people serve in the military."
Jabotinsky drew his inspiration from the Hebrew Bible. He explained that his economic plan for a future Jewish state was "clearly based on the conviction that free economic competition is one of the most powerful motivations in life. Let people struggle, lose and win. It is only necessary to cushion the arena with soft grass, so that whoever falls will not be too painfully injured.
"This cushion is the Sabbath, the gleanings, the tithe, all the various means by which the State takes pains to prevent use from turning into exploitation, and poverty from becoming destitution. And once in a while the referee's whistle is heard in the arena: winners and losers return to their starting positions, and line up shoulder to shoulder. Precisely because the game must go on."
Reading Jabotinsky--an anti-socialist--it is easy to see why Israelis and Europeans alike are appalled that universal health coverage is not viewed by Americans as a fundamental right of all citizens.
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