Israelis are reflecting hard now:
I am angry, and I cannot put my anger aside until things are quiet
We have become so enamored with our power, that we have forgotten the rabbinic teaching that the truly powerful is the one who knows to control its use. We can stop Palestinians from sitting on the steps near Damascus Gate. We can enter the Dome of the Rock at will. We have an abundance of stun grenades at our disposal. We can even hide behind legal arguments which allow us to expel a few hundred Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem and settle Jews in their stead. We are, after all, the sovereign. We won the war and to the victor go the spoils. But what about the rabbinic teaching: who is wise – he or she who is able to see what is to come?
During the holy month of Ramadan, it is not the time to prove the extent of our control over Muslims, but to show our ability for self-control. It is certainly not the time to intervene with the worship and celebration unless under the most extreme conditions, conditions which we were far from meeting.
Since most Israelis believe that there is no peace partner, we have removed the peace process from our public and policy agendas. But why have we removed all discourse about our moral responsibilities towards the Palestinians from these agendas? “We offered and they said no,” is the accepted narrative, and consequently all suffering they may experience is their own responsibility. Released from any responsibility, we are exempt from blame. Criticism of Israel is either antisemitic (when done by others) or betrayal (when voiced by fellow Jews).
We stand dismayed at Israeli Arab protests, bemoaning the loss of a decade of coexistence work. We feel betrayed by them for siding with Hamas, our arch enemy. And yet we have done almost no real scalable and sustainable work of coexistence. Job creation that will help the Israeli economy – yes. Coexistence, genuine respect, understanding where they are coming from and how they experience reality – no. We are after all the victors, and as such we control the narrative. We have allowed Israeli Arabs to live in a lawless autonomous zone founded on neglect. So long as they do not pose a security risk to “us,” they can kill each other at will.
There are parts of the narrative we cannot control. The reality is that with enemies like Hamas and Hezbollah, peace is impossible.
But I am angry that we are not striving to be better: smarter, more just, more hopeful, more visionary. I am angry because over and over again we choose narratives that contribute to our moral mediocrity and elevate a bad and unsustainable status quo. I cannot put this anger aside until tomorrow. Our destiny is to always have to pay a price for our existence. Our responsibility is to strive for greatness within this destiny.
No question Hamas is a repulsive, immoral enemy. And yet, Israel, enamored by its own power, has failed its duty to strive to be smarter, more just, more visionary
blogs.timesofisrael.com
Israel forgot herself
Ensconced in a quagmire of internal politics, while publicly gloating over Israel’s brilliant handling of the Covid crisis, Netanyahu has skated on peace accords made possible by Jared Kushner with Arab states that were never at war with Israel to begin with. In all the clamoring distraction and jockeying to retain power, Netanyahu and his government, and the military too, were blindsided by the vicious all-out Hamas attack, an attack of unprecedented scale.
Israel forgot herself. And in one thunderclap moment, her extreme vulnerability was laid bare by a shabby, terrorist militia of fundamentalist fanatics. Synagogues in Lod were set ablaze. The mayor called it a “Lod Kristallnacht,” alluding to the infamous Night of Broken Glass when Nazis throughout Germany rioted against Jewish homes and businesses, torched synagogues and took Jewish lives. At this moment, Jewish homes and synagogues are ablaze in Lod and in other places throughout Israel. Jewish lives have been forfeited, among them an elderly woman and her caretaker, slain by a missile that fell on and destroyed her home. Among the gravely injured Israelis are a five-year-old girl.
It is time for Netanyahu to step down, for the sake of the Jewish State; to relinquish control and to permit others to assemble in such a way as to create a balanced, vigilant government devoted not to maintaining power but to the safety and preservation of Israel and her people.
PM Netanyahu and his government were blindsided, having left the country vulnerable to a shabby, terrorist militia of fundamentalist fanatics
blogs.timesofisrael.com
