The fracas in the Knesset, the “Electricity Law,” Yair Golan’s diatribe, the destruction in Ḥomesh, the loss of trust in leadership: a reckoning of a people and its leaders.
A Parliamentary Confirmation of the Loss of Governance
The events surrounding the passing of the “Electricity Law” in the Knesset left all of us in a state of considerable confusion and a sense of helplessness.
The law illustrated to all of us the extent to which the dependency of the Israeli government upon an Arab party causes the loss of the government’s Jewish sovereignty. Since the establishment of this government, we are dependent upon dictates that are liable to destroy everything that was constructed here by means of hard labor in order to establish a nation state for the Jewish people – the Jewish State – a state in which the Jews are supposed to decide their fate.
Yes, the Arabs in Israel are citizens, but the national identification of their representatives in the Knesset is with the enemy, with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, whose objective is the dismantling of the State of Israel. As long as Israel is a Jewish State, it is inconceivable that Israel will submit to an Arab-Bedouin dictate. How have we deteriorated to this state of affairs?
It is not the lack of electricity in the new communities that is the problem. Even if they ultimately connect them to the electrical grid, this is disgraceful. That connection should have been done from the outset; not as compensation for the connection of Bedouin construction. It is wrong and inappropriate to draw comparisons between the two. The new communities are, in their entirety, a Zionist undertaking intended to strengthen our foothold in the Land of Israel, and it is incumbent upon the government to see to its development. These are the Zionist objectives – to establish Jewish communities, to facilitate aliya, and to ensure security. Anyone who identifies with these objectives can be a partner in the Jewish State; but the objective of the Arab parties is the diametric opposite. Their objective is to prevent our foothold in the Land of Israel. Is that why the government was established? A government of this kind is ten times worse than fifth elections or the lack of a budget. What is the point of passing a budget if we have lost our direction?
Leadership in Crisis
The Knesset session that led to ratification of the “Electricity Law” involved that disgraceful confrontation between the Prime Minister and the members of the opposition. An additional point is the affront to our friend, chairperson of the Eretz Yisrael lobby, who is loyal to her ideals, Member of Knesset Orit Struk, with the inappropriate expression which the Prime Minister hurled at her.
The overwhelming sense is that these shameful moments in the Knesset plenum serve as additional evidence of the loss of direction and the loss of leadership control. Abandonment of ideals leads to frustration, feelings of guilt, and outbursts.
Israeli leadership requires a leader with a durable ideology, capable of withstanding internal and external pressure; a leader who is capable of standing resolutely in the face of complex challenges in one of the, if not the, most complex countries in the world.
It is not possible to continue with a government whose status quo involves “giving” to each side of the government’s components, sometimes to the Right and sometimes to the Left. They say no to an American Consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, which is excellent. They say yes to doubling the population in the Golan Heights, which is also excellent. However, on the other hand, they relinquish the Negev and the Galil by encouraging illegal Bedouin construction, caving in to Haq-al-Arab law, while leaving Judea and Samaria behind, and worst of all: Dependency on the votes of the United Arab List.
We must come to our senses! We must not allow the “giving” to the Right to silence us. We must not allow this to justify anti-Zionist acts like the evacuation of Ḥomesh or the uprooting of a vineyard containing two thousand vines in the Arugot farm in Gush Etzion. It is necessary to establish a government whose objectives are clear, a government with Zionist values in keeping with the vote of the majority of the people.
What do the Diatribes Teach Us?
The harsh diatribe unleashed by Deputy Minister MK Yair Golan against the Ḥomesh pioneers, and his characterization of them as untermenschen was met with widespread condemnation, but that is not enough. This statement comes a short time after the statement of the Minister of Public Security, Omer Bar Lev, regarding the “settler violence,” a statement that came a short time after a special symposium that took place in the Knesset that headlined what there, too, was characterized as “settler violence.”
This diatribe joins all the examples cited above of leadership that is forsaking Zionist ideals and moving in the dangerous direction of a state of all its citizens.
Wake Up
All the points cited above must inspire us and the right wing leadership to engage in soul searching and to take urgent action in the political arena that will stop the dependency on the Arab parties, in order to prevent further deterioration.