'Ignorance bordering on malice'
Astronaut Ilan Ramon’s brother responds to MK Hendel's remarks
Part of my family barely survived the Holocaust, and some did not. My grandfather on my mother’s side was killed as he attempted to escape. My mother and grandmother survived Auschwitz, and I am certain that some of the horrors they experienced there were the results of “following Eichmann’s orders”.
My grandmother’s twin sister was murdered, and most of my father’s family from Berlin was killed.
My brother, Ilan Ramon
To hear this kind of comparison, from a Jew living in Israel - not just any Jew, but an elected member of the Knesset - makes me wonder about my relation to you and your ilk.
The split caused by these types of statements, and their like, (such as those of Gen. Amidror who said that as far as he is concerned, secular Israelis are just gentiles who happen to speak Hebrew) are of far greater impact than that of any decision about the borders of this country, which have not yet been finally determined by our country.
I served for many years in a combat unit and I have lost a brother. My brother is Ilan Ramon, who devoted most of the latter part of his life to unifying the country. If he had lived, he would have undoubtedly continued to do so.
It’s hard, very hard, to hear these things from a Jewish citizen of Israel, an elected public servant.
I have no doubt that many years will have to pass before we can mend the rifts that you and your friends are causing both in deeds and in words - if we can mend them at all.
