Israel is a mess.
When the current Israeli government descends to a new low, it manages to find a deeper hole afterwards. The Likud Party’s policies have, to a large degree, isolated Israel on the world stage. Diaspora Jews suffer from a deluge of antisemitic assaults and rhetoric that worsens every day.
There is plenty of room for dispute over Israel’s attacks on Gaza, but the government’s conduct – indirect conduct, to be more specific – in the Judea/Samaria region (a.k.a. the West Bank) last weekend is inexcusable. On Friday, a 63-year-old Boston-born woman who is a Washington Post photographer was severely beaten by settlers. The next day, settlers assaulted two Arabs in another village in front of diplomats visiting from France, Poland, and Belgium.
“Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack,” said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevo, as quoted in Sunday’s New York Times. “Impunity for violent settlers must end.”
Team Bibi has given Israeli settlers three years to feel emboldened enough to terrorize Arab villagers. The government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi, is accused of stepping back as Israelis in Judea/Samaria have beaten Arabs, vandalized their homes and damaged their olive crops. Troops were accused of participating in these activities.
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said last Friday that it documented 82 violent episodes since late September, according to the Times. In front of the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu dismissed the perpetrators as 150 “juvenile delinquents,” as if they cannot do much damage. Is that the best explanation he can offer?
With a government that cannot or will not control its own “juvenile delinquents” this way, Israel and its backers have much to worry about. Israel is in deep trouble internally. This is how America treated Native Americans when we expanded into the west. Whether or not the Arabs in the territories are troublesome, this is a horrific way to treat them. It could provoke an uprising there and diaspora Jews will be put upon to answer for it.
We can hope that Tuesday’s parliamentary elections will spur necessary changes in Israeli government policies, but I wish I could be more optimistic. An Israeli friend who lives in my apartment building said the nation is half left and half right. I am not sure he is correct. If he counts Israeli Arabs, then maybe the nation is half left.
Judging by election results, Israel has clearly become far more conservative. Arab aggression since 2000 has hardened much of the population. Jews from the former Soviet Union are known to be more conservative than most Jews. The Orthodox population continues to grow substantially.
Meanwhile, many Israelis have moved to America and other countries. Israeli expats are estimated to exceed a half-million. A sign that most expats are more liberal than those who remain in Israel lies in the political dynamics in their new home areas. New York and California – the new homes of many expats – have become more liberal over the last quarter-century.
Unfortunately, Israeli expats cannot vote by absentee ballot. They must fly back to Israel to cast their votes. Only government employees who work abroad are allowed absentee ballots.
Opponents of Netanyahu’s party, Likud, could very well win, but the opposition is described as fragmented. Opponents of Netanyahu’s government could form a coalition government, but if that fails Israelis could be forced to return to the polls for another election.
Probably the most sensible arrangement would be creation of a coalition combining Netanyahu’s parties and the opposition parties, but even that prospect may already be doomed. Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot told a radio station on Wednesday that he refuses to serve in a government that Netanyahu leads. He also does not want to collaborate with Arab Israeli parties.
“Absolutely not,” Eisenkot said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “I will not serve under Netanyahu, not even in a rotation agreement. If that happens, you’ll see it; I’ll resign an hour later.”
Polls show that 23 members of his party may win parliamentary positions, according to The Jerusalem Post. Yet it appears that Eisenkot will be unable to lead a majority coalition if he spurns both Likud and Arab parties.
The Times reports that masked assailants employed bats and sticks to beat not only Arab villagers on Friday but also Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, 63, who was treated at Beilinson Hospital in Israel. She suffered a broken rib and lacerations on her legs, rear end and hip, as well as a serious cut on her left hand, her family told the Times.
On Saturday, masked Israelis attacked the Christian town of Taybeh north of Jerusalem. Mayor Suleiman Khourieh told the Times that they beat a teenager, pushed an older woman and broke the window of a Belgian diplomatic vehicle. They scuffled with the visiting mayor of a French town that is now a sister city of Taybeh, according to the Times.
“This violence shows nobody is protected – not Palestinians, not journalists and not diplomats,” Khourieh said.
How can we defend settler violence and the government’s apparent toleration of it? That’s not to mention a range of other abuses. Israel is headed for disaster if government policies do not change.
*
Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.