ByDOUGLAS ALTABEF

Sometimes a series of seemingly unrelated events forces us to connect the dots in order to see an emerging pattern.

Right now, we must confront the reality of recent events that point to an ineluctable and frightening conclusion: we Israelis are losing control of our sovereignty.

I am not speaking of our unwillingness to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, but rather our losing control within the confines of the Negev, the Galilee and mixed towns throughout Israel.

I am also speaking of an attitude to forgive and to appease lawlessness, which, despite possible well-meaning intentions, is threatening to start unraveling civic society.

We seem to be suffering from... what? A failure of resolve, a slide into national anemia, a mistaken conflation of a desire to integrate Arabs into Israeli society with appeasement leading to lawlessness?

It increasingly appears that we are losing control of our destiny, that we are no longer calling our own shots.

This unmistakable reality was brought into clear relief during the recent confrontation with Hamas that prompted widespread rioting and violence in mixed towns such as Lod and Acre.

Arab lawlessness and violence were tolerated, excused or unaddressed, while Jewish attempts at self-defense were met with draconian responses by the police.

This was followed by a highly critical attitude to the annual flag march in Jerusalem for being “provocative.”

Most recently, two highly disturbing reports provide yet more evidence of a pervasive problem.

The first details the lack of punitive law enforcement for rock throwing and Molotov cocktail attacks at vehicles and individuals in Judea and Samaria.

Even more disturbing is the State Comptroller’s report delineating the growing criminality, social manipulation and lack of law enforcement in the Negev.

These reports were issued at the same time that we have been subjected to repeated violence by Bedouin extortionists in the Upper Galilee, culminating in the firebombing of three businesses in Hatzor.

Let’s be clear: this is not a new issue to be laid at the doorstep of the new government; rather, this has been a festering problem abetted for many years by successive governments who turned a blind eye to growing problems or chose merely to keep a lid on a simmering pot with the hope that it would not boil over.

But boil over it has, and it is now up to the new government to decide how, if at all, it chooses to handle the state of affairs.

In this regard, I propose we take a page out of a common sense, yet compelling initiative known as the Israel Victory Project. Conceived by The Middle East Forum as a strategy to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in all its permutations, the premise of the project is that peace with the Palestinians will only come when they see themselves as having been defeated.

Defeat means the end of ideological or military options or opposition. It is the recognition that their confrontational approach has failed.

At that point there can be the recognition that some other approach might work; or it might just be that there is no choice but to accept the other side’s approach.

What would happen if the Arab-Israelis who engaged in criminal behavior understood that the law would be equally applied to them, that they would not be coddled just because they were a minority?

Historically, Arabs in Israel have been compliant when they felt they had no choice, that they weren’t being appeased nor allowed to have a double standard, even though they were a minority.

Ironically, such refusal by Israelis to engage in “soft racism of low expectations” produced beneficial results, with more compliant and responsible behavior by all elements of society.

Sadly, we have moved far away from this reality, and there is a growing conviction among certain sectors in the Arab community that not only can they get away with lawlessness, but that they are entitled to do so.

Ironically, one of the major victims of this attitude is the silent majority of Arab-Israelis, who actually want greater integration into Israeli society and who perceive that their lot in the Jewish State of Israel far exceeds those of other Arabs in surrounding Arab nations. 

They have been increasingly willing to accept Israel as it is – a Jewish state that grants full civil rights to all its citizens – and are seeking to become part of society. In return, a great many of us Israelis have cheered on their resolve.

However, all of these efforts at greater integration will be stymied by a fear that a fifth column is simultaneously emerging in the Arab community.

So any who truly desire an integrated Israeli society must also demand a society with one set of laws, one that does not appease, placate or ignore lawlessness and criminality in the Arab sector.

For the sake of all Israelis, our lawmakers, judiciary, and law enforcement officials must adopt a Victory approach, one that forecloses other options  apart from respect for the law. Renegade behavior must be dealt with punitively, regardless of the religion or ethnicity of the perpetrator, with no acceptance of dual standards.

We have learned the hard way over the years in our dealings with neighboring Arab countries that strength is respected, and that nuance and tolerance are seen as weakness, to be exploited.

Like it or not, we need to adopt this mindset for the good of all, including members of the Arab community.


The author is the chairman of the Board of Im Tirtzu, Israel’s largest grassroots Zionist organization, and a director of the Israel Independence Fund.