The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
Live From the War in Israel Day 177
In the last few days, I have read two articles that left me a bit shaken. It wasn't because I was shocked by what was said; I wasn't. What I found shocking is the very forward and articulate way the points of view were made. The first was a blog by David Kornreich on the Times of Israel. Mr. Kornreich calls himself “A Haredi blogger who speaks his mind”. The title of his post was “One Haredi man’s view on drafting yeshiva boys”. He claims that the reason why Haredim will never join the army is that they are not Zionists. They do not believe that Jews need sovereignty in their own country. He says that Haredim have no pride in Israeli accomplishments (Hi-Tech, Medicine, etc.) and no need for a state. He then spends the rest of his article listing all the ways the creation of Israel has made the world worse, especially for world Jewry.
He is very clear that he is not a spokesperson for the Haredi community, but he does want to share what he believes his community's stance is. The second article was an opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times by Tareq Baconi. Mr. Baconi is the chairman of the Palestinian Policy Network, which, according to Wikipedia, bills itself as “an independent, transnational think tank, whose mission is to educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self-determination within the framework of international law." The title of the piece is “The Two-State Solution Is an Unjust, Impossible Fantasy”. His point is that the entire creation of Israel was an unjust imposition made upon the Palestinians against their will. After recounting the history of the conflict, he goes on to say that the Palestinian people will never accept a Jewish state on land that they consider their own. He says the two-state solution is a fantasy made up by the western powers that they believe is the only solution to the current conflict. He disagrees and says that the only solution that is fair, and his opinion, the one that will eventuality become reality, is a Palestinian state from river to the sea.
These opinions are the ones I believe are the real opinions of the Haredim and Palestinians. As far as Mr. Kornreich’s article, there were many comments that disagreed. My feeling is that most of those people do not represent the true Israeli Haredi society. There were 351 comments. Interestingly, most of the comments were pointing out why he was wrong about what a disaster Israel has been for the world. I admit that I did not read all of them, but I didn't see any that said the Haredim are Zionists.
I have been saying this for a while. The truth is the majority of the Haredim in Israel have no idea there is a war going on. Nothing in their lives has changed. They are not connected to the sacrifice that so many families are making. It is just not their war because it is not their country. Sure, they live here but they do not respect the authority of the state and never have. When the chief rabbi of the state, who is an employee of the state and is supposed to represent its ethos, can get up and declare that if the Haredim are drafted they will leave, we know there is a major disconnect. He did this a few weeks ago, and this while the country is in the middle of a war for its existence. How more disconnected can you be.
There used to be a time that only the extreme supporters of the Palestinians supported a one-state solution, which for anyone who truly understands, means a state without Jews. Many people have always had this view, but they were considered extreme. Today this is the mainstream Palestinian position. People like Mr. Baconi are now being included in New York Times opinion pieces. That is why college students can support a terrorist organization like Hamas, because they are really freedom fighters. They have been mainstreamed as has the whole question of Israel’s existence.
These opinions of Haredim and Palestinians are now in the majority, and they are part of the existential threat that we now face. Unfortunately, even after the war is won, we will still be dealing with this for a long time. It has been the arrogance of all previous Israeli governments that felt these were not important issues to be dealt with that have gotten us to this place. It is true, we should not have to defend our right to exist, but it is clear we need to. There is a whole generation growing up in the world being taught and believing that Israel is the root of all the world problems. It is also true that we should not have to explain to citizens of the country why they need to follow the laws of the country. Why should we need to explain why fellow Jews need to do their part when the country they live in is under attack? Shouldn’t torah observant Jews know this. I sometimes wonder, what would happen if the Palestinians went to Haredi leaders and said, if live here, you can learn all day. We will not attack you, in fact, we will protect you. Support our call for one state. Sounds far fetched? 40% of the Israeli population is Arab or Haredi. Demographically, they are the growing populations and in some ways have more in common than they don’t. It is a frightening thought.
The litmus test as to whether they want to be Israeli as well as Jewish should be army or other approved national service with a few thousand exceptions for the best students to learn. Any person that doesn’t serve without a valid exception loses the right to vote for the Knesset (why should they have a say in matters of national Israeli importance) and gets no money directly or indirectly from the government for schools (they should still have access to the state school system).
This is a reality we must face. The internal threat is the more concerning, as a unified Israel can and will defeat its external enemies, with Gd's help. A cleansing election, which I hope will get Israel beyond the sharp divides and "minority" rule, is the first step.