Western elites would like to live in a society based on a derivative of Christian morality, even though most of them have left Christianity behind. They believe that all human beings must be given the same basic rights simply by virtue of being human. They hate violence but believe it should be treated with understanding, and criminal behavior with rehabilitation at best and isolation at worst. For them, revenge is an atavistic act that has no place in civilized society. Honor is something that one pays lip service to, but gaining or losing it has no real consequences. Religion is a private matter that must be subservient to secular authority. Government is based on consent. They aspire to a world run according to these principles, governed by impartial international law and democratic institutions to enforce it. They believe that these values are so obviously superior that social evolution will ultimately bring them to infuse the world, and that opposing ideologies are bound to disappear.
Until 7 October 2023 many Israelis shared this view. They understood that their neighbors did not, but believed that in the fullness of time, if Israel showed restraint and was prepared to compromise, they would see that peace was preferable to war and mutually beneficial.
But the idea of global social progress toward Western norms is a myth and always has been. October 7 was a massive shock to Israelis, an even stronger one than post-Oslo terrorism and the Second Intifada. And finally there seems to be the beginning of a change in consciousness here. The “conseptzia” that it was possible to buy off our enemies with promises of economic prosperity (a huge insult to them, by the way) has finally lost currency. The idea that only the ideologues of Hamas or the PLO want to destroy us, while the majority of “ordinary Palestinians” just desire economic and physical security, has exploded like their rockets and RPGs. Israelis are finally beginning to understand that it requires a different outlook to defend a villa in the jungle than a cottage in Switzerland.
Since before the beginning of the state, Jews here have understood that they live in the Middle East, not the Alps. Military preparedness has been a given. But now the average Israeli is coming to understand that a psychological or spiritual change is also needed. A post-Christian European morality is detrimental to survival here.
Just one example should make this clear. Israel is holding thousands of Palestinian terrorists in its prisons, many of them murderers and even mass murderers. Some of them are serving multiple life sentences. But our prisons try to meet international (i.e., post-Christian European) standards, and convicts are treated relatively well, allowed to govern themselves, given adequate food, and so on. Their families receive regular stipends from the Palestinian Authority, money which comes to the PA from various international donors, particularly the US (in violation of US law).
Most importantly, the “life sentences” last only until the next “prisoner exchange,” or rather, the next time Israel is extorted to trade terrorists for hostages. Both Ahlam Tamimi, the mastermind of the 2001 Sbarro Pizza bombing in which 15 Jews were murdered, and Yahya Sinwar, the architect of October 7, were released from prison in 2011, two among 1027 prisoners freed in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
Any day now we are expecting that a similar, probably even larger, release of prisoners will be announced, in return for a few of the hostages in the hands of Hamas. Like a rupturing tumor that spreads its cancerous cells throughout the body, these creatures will flock to reconstitute Hamas and other terror groups throughout the land, rendering the sacrifices of our soldiers and police to apprehended them null and void.
To survive in the Middle East we have to be, in some ways, Middle Eastern. And Middle Easterners don’t suffer terrorist murderers to live, much less treat them kindly and release masses of them every few years.
Most ordinary Israelis get this now, and even a few of our politicians and generals. But most of the media, the legal and academic establishments, and a hard core of fanatics for whom deposing the Prime Minister is more important than the survival of the state, are still attending the moral garden party in the villa. The Israeli media especially are guilty of demanding a virtual surrender to Hamas in return for a handful of their hostages.
Most of the world, probably including the Western heads of state that publicly demand it, knows that this is stupid. The world, as a matter of fact, does not act according to the post-Christian moral system; the majority of UN members don’t even pay lip service to it. And yet, Israel is expected to be a “light unto nations” according to a foreign concept of morality espoused by countries like the USA, which has a third of a billion inhabitants and is protected from invasion by two oceans1.
Our approach must change. We can’t continue to be a “villa,” an isolated outpost of the West, but we must become part of the Middle East. I am not saying we should become like the Arabs, but there is a Jewish tradition that predates Hellenism and the diaspora that can serve as a model.
The ancient Hebrews fought the Canaanites without mercy. There was no possibility of a two-state solution; for one tribe to live here, the others had to go. When Amalek attacked the people of Israel on their way to their land, bribing them to stop murdering us was not considered. I would not argue that Israel should follow the Torah as a guide to action. It wouldn’t convince those who don’t believe, and those who do already agree with me.
But you could do worse if you are looking for advice about how to possess and occupy the Land of Israel, and how to deal with implacable enemies.
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1But which is nevertheless being destroyed from within thanks to its adherence to these values.
You write, “I would not argue that Israel should follow the Torah as a guide to action.”
But I say, Why not? It would please HaShem, now that you are tired of pleasing guests at the moral garden party.
Pleasing HaShem seems to have worked for us, whereas ignoring Him has not.