By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM–Most of what’s happening in Israel these days and some of what’s happening in the rest of the world is viewed here in the context of the forthcoming general election.
Thus the elaborate and drastic preparations to meet the expected snow storm – the first installment of each has been and gone, but more is on its way – is seen by many as an effort to show that those in power are on top of things. The implication is that you can rely on the Netanyahu government to take care of us in all matters, including the weather, also after the elections.
The government reaction to the killings in Paris makes this even more obvious. If Paris is so exposed, how much more is Israel! But, so the argument goes, our government is strong and will always make sure that terrorists will be dealt with.
This is the favourite stance of Netanyahu and his Likud party. He likes to depict the opposition leader Isaac Herzog and his running mate Tzipi Livni as weaklings.
There’s a rumour that Naftali Bennett, who claims a stellar army record, has agreed with Netanyahu that his price for joining a Likud –led government will be the defense portfolio. Though Netanyahu has assured the current defense minister, former Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, that there’s no such deal, the facts may be different.
Along the same lines, Moshe Kahlon, the founder of yet another right-of-centre party, has announced that the second name on his list will be that of General Yoav Gallant who was bypassed last time as chief of staff and also seems to have aspirations to hold the defense portfolio in the next government.
The Herzog-Livni party seems to have sought to be different by stressing social justice rather than defense. That’s why it has enlisted Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, a well known economist and the author of an important report about social justice in Israel, for the third spot on its list.
One of the reasons for my speculation that Herzog-Livni will want Shas in its coalition is because its former/present/next leader Arieh Deri being ultra-Orthodox shows little interest in military defense and much in better conditions for the poor, many of whom he hopes will vote for him.
Ari Shavit, the famous author of My Promised Land, has argued in his column in Ha’aretz that Herzog-Livni should augment their team with people who have impeccable defense records in order to assure the electorate, to prove that Netanyahu’s criticism is unwarranted and to show that their people can do as well as Ya’alon, Bennett or Gallant.
It’s, of course, impossible to argue against the importance of defense in the struggle for Israel’s survival. But for Israel to thrive, not just survive, all leaders must also address the growing social inequalities in the country with some 1,5 million citizens said to be living below the poverty line. Ironically, the repeated stress on defense may be a sign of cowardice in refusing to face the country’s deteriorating social fabric that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.
Hence this question: Is it too much to hope that the next government will in no way compromise on defense to assure Israel’s survival, yet at the same time pay more attention to the survival needs of its poor citizens? To separate the two is an unwarranted political ploy to divide Right (defense) from Left (social justice).
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Rabbi Marmur, spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Canada, now resides in Israel. Your comment on this article may be posted in the box below or sent directly to the author at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com
Have you written on the haredim? How to bring them into the economic mainstream is more than a political problem. How to bring them into the military mainstream is more than a political problem. Both seriously jeopardize Israel as a society. The Iranian threat. Etc. etc. unfortunately the labor approach does not recognize that one must survive (see the famous Jewish psychologist Maslow) then one, when one has a resources, seeks to actualize.
Two thirds of Israel’s Arab citizens are happy with Israel. 85% would prefer to remain under Israeli sovereignty than under Palestinian authority sovereignty. Bringing these Arabs into the Israeli mainstream without jeopardizing Israel’s security and Israel’s nature as a Jewish state is a problem. This is beyond normal party politics.
As a Christian, I am dismayed at the political divisions in Israel which weaken it and threaten its survival.It is fortunate for Israel that Christian supporters of Israel probably outnumber Jewish supporters. Rather than go into a full discussion I would like to present you with observations of a non-Jewish US military leader who has had more than 30 years experience including advising the Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian military : working with the Palestinians and Lebanese on development and public health issues: and teaching, advising, and mentoring more than 1000 graduate students in public health and engineering from throughout the Islamic world.
The key is the HATRED FOR JEWS that existed well before Israel existed. It is a hatred for Jews, …… NOT ONLY ISRAELIS, BUT ALL JEWS….. anywhere in the world.
A peaceful Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with a Jewish state—-What’s not to like?
Painful concessions for peace (and I emphasize FOR PEACE) —What’s not to like?
Unfortunately compromise is not in the vocabulary of the Arab world nor of the Palestinians. It is that Israel blinked and they gained the victory on their path TOWARD ONE NATION, ISLAMIC, FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA.
No matter what Mahmoud Abbas obtains, the Palestinians will keep demanding more and more.The Arabs on every opportunity rejected any approach to a 2-state solution. Current polling by Palestinian academics indicate more than 85% of West Bank Palestinians reject a 2 state solution and an overwhelming majority view a 2 state solution as a step toward redeeming sacred Moslem lands ( 100 % of the current state of Israel). Remember, the goal of the Arab world and PA is a Jew-free West Bank and East Jerusalem and eventually a complete conquest of 100% of Israel.
For Israel to bank on US commitments as promises that will be kept by the United States is suicidal. This has been true of both Republican and Democratic administrations. Eisenhower reneged on his commitment to keep the Suez Canal open for free navigation. Pres. Johnson’s reassured Israel about preserving Israel’s free-navigation rights. Then, Johnson lied directly to the Israelis telling them that he was actively organizing an international maritime force to prevent the blockade of the Strait of Tiran , when in fact no such force was ever actually planned or even contemplated. George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice assured Israel that “we will not permit Hezbollah to re-arm” . To “encourage” Prime Minister Sharon to take certain actions president George W. Bush gave him a letter diplomatic letter explicitly recognizing Jewish settlement rights in certain areas. Then,Pres. Obama and Secretary of State Clinton 1st claimed that the letter that George Bush give Israel concerning the settlements did not exist. When Israel proved the existence of the letter, they then explicitly reneged on the explicit commitments that had been made in this letter.
Unfortunately , as long as the Arab world and the Palestinians reject the existence of Jews and/or a Jewish state and maintain the position of no recognition and no peace; demand that any area they takeover should be Jew-free. ; maintain that even if they get a State, the residents of the camps on the West Bank, in Jordan, Syria, etc. would not be citizens of this new state but would have the right of unlimited return to the state of Israel; and that all of Israel is unredeemed Islamic territory, THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE