Rafael Eitan, former IDF chief of General Staff
Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Photo: AFP
The new Jews
Is Ariel Sharon the essence of the Zionist dream?
These days, in the throes of creating a new myth, that of Ariel Sharon, the Ha'aretz Hebrew-language daily ran a fantastic story last week, a story with historic significance.
Ofra Meyerson, the widow of the late right-wing politician Rafael Eitan, revealed her husband suffered from terrible nightmares.
Every night, a lineup of Eitan's dead friends would appear. And as if that weren't enough, his two dead sons also appeared and even spoke to him.
"Dad, I've come to pick up our toys," the younger one would tell him.
Punching the air
Every night, Raful, as he was commonly known, would fight the desperate battle against the Arabs he encountered in wars and other military actions.
Meyerson said, "While he was asleep he would struggle and fight with his pillow and his blanket, punching the air, the bed, even me with his fists, whatever was next to him. It was a fight with all the trauma."
According to his wife, Eitan would lie awake at night in a cold sweat from the anguish. Eventually he would fall back asleep and wake up in the morning as if nothing had happened.
And so here we have it – a career army officer, chief of staff, Knesset member, government minister and member of the security cabinet – gripped with terror, without telling a soul.
"I told him again and again to get help," says Meyerson. "You try speaking to him."
Post-traumatic stress
This man hid his tortured soul. Inside, he was eaten up. In other words: he had classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
If Raful had been a private individual, he would have gotten much sympathy and empathy. But he wasn't a private person. He was one of the executors, even one of the creators, or Israel's security policy.
He thought no one knew the Arabs like he did (freakish roaches), and he had clear ideas about how they should be dealt with. And so when former U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger asked him what Israel's policy in south Lebanon was, Eitan said, "We go in, kill them, and leave."
No objective security
Today, every strategy student knows there is no such thing as "objective" security. It is not an external situation. It is the product of a cerebral process, of listening to others, and to a large extent it is also the result of psychological factors influencing the leaders.
These thoughts bring to my mind nowadays of creating the new "national father," Ariel Sharon. It is the result of creating collective memories of the last hero.
That's the way it is for Sharon, just like it was for Rafael Eitan, the same for Rehavam Zeevi. And yes, yes, don't worry, it was true for Rabin as well. The same motif returns: war, blood, land.
Peasantry and heroism. Physical ability, and above all machismo. Securitismo.
Gratitude yes. But emulation?
One can't help but to ask whether these heroes – certainly no one would disdain their contributions to the country, to the fact that we even HAVE a country – whether they are the expression of the Zionist dream's essence?
Are these the images Herzl had in mind when he wrote, "The Jewish State"? Where is Einstein, Freud, or Yeshayahu Berlin? Where are Maimonides and Martin Buber and Rabbi Joseph Dov Ber Soloveitchik?
After the Jewish people endured 2,000 years of wandering, from Lior Blum to Brandeis to Cordoza, with such a tremendous list of leaders and philosophers, thinkers and speakers, terrific scientists and artists – this is the best we can do? Sharon, Raful and Zeevi?
These individuals have indeed made a great contribution, and we are all deeply indebted to them. But the time has come for others, with other backgrounds and different dreams, to run our lives and determine our fate.
Prof. Yoram Peri is the head of the Herzog Institute for Media, Society and Politics at Tel Aviv University
