By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM — There’re racists in Israel, but Israel isn’t a racist country; we pray that it’ll never become one. Instances of racist manifestations are many, but mercifully the authorities are doing much to deal with them seemingly forcefully and hopefully fairly. The future of Zionism rests on their success.
Two of the pertinent issues currently in the forefront are: (a) the soldier who shot and killed a Palestinian terrorist after the latter was already on the ground and “neutralized;” (b) accounts of maternity hospitals in which Jewish and Arab women are put in separate wards.
Members of the ruling Likud party have come out in defense of both the soldier and the separate wards. Considering that at one point Likud also absorbed the Liberal Party of Israel, these pronouncements seem to reflect an internal rift and questions are being asked which way it’ll go. There’re other parties in the government coalition (notably the Orthodox-nationalist Habayit Hayehudi) that harbor similar elements, even though their leaders don’t seem to support them.
Asa Kasher, the academic who wrote the code of conduct for the Israel Defense Forces, has stated that it seems that the soldier currently under investigation is likely to have disregarded the code. Moshe Ya’alon, the defense minister who’s a former chief of staff, has spoken in a similar vein. He has been attacked by members of his own party for it.
The ministry of health has made it clear that it doesn’t tolerate segregated maternity wards even if some hospitals appear to be having them, reportedly at the request of both Jews and Arabs. The authorities are now investigating the practice to find out if basic laws have been violated.
The subtext to the debate is, of course, the so-called two-state solution. The stronger the reactionary forces the less realistic is the prospect of peace. Almost half-a-century after the Six Day War and the conquest of the territories, people are beginning to wonder what a one-state solution would look like. Will Israel then be a state where the rule of law is applied to all its citizens, Arabs and Jews alike? Or will Arabs be second-class citizens, at least until there’re more Arabs there than Jews?
Whether an Israel dominated by Jews or by Arabs, it would spell the end of the Zionist dream: either Jews will act like those who persecuted them in the Diaspora or they will be persecuted by Arabs in the way they had been treated when they didn’t have a state of their own.
Which is a good enough reason to continue to champion the establishment of a Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish state not only because Palestinians deserve it, despite their corrupt and inadequate leadership, but because it’s essential for the future of the Jewish State of Israel.
Many Israeli politicians on the right seem to be aware of it. If they’re reluctant to champion the establishment of a Palestinian state, they say that it’s because of the apparent inability of Palestinians in power to give up their dream of getting rid of the Jews and taking over the whole country.
Perhaps most of the Israeli politicians who don’t advocate a two-state solution don’t want one state either. They’d rather live with the occupation out of fear of alternatives. They tend to bury their heads in the sand refusing to face reality. Their indecision may give the (Jewish!) hotheads on the right the tools to wreck Zionist democracy, indeed Judaism, in the misguided defense of the State of Israel.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Now a resident of Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)