By Ted Belman
Alon Pinkas, in Haaretz, asks Can U.S. and Israeli ‘Shared Values’ Survive a Far-right Government? and writes:
“The narrative was simple: The United States and Israel are sister democracies, united by an unwavering commitment to a pluralistic, open, tolerant and diverse society. They cherish the rule of law, separation of powers, judicial independence, minority rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and checks and balances.
The Left in Israel may support that narrative but they were soundly defeated.
Israel is entitled to set its own values and chart its own course. Israel wants to be a Jewish State. All citizens must accept that. That doesn’t mean that their personal rights will be infringed. But it does mean if they are enemies of the Jewish state and support the “resistance”, they will not be tolerated. Judicial independence doesn’t mean that the High Court can ride roughshod over the Knesset. We want it to be independent but it must stay in its lane, The Knesset will decide what laws it wants and and the Courts will interpret the law, not make the law. If that means we don’t have shared values, so be it. Israel wants to be unique and different from the United States and not the same.
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partner, Religious Zionism, is a theocratic, nationalist, antidemocratic and rights-opposed party.
I beg to differ. Nothing wrong with being theocratic and nationalist. To label the right as being “antidemocratic and rights-opposed” is a smear job and not true.
“But questioning the “shared values” will not come out of thin air. They reinforce perceptions about Israel’s occupation and “colonialist control” of the Palestinians, apartheid-like policies and oppression. This is not all true or accurate, far from it. But defending Israel on substance when it is led by Mr. Netanyahu and his ilk, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will be problematic.”
“Legislation that weakens and limits the judiciary, policies against the LGBTQ community and Arab civil rights, further curtailing the authority and powers of gatekeepers, undermining the checks and balances, and even talk of annexation in the West Bank will place “shared values” under severe scrutiny and strain.
The sooner we reject the notion of shared values , the better.
“Then there’s the foreign policy realm. Unrelated directly to the possible far-right composition of the coalition, but a dimension that will surely add strain and fan tensions, is a comprehensive misalignment between the Americans and Israelis on various key issues on the diplomatic agenda. These include the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Israel’s policy toward Ukraine; Netanyahu’s adulatory relations with Vladimir Putin; a possible renewal, down the road, of the Iran nuclear deal; Israel’s ties with Saudi Arabia; Israel’s relations with China; and, above all, the Palestinian issue.
Yes there is a misalignment. We are an independent nation and can decide for ourselves. We have different interests. American should refrain from pressuring us and must respect our decisions especially regarding the Palestinians and the territories.
It’s time the US stopped demanding that every other country should share its own post-modern values. Israel has values that are far superior, but in any case, it’s up to each country to set its own policies and uphold its own values. If America doesn’t like it, too bad. There are lots of things about America that the rest of the world doesn’t like, too.
Ari Dale Amen
Israel has nothing to share with the Biden-America; let’s hope that changes.