Words have power.
To compare the most senior officials in the security establishment to the Wagner Group – an army of mercenaries who have made a name for themselves in several merciless destinations throughout the world – epitomizes the ideology of certain ministers in the current coalition, and encourages those for whom the law is a mere recommendation.
Not one of the decision-makers in the current ruling coalition in Israel can claim that this is in any way surprising. The recent aforementioned statement by Minister Orit Struck outlines her ideology and that of her compatriots in the party. The current coalition partners of Prime Minister Netanyahu, led by the Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, do not see the IDF as a legitimate authority in Judea and Samaria.
At times, they manage to lead some parts of the public astray and to liken themselves to leaders who accept the mainstream rules of the game, yet mostly, they simply make little effort to hide their ideology and perceptions. Many of their assistants support the unlawful actions of some of the settler youth, maintain close contact with them and condone their unholy and far-from-Jewish activities, even when they burn and vandalize the property of Palestinian civilians.
It is not that murders and terrorist attacks, performed all too regularly by Palestinians against Jewish civilians, are in any way legitimate. They are not!
But Jews burning houses? Cars? Performing any form of hate crimes against civilians?
Jews around the world suffer
What difference does it make if it is a tiny minority, which stains the rest, or a little bit more than a tiny minority if the encouragement they receive comes from those who for the very first time in Israeli history hold ministerial positions? How can one overlook such acts which feed the hatred forged against Jews worldwide? And why should our Jewish brethren in the Diaspora have to bear the brunt of revenge in different locations in the world?
Antisemitism has indeed existed for centuries and will remain, no matter what these unlawful youths do or do not do or what Minister Struck may have to say about our courageous IDF commanders. Antisemitism is an age-old disease borne out of ignorance and hatred, for which a remedy has not yet been discovered. Yet why should it be fueled further and for what purpose must our enemies be assisted in providing make-belief justifications for their baseless hatred of Jews?
I have written more than once about how a prosperous network of criminals has successfully grown in the last two decades, particularly in the Arab Israeli sector. Law and order have slowly disintegrated in the Negev and Galilee until agricultural terror has become a common phenomenon, whereby mostly Jewish farmers suffer constant vandalism and theft by Arab crime lords.
Extortion money has become so common that there is almost no business throughout the country which has not succumbed to its heinous tentacles.
Roads and highways throughout the country have become racing arenas. Law enforcement agencies have been weakened over the years, while the police has been starved of a sufficient budget. Policemen have become objects of ridicule rather than respected officials of the law and all of this is within the green line and in the undisputed territories of Israel.
Over the green line, in Judea and Samaria, the IDF is the highest order of law, given that the territory has not been officially annexed by Israel. If the IDF loses its legitimacy, as was clearly suggested by minister Struck; and as is generally held by the aforementioned unlawful youths who represent a loud and troublesome minority amid the Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria – then the area becomes, de facto, devoid of any authority, a reality which invites and harnesses chaos.
It is quite understandable as to how such chaos may serve some ministers in the current coalition who belong to Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s parties, yet how on earth does it serve the rest of the governing coalition?
How can it possibly serve the Minister of Defense, for example, who has risked his life endless times for the safety and well-being of Israeli citizens in his long-standing career in the IDF? How can it possibly serve the former head of the Shin Beth, who has for years selflessly served the country and its diverse population? Why is their voice not heard against the recent deterioration of law and order in Judea and Samaria, carried out by Jewish youth? That has clearly never been and must never become the Jewish and the Israeli way!
Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen will not live forever. In the absence of a clear successor who is accepted by the Palestinian street, a rather gloomy and worrying scenario is beginning to unfold. The current unrest and lack of stability in the Palestinian arena is nothing compared to what is expected after his passing. Inheritance “wars” for the Palestinian leadership will be short-lived and cruel, as the different militias will be swiftly quashed by Hamas which is patiently awaiting the moment to take control of the West Bank. It is then that the IDF will be faced with an even more challenging reality than the current one and who shall meet this challenge? The unidentified army of minister Struck or perhaps the non-existent brigades of minister Smotrich?
When, if not a moment before, the overtaking of the West Bank by Hamas will the sane-and-sound ministers of the ruling coalition take a stand against the madness that is currently the everyday reality in Judea and Samaria?
An impressive leader whom I admire, and who has dedicated his entire life to the benefit of the Jewish peoplehood in Israel and in the Diaspora, recently told me that to dive into a state of helplessness is not an action plan. One must view the current situation with comparative perspective: In France for example, after recent attempts to raise the pension age, civilians literally almost burnt entire neighborhoods in Paris in protest. In the US, in protest against police violence, entire city centers were looted, destroyed, vandalized, and burnt. In Israel, for the past 23 weeks, demonstrations have been in place throughout the country, carried out by hundreds of thousands of people, with almost no violence or vandalism at all.
Indeed, this perspective is somewhat of a remedy for the tremendous pain which has taken hold of me in recent months given the internal developments in Israel. Indeed, we have no privilege or option of giving up on the continuation of Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people. Zionism must continue to exist – not as a burden, but rather as a beacon of light and refuge for our people.
I call upon those who belong to the ruling coalition and share this sentiment. Those who are guided by reason and values, those who understand that the current instability is the source and core of our demise.
Make your voices heard!
Cry out against any and all violence against civilians and/or their property, which is an antithesis to the Jewish and Israeli way and detrimental to Israel itself.
The writer is the founder and the CEO of Ruth-Strategic Consulting, a former MK for the National Unity Party, a former deputy ambassador to Cairo, and a past adviser to president Shimon Peres.