Agree with him or not, his toughness deserves to be admired. Op-ed.
You have to wonder if Benjamin Netanyahu ever watched the revered classic movie, “High Noon.” If so, how many times? If not, why not? It suits him perfectly.
As cited, the movie was a hit for Dwight Eisenhower. Ronald Reagan named it his favorite film. Bill Clinton screened it 17 times in the White House.
What was the attraction?
The movie is about one thing…the loneliness of a man who sticks to his convictions even as the rest of the world stands against him.
(Shades of Biblical Abraham, and indeed, all the makers of the film were Jewish, writer, producer, director.)
Friends, colleagues, neighbors, none can be counted on during his time of need. He can’t go on, but he must go on, and he does go on.
That is the thread of the film and it is the sum of Netanyahu at this moment of his leadership.
Every which way he turns, he finds resistance, upon the pretext of his judicial reform initiative…a bill which is only days away from a decisive vote in the Knesset.
High Noon, indeed.
He believes firmly in his cause and even while being snubbed and battered, he moves forward resolutely.
Agree with him or not, his toughness deserves to be admired.
Dislike him all you want, magnify Netanyahu’s imperfections, run with Lapid’s hounds, but the underdog gets the cheers.
He may as well be Will Kane, the central character of “High Noon,” as played by Gary Cooper.
In this Western, the town is backwater Hadleyville, and the clock keeps ticking toward noon.
That’s when a group of villains are arriving by train to kill him. Cooper is the marshal, and they have old business with him.
He does have a choice. He could leave town. Cut and run.
Similar to what’s being demanded of Netanyahu by his defense minister, and others…that he drop the judicial reform bills. Forget the whole thing.
Not likely.
Likewise, Cooper in the film chooses to stay and fight. He will be outnumbered. So he is confident that the townspeople will come to his side and help him out.
One by one, they turn him down. When he runs to the church for help, he is rebuffed and shamed.
He is alone, after all. Netanyahu could write the script for a scenario quite like this.
A generation ago, the screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, and in the writing, he realized that his plot, circa the 1890s, was playing out in real time between Washington and Hollywood. This was the early 1950s and the Red Scare was on. HUAC…the House un-American Activities Committee…was probing communists and communist sympathizers.
You didn’t have to be one, but simply by attending a cocktail party in the wrong house, you were branded a “fellow traveler.”
The Committee…and later McCarthy in the Senate, set sights on Hollywood.
In the Hearings, lives were being ruined by insinuations. People were blacklisted and even jailed if they refused to be contrite, or snitch, that is, name names.
Exactly as it happened for screenwriter Carl Foreman. He was blacklisted, along with the rest of the “Hollywood 10.”
His co-producer, Stanley Kramer, broke up with him, and, alarmed that their Jewishness would be deemed un-American, nearly all the Hollywood moguls testified fearfully before Congress, and promised, on bended knee, to shut their doors to any writer, actor, director, producer who might be a suspected pinko. Cave, they did.
Their studios were safe so long as the Jews behaved like good Protestants.
Blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, like Foreman, refused to snitch. Foreman fled to England.
Trumbo spent time in jail, and like other scribes, later wrote on using other names.
Their own names were anathema.
Until both Otto Preminger and Kirk Douglas broke the hex. Preminger credited Trumbo for “Exodus.” Douglas credited Trumbo for “Spartacus.”
The Blacklist was dissolved and busted…thanks to these courageous Jews, Preminger and Douglas.
“High Noon,” directed by Fred Zinnemann, was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, and is recognized as among the world’s greatest films.
Gary Cooper won the shootout against the bad guys. We’ll see how the movie ends for Benjamin Netanyahu.
New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva.
He wrote the worldwide book-to-movie bestseller “Indecent Proposal,” the authoritative newsroom epic, “The Bathsheba Deadline,” followed by his coming-of-age classics, “The Girls of Cincinnati,” and, the Holocaust-to-Montreal memoir, “Escape from Mount Moriah.” For that and his 1960s epic “The Days of the Bitter End,” contemporaries have hailed him “The last Hemingway, a writer without peer, and the conscience of us all.” Contact viewopinian@aol.com
Ted, The more I hang out with you the more, I realize the importance of what you’re doing. I believe God raise’s each of us up to operate in the sphere we are placed in life and sometimes I think that work we do is more for others then for our self’s.
I see the raw brain power that is combined in the people who follow and comment here. I’m the least of all those who venture to speak up. Even when we disagree, I personally try to respect each comment, even when I think they are so far from me, in their thoughts that there in another world. I do not know the numbers of your readership, but everyone who wants to look to Israel and follows the God of Israel, needs to read your site to help them understand what is happening in the world.
But, what I can’t understand is why? I have been thinking for days about responding to your article / question – Why do the US and EU support Palestinians? I agree they(powers that be) want to “maintain status quo”. The only answer I can come up with is to keep the parties divided and fighting in order to keep attention off of their evil plans. The Rabbis teach, a righteous person will work to bring peace between two people.
Your link in your reply says, “Al-Aqsa is the last small corner of Palestine not under full Israeli occupation. Hasson says Palestinians therefore take pride in resisting Israel’s occupation of the site, but if Palestinians lose Al-Aqsa, it will be as if “it’s all lost. Nothing is left.”
Correct! coming from a place with my belief that the TORAHis truth(that is not a misprint). I along with every other God-Fearing individual, is feeling the oppressive powers of the evil that is operating in the world. I believe, as stated before that the situation is being setup in order for the nations to come against Israel. A full fledge attack to once and for all deal with the “Jewish problem”. May HaShem come quickly, to deal with our corrupt evil greedy bastard leaders at every level of Government around the whole world. Did I leave anyone out?
@Tanna and Peloni
The commitment is to “maintain the status quo”. Here’s what Al Jazeera wrote about it.
Peloni, I agree completely. I’m advocating if there is not true open and equal access and worshipers not maintain the peace, then no one be allow up there. Years ago, while on the mount walking around, I was approached by a gun toting muslim and told to move from where I was. It was not a restricted area. I was presently, at the time having a talk with the creator and just when I thought an answer was coming this jerkoff Interrupted the conversation.
So, your correct Israel protects free access for the Muslims. you said, “Closing access to the holy sites of any other faith would not be tolerated and objections to such actions by the international community would only create a new furor of condemnation against Israel.” I agree again, but somewhere, someday Israel is going to have to stand up for themselves. If Israel bends over backward long enough, they’ll be kissing their own ass.
I guess if I was king, I would tell all parties in volved, just like children, if you can’t play in peace then no one will play.
@Tanna
Israel has made the commitment to protect free access to the holy sites within its borders such that all faiths are respected and freedom of worship should not be restricted. Unfortunately, the only faith which is restricted in any way is that of the Jews, and this is done routinely, simply to appease her oppressors and international criticisms. Conceding to the violent demands by the Islamists to keep Jews from worshiping will not mollify those who are making such violent demands. Indeed, such weakness in the face of violence will only result in such misbehavior being reinforced as it gained its desired result.
Closing access to the holy sites of any other faith would not be tolerated and objections to such actions by the international community would only create a new furor of condemnation against Israel. Unfortunately, Israel has only itself with which to answer for selectively marginalizing such access to the only the Jews, which is why this policy of weakness has been chosen. This is simply wrong from many perspectives. The use of overwhelming force to keep the peace and maintain access to the worshipers of all faiths was the better choice, IMO. At a minimum, however, your suggestion of closing access to both faiths would have been better than the policy chosen.
When I heard the news, I also thought Netanyahu made a bad call. But, after thinking about it… If he did this to calm the near-term situation, then I agree. But he should demand the right for Jews to go to the temple Mount at certain times and the holy days and when the Muslims go the Jews stay away and vise versa. And if they refuse to work with the Israeli’s he should lock the gates and NO ONE goes up to the mount. See how the world likes that. Fighting with the Arabs and giving in to them is like fighting with your mate. If each of the two parties can’t comprise, then you must separate. The sooner the better.
Another surrender by Bibi. There is no reason for Israel to submit to terror.
Well, at least one member of the govt understands how to deal with the situation. If only he had the power to implement such appropriate policies rather than being held back to simply raise objections to such idiocy as is being implemented in its place.
Sorry, Netanyahu caved. He he decided to postpone the law until summer and to “talk with opponents for a compromise”. And the “protests” died immediately. What a shame.
I see a few led by ONE .I hope he has HATIKVA that ISRAEL will be saved .
The rest are dreck who do not care if ISRAEL survives…just gimme gimme !
Eddie
@Zorn
I will. Good suggestion.
@Ted Please take time limit off editing comments. Other sites don’t have them.
@Zorn
Please stop the practice of making separate comments for each of your points. Combine them into one comment.
Fred Zinneman also directed “The Search” (1948) which was the first movie to deal with the Holocaust, however obliquely. One of my favorite films. Featured real child survivors as extras.
Has one funny line:” English is a great language to learn. People speak it all over the worrld. Even England. Kinda'” 😀
Good article.
He was a passionate Zionist.
He wrote one about Moses, one about the Maccabees (“My Glorious Brothers”) one about Queen Berenice of Judea. And also patriotic novels about the American Revolution and the immigrant experience among many other books. His memoir reads a lot like David Horowitz’s and had a big influence on me, as well. One of my heros.
Howard Fast, who wrote the novel, Spartacus, exposed the purges of Jews in the Soviet party and quit the American party but went to a labor camp where he was imprisoned at hard labor and his health was broken rather than name names. He later broke the blacklist in print by using his entire savings to self-publish “Freedom Road” and partnered with Abner Doubleday for it to be sold in bookstores everywhere including train stations and airports. Internationally, one of the most popular books of the 20th century. Translated into many languages.
He also wrote heroic novels about famous Jewish figures in history and a history of the Jewish people
Spiritually, he became a Zen Buddhist and a pacifist.
That’s actually, “High Nun.”
See, it works. Att: Tanna and Michael. See, anybody can be a prophet for fun or profit. 😀
Excellent analysis by Engelhard.