Monday, May 31, 2021

Have they no shame? The edge of the political cliff in Israel

 


by Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin

The end of Netanyahu's reign may be around the corner, so the media predicts! And perhaps exults.

Left, right, and center outside of the Likud and the religious parties - Aguda, Shas and Relgious Zionism - will be joining with the Arabs in the Knesset to oust one of Israel's most brilliant and illustrious leaders! Those responsible will be the following:

First and foremost, from the self-professed Right:

-At the head of the list, Yamina, whose chairman actually signed a a paper on Israel's national media saying he would never join with Yair Lapid or the Arab parties and whose party name in Hebrew means "right" Throughout the election campaigns, the party actually repeatedly promised to be to the right of Netanyahu!

Followed by so-called rightist parties:

-Yisrael Beytenu (Liberman), New Hope (Sa'ar)

From the left: 

Labor, Meretz

-From the left-leaning center: Yesh Atid, Blue and White

-From the Arabs: Islamist Ra’am

What can be more shameful than this? Israeli Jews from all political walks of life turning shaprly left and joinng Arabs who refuse to recognize the Jewish State to oust the longest-serving Israeli prime minister whose accomplishments include, among other things:

*Sovereignty in the Golan Heights

*The American embassy in Jerusalem

*4 peace agreements with Muslim countries

*5 years of attacking the Iranians in Syria to keep them from closing in on Israel

*Israel credit rating inot damaged despite the coronavirus, economy rebounding

*Tens of billion dollars trade agreements with India and Brazil

*12 years, according to the security system, with the least number of terrorist attacks

*Gas out of the sea, with Israels going to provide 10 % of all Europe's gas consumption and put billions in the country's coffers

*Under Trump, made the United States get out of the scandalous nuclear agreement with Iran

*Brought vaccines to Israel before the whole world so that Israel is now basically corona free

*Waged multiple wars against Hamas with successful Iron Dome and IAF operations doing enormous damage - only stopped this time by Biden

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All this is not good enough to win the respect and admiration of his personal and political enemies who insist on putting their own personal and political principles aside and join together in a hoped for coup de grace. It is as if they were the opponents of a "Julias Caesar," all intent on ending his illustrious career with Bennett taking on the role of "Brutus," unashamedly gyrating from right to left to right and finally to left.

Bennett now may be called the leader of the political pack displaying the worst case of unprincipled shamelessness, even for Israel - which once had MK Gonen Segev who sold his vote to approve the Oslo Accords and was later caught smuggling drugs and spying for Iran - as they prove that they have no political principles beyond the desire for power, added to personal revenge and hate for one man who in effect is the majority leader of the Jews of Israel if one subtracts the non-Jewish Arab votes in the Knesset.

One cannot be amazed by the prescience of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe when he encouraged Nentanyahu to be courageous in the face of "119 opponents" in the Knesset early in Netanyahu's Knesset career, see that meeting between Netanyahu and the Lubavitcher Rebbe here. And one can't imagine what someone like the Lubavitcher Rebbe would be thinking now, as Israel faces a political abyss!

Yes, Netanyahu is both mortal and fallible. Some day his rule must end. But like this? He has made his share of mistakes, but that has not stopped him from consistently coming out on top in every single recent Israeli election as the leader of the Likud, Israel's largest political party, while the left has totally disintegrated to be replaced by the amorphous undefined Yesh Atid and with the even more politically-obscure-in-its-"beliefs" Blue and White party.

And just what are the leaders of Yamina, Yisrael Beytenu and New Hope thinking? They all owe their start in politics to the Likud and Netanyahu in particular. Bennett of Yamina and Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu worked as personal assistants to Netanyahu, everything they know about succeeding in Israeli politics they learnt from the grandmaster himself, yet in spite of that they pay him back with personal and political betrayal.

There is no Hakarat Hatov (recognition of the good that was done for you) at work here! No sense of gratitude at all, just a bunch of petty power-hunbgry amtitious politicians scrambling over each other and trampling on their own disparate and conflicting ideologies to become the next "top honcho". And in the case of Yamina, there is unashamed disloyalty to those who voted for that party.

How will they even get along with each other, this motley crew and assembly of political rivals, a house divided against itself? All of a sudden the Arabs will vote to endorse Liberman, their nemesis? How will rightists and capitalists "Likudniks"-in-everything-but-name Bennett and Saar get along with Marxists and communists from Labor and Meretz? How will a Kippa-wearing Bennett reconcile the image of being observant by doing a political duet with known atheists and anti-religionists all around him? How will General Gantz reconcile clashing with known radical left pacifists all around him? These are some of the incredible political paradoxes that may soon become the staple of an Israeli political theater of the absurd..

I cannot help but think that as Jews we are nearing the end of a long historical road. Jewish religious texts teach that at the end of time the Jews will be dominated by a mysterious "Eruv Rav". Just what that means is not exactly clear. Some call it a "mixed multitude" of various mixed-up parties and peoples within the Jewish people who do not have the best interests of the Jewish people at heart. Are we about to enter a living example of that stage? Time will tell!

In the interim, all we can do is turn our eyes to Avinu Shebashamayim, our Father in Heaven, that He should have mercy on the Jewish people and redeem them from all their troubles and bring us to the stage of our true Redemption, may it happen soon!

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where was this first printed?

Ma Rabbi said...

Netanyahu has done a great job keeping Israel safe despite pressure from the US and the EU to go easy on the Arabs. It is a delicate balancing act and Netanyahu is a master. Bennet and Lapid are both light weights in comparison to Netanyahu. I hope he will succeed again.