With each Judeocidal attack by hate-crazed Arabs, an eerie sense of déjà vu grows stronger.
The time for speeches has come to an end. Netanyahu was reelected on security and strength, and both of these must be promises fulfilled before even more blood runs red on Israeli soil. –Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, “Status quo vadis?” The Jerusalem Post, October 10
It has become abundantly clear that our political class has no plan of reaction in this regard – and thus no ability–to guide the country toward a more internally secure future… Neither the Right nor the Left has any answers. – Charles Bybelezer, “End the terror now!” The Jerusalem Post, October 11
These excerpts from recent articles by two ardent young Israel advocates reflect the growing disillusionment with the political establishment, which has adopted “muddling through” (aka “managing the conflict”) as its preferred – indeed, only, strategy in dealing with Arab enmity toward the Jewish state.
Continued adherence to this pattern of behavior will end badly – very badly. Indeed, it will inevitably precipitate the very spirals of escalating violence its adoption was supposed to avert.
Déjà vu all over again
With every passing day, the bloody events across the country this month are increasingly reminiscent of those in an earlier October, a decade and a half ago – October 2000.
With each Judeocidal attack by hate-crazed Arabs, an eerie sense of déjà vu grows stronger – as if the country were being catapulted back 15 years in time, to the violence that ignited the second intifada, which cost the lives of over a thousand Israelis.
It is as if, for the last 15 years, successive governments have lead the country in a full circle, like someone lost in a forest, who after days of wandering, finds himself back at the very spot he started out from.
Because of this, perhaps, more than in the past, there seems to be a perceptible atmosphere of pervasive despondency, something approaching despair.
It is not that the public is displaying signs that it lacks resilience to withstand the current round of Arab violence, but rather that it lacks confidence that this government, indeed any government in any foreseeable configuration, will have any coherent idea as to how to ensure that within another decade or so the country won’t be back at almost precisely the same point it is at now.
‘Muddling through’: Predictable – and predicted – limits
There is a depressing sense of inevitability regarding the current outbreak of Arab violence. It is the inexorable consequence – both predictable and predicted – of the government’s policy (or rather lack thereof) of robustly asserting Jewish sovereignty over the Land.
Allow me a moment to vent my frustration: Since the start of this “Into the Fray” series, I have warned – time and time again – of the “ruinous results of restraint,” and that “by adopting a policy of continually trying to avoid confrontations, in which it can prevail, Israel may eventually find itself forced into a confrontation in which it cannot” – see for example “Surrendering sovereignty” (December 2, 2011); “Cry “Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war” (July 3, 2014); “The ruinous results of restraint” (July 10, 2014); “Far too little, much too late,” (July 31, 2014); “On the cusp of carnage?” (November 13, 2014); “Have we all gone completely mad???!!!!” (August14, 2014); and “My saddest column ever: Selling surrender as strategy” (March 5, 2015).
As readers may discern from the titles, I cautioned, with growing alarm and anguish, of the ominous outcomes that Israeli reticence would unavoidably precipitate, since in the eyes of the Arabs, restraint is far more likely to be perceived as weakness, rather than respect, and hence an invitation for more aggression, rather than less.
From symbiosis to metastasis
In “On the cusp of carnage?” written almost a year ago, I predicted that the perception of Jewish weakness in its dealing with external challenges was likely to induce internal ones as well. As I pointed out, there is a symbiotic relationship between the attitudes of the Arabs outside the country and those within. Violence inadequately dealt with in the case of the former will fan violence in the case of the latter, and the symbiosis is liable to lead to metastasis – with the “cancer” spreading to Israel’s enfranchised Arab citizens.
I wrote: “Perhaps the gravest threat of all is the prospect of insurrection and revolt by the Arab citizens of Israel – if they sense weakness and vacillation on the part of the Jews.
This threat will materialize unless the Arabs are convinced the Jews will not brook any challenge – from within Israel’s borders or from without – to their national sovereignty….”
Disturbingly, today the rhetoric of many leaders of Israeli Arabs reflect almost seamless convergence with that of rabid Judeophobic preachers in Hamas-controlled Gaza and the evermore hateful incitement of the leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
All challenge not only the status of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, but in fact the very legitimacy of a Jewish nation-state at all.
Surely few can deny that we are teetering on the brink of such just such a chasm today…
The whole point of Israel
With the turmoil and travails of everyday life, it is all too easy to lose sight of the fundamentals.
With all the mainstream media hype about democracy and individual rights, it is easy to forget that Israel was not established to be another multi-ethnic, multi-cultural liberal democracy.
It was established to be the nationstate of the Jewish people, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, to give expression to the “natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate… in their own sovereign state”; and in the words of the national anthem, to fulfill a “hope two thousand years old, To be a free nation in our land, The land of Zion…”
To make the claim that the Jewish nature of the state and Jewish exclusivity over sovereignty is not the overriding hallmark of Israel – indeed its raison d’etre – is in effect to egregiously defraud, on a historic scale, all those who contributed, toiled and sacrificed to found, develop and defend the State of Israel as envisioned in its founding documents.
It is particularly egregious toward those, who, of their own volition, left other more affluent, comfortable and secure multi-ethnic, multi-cultural democracies, to make Israel their home, and to live under what was alleged to be Jewish sovereignty.
For Israel to eschew policies – however harsh – that ensure the principles of its founding, is, in effect for it to lose the very point of its existence.
Collective rights vs individual rights
Significantly, the word “right/s” appears 10 times in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Of these, the first nine refer explicitly or implicitly, to the collective right of the Jewish people as a national entity.
The tenth reference is to the individual rights of the citizens (including non-Jews) of the Jewish state.
These relate to individual equality in the civil realm – social, cultural religious matters – including the right to vote, but not to the collective national level, which is reserved for the Jewish people as the exclusive source of political sovereignty.
Perhaps, equally significantly, the word “democracy”/“democratic” does not appear once in the Declaration of Independence. This should not be construed as indicating that there is any inherent clash between Israel being Jewish and being democratic. Indeed, quite the opposite is true (see for example ‘Israel’s imperative: Jewish and democratic March 14, 2013; & ‘The New York Times versus the Jews’ March 21, 2013).
Indeed, as should be crystal clear to any fair-minded individual, given events in the region, nothing could prevent Israel from descending into a Muslim-majority tyranny, if it were not Jewish.
Moreover, as I have argued elsewhere (for example ‘Post-Zionism’s fatal flaw’, August 11, 2008), Israel will not remain Jewish, if it does not remain Zionist (i.e. retain its status as the nation-state of Jews with the exclusive source of sovereignty being the Jewish people).
Thus, the first step in formulating an effective policy to contend with emerging realities is to realize that the current clash is not about individual rights but collective rights.
The Jews’ collective rights to national sovereignty is under assault by a rival collective – the Arabs.
If the Jews do not prevail in that struggle, not only will they lose their rights to self-determination as a collective, but the individual rights of all the inhabitants of Israel (Jews and non-Jews alike) will be gravely jeopardized.
When collectives clash
Thus, when collectives clash – particularly when the legitimacy of one collective is challenged by another collective with a totally incompatible value system (as in the case of the Jewish and Arab collectives) – it must defend itself as a collective.
In such clashes, for the collective to survive, certain individual liberties may have to be temporarily curtailed, to prevent them being permanently extinguished in the case of defeat.
This is not only morally justified but morally imperative! Indeed, whenever democracies have been under threat, they have reined in certain freedoms that might have been exercised in less threatening times, even when their position has been far less precarious than Israel’s and the array of threats confronting them, far less daunting.
Israel must follow suit. For the last two-and-a-half decades, it has shown extravagant largesse and excessive leniency toward adversaries who not only strive to undermine the physical existence of the Jewish state, but deny the conceptual legitimacy of its right to exist.
This can no longer persist. The Israeli leadership has a moral duty both to the collective as a whole and to its individual members, whose allegiance it enjoys, to adopt a more robust attitude to those who would undermine the security of the collective and safety of its members.
Imposing a choice
Accordingly, Israel must impose a choice on its Arab citizens: to decide whether they wish to be part of a developed, post-industrial society in which they enjoy the civic freedoms and benefits it bestows on them, or whether they wish to give expression to a national identity, inherently inimical to their country of residence. They cannot do both.
It must be clear that they cannot make demands to replace the founding ethos of the state with a competing ethos of its enemies; they cannot supplant the existing edifice of national symbolism and ceremony with one that conforms to that of states that strive to eliminate their own; they cannot continue to exploit the democratic freedoms the Jewish state extends them, to demolish the Jewish state. Arab MKs do not have a “democratic” right to fraternize with the enemy, much less to call for their kinfolk to rise against their state or it citizens.
Israeli Arabs must either throw their lot in with their county of residence or seek residence elsewhere.
If they feel the fabric of life in Israel is incompatible with their national identity, they can do exactly what many Jewish citizens of Israel did when they decided to make this country their home because they felt stronger affiliation to it than to their countries of residence/birth.
In an age in which millions of people migrate voluntarily each year, there is nothing remarkable in this proposal. Moreover, there is nothing “racist” or “fascist” in it. It merely reflects the eminently reasonable notion that the Jews too have a right to self-determination.
Root of all evil
The origin of much, if not all of Israel’s woes can be traced to the bitter fruits of the Oslo process, when Israel accepted the legitimacy of Palestinian statehood, until then considered an almost treasonous anathema by virtually all Zionist factions.
Acquiescence to Palestinian Arab demands for recognition as an authentic national entity, with valid claims for a sovereign state of their own, west of the Jordan, has put Israel in an untenable position.
For the only way to prevent the strategically crucial territory of Judea-Samaria, earmarked for such a state, falling to radical jihadists, is for Israel to maintain control over it, thus precluding the establishment of the state that Israel has committed itself to.
Thus, by endorsing the bogus Palestinian narrative, Israel has by its own hand sown the foundation for both the myth of occupation and the seeds of insurrection by Arab Israelis, and for international opprobrium and the ensuing campaign of delegitimization.
What must be done first is to mount a massive assault on the legitimacy of the Palestinian narrative.
For unless that narrative is delegitimized, even if the current flames are lowered for a while, they will erupt again and again and again.
More on what to do, and how and why in Part 2 next week.
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.org) is founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (www.strategicisrael.org).
If this happens its pathetic. give an accident,deport the family, have a thug beat him in the hospital with a baseball bat and break his bones, kill his lawyer to delay the trial, but do not allow the little bastard and his family to escape. Make them all pay with blood.
this is why the instruction must be given to shoot to kill not at the legs, if they are only wounded the police must give them internal injuries so they die slowly in pain and suffer.
yamit82 Said:
Right or left.?
yamit82 Said:
Go back to your cave.
Comment in moderation very difficult to comment here
bernard ross Said:
Jews have been shooting themselves in the foor at least ever since OSLO….. Since Abbas has now formally and in Public declared OSLO is dead and no longer applies to The PA, it stands to reason and all logice israel will follow suit and begin as a first sdtep to withhold all payments till now forwarded to the PA. Declare Abbas and the PA enemies of the state and begin to act against them accoedingly. But we have BB who is afraid of Obama, the EU and Abbas. Who BB is not afraid of are those stupid Jews who voted for him many in Y&S…. I call them useful idiots who do what their community leaders and rabbis tell them and all have financial vested interests in having a government ATM made available for them at least enough to make the passivly compliant…. As for agreeent with Guld Statres i believe more myth than fact I see nothing in it for Israel we don’t need them and they don’t need us especially if we let as is now certain Iran gaining nukes and a lot of nukes at that. Iran with Russian and Chinese Help will become the regional Hegemon and the Saudis are their first and main target not Israel, BB can’t deliver and is of no value to them…. Big oil find on the Golan http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-huge-oil-discovery-on-golan-heights-1001071698
So we got oil we got gas and got hundreds of billions in shale oil….The gulf states have nothing to offer us and any price demanded of us by them is too high.. Letr the Islamic crazies go fight the Russians beautiful we just protect our borders…. Let them all fight it out….
Remember that our treaty with Jordan gives almost total control over the Temple mount. We don’t need Jordan they need us and I am for letting the Palis take it all for themselves.
its almost hilarious if not pathetically sad how jews shoot themselves in the foot. After being plagued by muslim anti semitism and murder for centuries these pathetic fool jews are even arguing aginst stop and frisk because….. wait for it…. it will target arabs. LOL, who the hell else is killing Jews.
This is merely a minimal action which still stalls any real action on the terror against the known perpetrating collective. BB doles out piecemeal bits and pieces to stall the Jews from seeing that he does nothing. cordon the anti semites, house to house searches, confiscate all weapons and anti semitic material and evidence, …..arrest, incarcerate and deport the criminals, terrorists and anti semites found in the searches…. take along no press, leave no witnesses… shoot to kill all resisters…. gosh even a small island nation like jamaica did this regularly just to deal with criminals while fool pathetic jews still commiserate if it violates the anti semites civil rights. BB is stalling, the jews must demand aggressive pro active action not these pathetic miniscule maneuvers. Beware BB, he is stalling any real effective actions until the order is given to end the stabbings, when they think the Jews have had enough to make them want separation and giveaway.
8yamit82 Said:
” Better the Devil You Know”
BB, the man who always substitutes talk for action because right wing fools are satisfied with talk every time.
rsklaroff Said:
bernard ross Said:
let me know when he deports a family that weinstein or the court does not throw out, conveniently, as he appointed weinstein and prevented shaked from reforming the court, to what end? what is he waiting for?????????
this is the trojan horse trick which separates out the arab area and then the land ends in the hands of the anti semites. Instead of going in and doing house to house searches to confiscate weapons and incarcerate and deport the anti semite BB is actually facilitating the separation and give away. this is in collusion with the foreigners pushing for separation and a pal state that includes east jerusalem the attacks are instigated to wear down the Jews and make them beg for relief and separation from the lunatic anti semites. turning the Jews into a people who can only react to jew killers rather than go out and war upon them. BB has tied the hands of the IDF in the same way he tied the hands of Bennett, and shaked and prevents settlement of jews in YS. first he moved the Israeli psyche from any discussion of settling in YS, next to the demonization and incarceration of jews and settlers, and now he moves the psyche to accepting the giving away of jerusalem. Many will disagree but no one ties the hands of the IDF other than BB. BB is the magician who gets jews to think he fights for them because he chats a lot of shite at the UN, the US and to foreigners but all of his BS talk is a smoke screen to cover up his non action in EVERY SINGLE CASE! Look at the facts: this left wing mole is the one preventing and obstructing jews at every turn and all of his actions are against the Jews, against settling YS and now also against retaining all of jerusalem. It is not that he is afraid of obama, the UN or the arabs it is that he is in collusion with them all in a series of orchestrated events to move the Israeli psyche to accept the coming giveaways. Next he will sit down with abbas after formalizing the freeze that he has been lying about for years.
He can prove me wrong but I doubt he will.
I warned folks here that he has singlehandedly destroyed all discussion in Israel of settlement in YS by pretending to focus on retaining jerusalem, this was a red herring to move attention from YS. Now he is proceeding to show Israel that east Jerusalem, like YS, are too hot to keep. As if the muslims will ever remain behind any boundary or fence.
On Friday, Channel 10 TV news cited a senior defense official as having said:
“If the terrorist attacks continue, we will begin deporting the families of terrorists to the Gaza Strip.”
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/If-violence-continues-Israel-to-begin-banishing-Palestinians-to-Gaza-426195
Appreciate support for deportation, regardless of the name employed; remember that JFK didn’t “blockade” Cuber when the “quarantine” was imposed.
@ yamit82:
getting BB to change the status quo of anti semitic muslim abuse of Jews is not only difficult because he is comfortable with status quo conditions in general but more difficult if he believes that his current restrictions on Jews will bring a bonanza. such folks never see the downside and usually dont have a plan B. I notice that BB never has a plan B and that we move from event to event in circles similar to: pals threaten something, BB withholds taxes… a deal is then made whereby the threat is taken away and the taxes given. this enables both sides to show their constituents that they are fighting for something…. but life continues on as usual.
Id love to see if the threats of deporting terrorists to gaza happens with even one person…. or will weinstein and the court say it violates the GC? If BB did that it would be a precedent.
@ yamit82:
we now know that the med coastline is full of natural gas and everyone is interested in that and the pipelines to and fro. Israel is at the center of the area. this also explains the continuing cooperation of Israel and qatar from before pillars of defense through to now. The rhetoric is for the street and public. this may also be why there can be a deal in syria, if everyones positions are protected. Everyone gets a pipeline and piece of the action. Its back to the east west cold war with add ons…. Israel is at the pivot of the see saw.
yamit82 Said:
Halleluyah, this is a first 🙂
yamit82 Said:
first, they should not define themselves for purposes of deportation. I now use anti semite not only because the blogs dont censor me when I say to kill and deport anti semites but becuase even fool leftist Jews find it difficult to find an argument where they have us boo hooing for anti semites and their plight. also, whether an honor killer or a euro anti semite they are the same shiite on different levels. as fa as I am concerned those euros who are helping the honor killers build Muslim homes on jewish land also fall under my definition of anti semites requiring death or deportation…… or a mugging on a public street.
yamit82 Said:
my jury is still out on this one. As you know I beleive that BB has under the table understandings with the gulf arabs. If so it is a good explanation for why he is always soft.. they probably tell him that by him being soft on the pals it keeps their jihadi recruits focused on slaughtering shias rather than Jews. Hence the peace talks of 9 mos also. BB keeps the lid on and they get egypt and qatar to leash hamas. I also think that they also keep the lid on their arab press by relegating the trouble to a lesser story. I have posted evidence of this from al arabiya. BB might beleive that what he has with them is better than any other deal.
I beleive the gulf arabs dont give a crap about the pals but they get in the way of the jihadi recruitment.
@ bernard ross:
Can’t find a hole in any of your arguments #’s 6-7-8 I think Sherman is part of the problem not it’s cure he wants to institutionalize the concept of good and bad Arabs and pay only some to leave a non starter and not actionable….
Any Arab defining himself as a Palestimnian must be deported they will never be loyal and the concept is a negation of our rights to a sovereign Land. BB is such a coward it’s hard to separate from any other. Note: that the only world leader and head of state that fears Obama is BB all others hold him in contempt and ignore him and any threats. BB rules by default so while he is largely hated and disliked by the vast majority of Israelis none find a more suitable candidate they would prefer…
BB seeking to restore the institutionalizing of the abuse of Jews in the Jewish homeland by restoring the jew abusing status quo.
DESPICABLE!!!
All problems arise from the gov of israel facilitating anti semitic abuse, incitement and terror of muslims agianst Jews. Even now while BB seeks to defend the “status quo” with Kerry and the UN, etc… folks forget that restoring the status quo is the problem. The status quo is the scenario whereby Jews are abused and harassed at the Mount, whereby jews are prevented from settling in their own homeland, whereby jewish holy sites are defiled and burned, whereby muslims incite against Jews in all areas of israel, whereby muslims are rewarded with sovereignty in return for their Jew abuse. The status quo is a swindle of the Jewish people and maintaining the status quo is to continue the criminal anti semitic abuse against the Jews. The status quo is the rationalization for all the prior abuses of Jews in the (LOL) Jewish homeland; a homeland where there is more anti semitism and abuse of Jews by muslims than in europe. The status quo is the CAUSE of the problem to which there should be NO return.
BB is pulling a fast one by painting a return of the status quo as a positive achievement for abused and foolish Jews. Giving the muslims back their Jew abusing status quo in return for a cessation of current muslim violence against Jews instead of destroying the anti semites. This is a despicable swindle. It is despicable that BB can NEVER defend the rights of the Jewish people to live free from muslim abuse and settle in their own homeland.
A criminal justice system is what is reserved for individual acts of violence and crime whereby war is what is waged on collective acts of violence, crime, anti semitism and terror. Their cult calls for terrorizing Jews, this is proven daily by all their leadership and on the ground. It must be dealt with as war and not criminal justice unless the jews want to keep dying and being abused. Deport all anti semites including from a, b and c to drain the swamp of Jew killer wannabe’s.
No, the choice must not be theirs as it repeats the same error of giving them priority over Jews safety and freedom from muslim abuse.
I really agree and feel for Martin/s writings but it illustrates to me once more the driving Jewish obsession with rationalization of simple concepts in order to convince themselves and other jews of simple concepts apprehended by others in its simplest forms. It is this simple:
there must be zero tolerance of anti semitism in all areas of Israel: A, b, c and west of green line
the current Jewish angst and weltschmerzen of talmudic proportions over democracy and Judaism must be shelved and replaced. Again this simple:
Democracy for anti semites cannot be a priority over the safety of Jews. In such a choice I would prefer a dictator who would protect Jews and kill anti semites on sight.
Here is the ludicrous situation that Israel Jews have placed themselves in:
Jews are abused and attacked by muslim anti semites in all areas of Israel.
Anti semitic blood libels are propagated by muslim ant semites in all areas of Israel.
as a reward for muslim anti semitism Jews have given, and are considering giving more, Jewish land and a state to the anti semites. This propaganda is spread under the guise right now of “separation” from the anti semites and giving them the jewish homeland.
As a reward for anti semitism and the harassing of Jews on the Mount by muslim magpie women,the burning of jewish holy places, the incitement of the jordan appointed wakf, the storing of weapons on the Jewish Mount by the anti semitic jordan appointed wakf, the regular stoning of Jews below praying at the wall……. the GOI bans Jews, seeks to maintain the jew abusing status quo, and seriously discusses foreign arguments of protecting anti semite jew abusers at the Mount…..
Jews gone wild…. or Jews gone nuts.
I see no difference between the abuses of Jews by anti semites in europe and the abuses of Jews by muslims in Israel…. but this is under a Jewish gov?????? it is madness and insanity that a jewish gov not only facilitated the abuse with the excuse of a status quo but now seeks to defend that status quo jews abuse throughout the globe so that in the end there will be a retuen to the same status quo of jew abuse. I think BB is pulling another fast one, a peanut shell game.
too much grey matter and not enough action to liquidate the anti semitic existential threat. NO other people on earth would waste time entertaining serious discussion about liquidating existential enemies. The only serious discussions at this point should be how to remove them from the land of Israel. But Jewish children will end up dead while jews commiserate over how to treat the jew killers.
first, anti semitism should be a serious crime requiring mandatory deportation. second, anti semitic terrorism against jews by muslims should require mandatory shooting to kill at the scene. Third, the homes of all hostile areas should be cordoned off with house to house searches to confiscate weapons and arrest and deport anti semites, criminals and terrorists.
Democracy for anti semitic muslims in Israel should be a no brainer, the culture is an existential danger to jews and all adherents to such a culture should be expelled with the few proven exceptions.
Deport them six feet under.
Each terrorist act should be met with annexing of territories.
The bigger this terrorist act is, the more territories should be annexed. And whole family of terrorist should be deported to Gasa, to Syria, to the hell.
deport all perps to gaza post-haste
Now how to implement the above in a real pragmatic manner.
I agree on the need to mount “a massive assault on the legitimacy of the Palestinian narrative.”
The best way to start, once the required will and resources are secured, is an assault on UNGA Resolution 3236 and demand its abrogation, as it was done in 1991 for the “Zionism = racism” resolution.