There were no warning signs, but it happened again: Amnon Abramovich [a senior Channel 2 TV journalist] struck again. After retreating shamefully, and apologizing, for the farce of reporting about "a very big case that will be brought before the attorney-general," a case in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to play a starring role - this man [who has said that he 'protected' former PM Ariel Sharon from damaging investigative reports] published a column in a newspaper in which he hints, not very subtly, that Netanyahu should beware if and when he intervenes in the planned reforms to the judicial system because the doors of the legal claims against him have not been locked, and neither has the motivation for vengeance. Justice Minister Ya'akov Neeman knows this all too well from his previous, and short, stint as justice minister in Netanyahu's first government. What is Abramovich alluding to? That he who goes against the establishment and wishes to change the old order, in other words, he who works to abolish the immoral advantage that the Left has within the legal establishment - will find himself framed with a serious crime?! This cannot be, as Abramovich came out against Neeman, Likud MK Yariv Levin, coalition chairman Zeev Elkin, and Likud MK Danny Danon [all four legislators have been active in proposing bills to reform the justice system in Israel.] According to Abramovich, it is these four men who are the danger, and not the legal establishment, right? It is worth repeating again and again: in the eyes of the Israeli Left, there never was a political revolution in Israel [Menachem Begin's Likud victory in 1977]. The current Likud government as well as the coalition's other members are characterized by this very desire to level the playing field. The generation of Israel's future leaders wish to completely overturn the old order. Their activities push the Left into a state of constant defensiveness, into relentlessly lashing out at everything that moves: from the prime minister, who is the main 'culprit' in our country's change of direction, to "transgressive" ministers, to "dangerous" Knesset members, to wild, stereotyping attacks against entire populations that tend to vote for coalition parties. These include the ultra-Orthodox, the settlers and occasionally religious Zionists as a whole (see the shameful "investigation" that appeared in Yedioth Ahronoth about two weeks ago on the religious Zionist seed communities in development towns). Week after week we witness public "firestorms" and "revolutions," publications whose goal it is to stir up endless discomfort in the public toward our elected government. The message underlying this media coverage is that, sure, compared to the storms and troubles surrounding us we are an island of sanity and stability; true, our economy is excellent and our security situation not too bad, thank God, and overall our cultural life is flourishing, but do not forget how bad we have it. Do not forget that the nation demands some kind of justice and our current government is endangering democracy, because we are the only ones who know what is good for you and until you vote for us, we will continue to tell you how bad you have it: very, very bad. That is the way it goes when the "sons of darkness" are in power. The bad news is that when the firestorm over the "exclusion of women" passes, a new scandal will appear. The good news is that all of this points to the ways in which Israeli society is changing for the better. Do not believe all the vultures tearing at their clothes in mourning. Contrary to their predictions of doom and gloom, Israeli society is advancing toward ever fuller democratization, in which the values of the "second Israel" are moving to the forefront. The real friction Israel is likely to experience, between conservatism and liberalism in their various manifestations, could actually take us to a much better place than where we are presently.
Rebellion of the excluded
It is true that the Israeli public continues to vote for conservative governments, but the centers of power: the legal establishment, academia, and the media remain, to this day, impervious to the public's will. In other words,these centers of power remain in the hands of a small group with a multitude of spokespeople, who from time to time release hints of threats, and those who need to understand the threats will understand them. Abramovich constructed his column with the concept that Netanyahu is motivated by fear and thus wishes to reform the legal system. I, on the other hand, think that articles like these, from the consiglieri of the Left, point in the other direction: that the fear lies with those that threaten.
Zeev Elkin, Yariv Levin and others in the Likud's young leadership and its orbiting political parties, belong to a generation that did not know the Mapai [the precursor to the Labor party which ruled Israel until 1977] and its rein of fear. We are talking here about a young leadership who was raised under the Likud's leadership of the country. Their minds are probably more liberated than those of the generation of the Likud's so-called 'Princes,' who still pander to the media's good graces. There is almost no disagreement over the content of the proposed reforms, and the majority of the Likud's elders support the moves of the young leadership but think that their goals could be achieved with less noise, and without public clashes. The young leaders, for their part, are tallying up all of the Likud's years in power, and are no longer willing to accept the illogical distortion that despite the years in government, the centers of power mentioned above remain untouched. The Israeli public elected its representatives for this also - to finally give voice to the majority in the places they were excluded from since the beginning.
A TIME FOR PEACE, AND A TIME FOR WAR
By Bernard J. Shapiro
We find all the expressions of horror a recent Rabbi's ruling concerning a soldier's obligation to avoid abandoning army bases and settlements to terrorists, to be hypocritical, self-serving, and unfortunate. The Israeli government is in rebellion against everything that Israel, Zionism, and Judaism are all about. They are the ones causing the rift in the body politic and they will be totally responsible for any resulting violence. We must pray that this does not happen.
When will the Nationalist Camp realize that we are "at war already" with the PLO supporting tyranny that rules Israel? At what point will Israelis realize that theCIVIL WAR they fear, IS ALREADY TAKING PLACE AND THEY ARE LOSING? Why don't members of the Nationalist Camp understand that FORCE is being used by only ONE side and that is the government.
The monopoly on power must be broken or there is no hope.
Under the Nazis, the Jews of Warsaw numbered over 500,000. They were depleted with regular deportations aided by Judenrats (Jewish leaders). The Revolt in Warsaw began when the Jewish population was down to 50,000 (or 90% murdered). At what point is it OK to rebel? When is civil disobedience OK? When is civil war a better course than suicide? All throughout history there have been rebels and loyalists. History is usually written by the victors but truly there is seldom a universally accepted moral standard as to what is a proper rebellion and what is not. We can say with absolute certainty, however, that the Jewish return to Zion and our struggle today for Eretz Yisrael are more righteous than any other struggle for national liberation in the history of the world.
The Jews of the rest of Yesha must not be passive pawns in the political surrender of their homes. They must fight the Arabs, where necessary, to maintain their travel, water, and land rights. If the Israeli government retreats, leaving them behind PLO battle lines, they must be prepared to go on the offensive militarily to secure safe contiguous areas of Jewish control. The defeatist Israeli leaders, who have surrendered our Jewish rights to Eretz Yisrael, should be told that there are still proud Jews in Yesha who will give up neither their inheritance from Abraham nor their right of self-defense.
Exercising ones right to self-defense is a moral imperative. There is a lot of hypocritical talk coming from the government about the danger of Jew fighting Jew. These warnings are coming from the likes of the left who delighted in shooting Zionist (Betar) teenagers swimming to shore after they forces sank the Altalena in 1948. These same hypocrites are putting the Jews of Israel in life threatening peril. They care nothing about Jewish lives!
Should the Jews of Yesha be forced into military combat -- most likely against Arabs, but, G-d forbid, perhaps also against Jews and we must pray that this does not happen -- they would be fully justified. They will be fighting for the security of Israel and the future destiny of the Jewish people. These brave Jews would be continuing the long tradition of Hebrew Warriors, including Joshua, David, the Maccabees and Bar Kochba, who fought against all odds to save their people and their country.
The glorious Hebrew Warriors who defeated five Arab armies in 1948, three in 1967, two in 1973 and the PLO and Syria in 1982 must not surrender their Jewish homeland to an evil terrorist, who delights in killing Jewish babies. The Brave Heroes of Zion must not limit themselves to passive civil disobedience. Freedom sometimes needs to be secured through the barrel of a gun. If it is considered patriotic to die fighting Arabs for Israel's survival, then it is just as patriotic to fight against Jews who would lead Israel to destruction. While such internal Jewish fighting would be dreadful, it is a consequence of the government's disregard for the security and well being of its citizens. At this great time of trial and apocalyptic threat, the safeguarding of the future of the Jewish people's right to Eretz Yisrael must take precedence.
MAY THE ALMIGHTY WATCHMAN OF ISRAEL PROTECT HIS PEOPLE FROM THE DANGEROUS POLICIES OF OLMERT (AND ALL THE OTHERS) AND HIS GANG OF TRAITORS. MAY HE LIBERATE HIS PEOPLE FROM CRUEL TYRANNY AND RESTORE ZIONIST RULE TO JERUSALEM.
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Bernard J. Shapiro is the executive director of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies and editor its monthly Internet magazine, The Maccabean Onlineand its daily email broadcast, The Freemanlist.
Saturday 7 January 2012
Dror Eydar
[Unfortunately I am forced to revise and reissue this article. It was written originally during the early days of the Oslo Appeasement and was the cover editorial in the August 1995 issue of THE MACCABEAN.]
Conditions in Israel may have passed the period where civil disobedience would be effective. A massive outpouring of Israelis prepared to get arrested in civil disobedience would have stopped the Oslo Suicide Pact years ago. Now, it appears that only force of arms may save the country. The government plan under Israeli PM Ariel Sharon the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza and Northern Samaria has already been done. Plans were drawn up in great detail. Soldiers were recruited for this evil task from volunteers with no Jewish, moral or Zionist sensibilities. Jews had a choice: being massacred or abandoning their homes of three decades for some compensation. Many are still homeless today. Their ability to defend themselves have been thwarted by the government in collusion with the terrorists. The terrorists and their supporters, the Egyptians, took over their homes and set up a safe haven for the training and dispatch of terror the world over. Israel has been subject to increasing attack by rockets and terrorist intrusions but is paralyzed by agreement with Egypt and the US.
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