A new Beilin is born
Lieberman's Jerusalem proposal prompts misplaced comparison to leftist leader
On the eve of the Knesset's winter session Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that "some of the neighborhoods and refugee camps should be put under Palestinian control. On the other hand, the Old City and Mount Scopus are integral parts of Jerusalem."
Lieberman's motives are quite clear. The minister is a staunch proponent of reducing Israel's Arab population. He believes for example, in transferring the Triangle area in northern Israel along with its inhabitants to anyone who would be willing to take them. When he examines the gains (so and so many square meters that would became part of Jerusalem through some administrative decision) as opposed to the losses (so and so many Arabs carrying Israeli ID cards,) he supposes that transfer of control is a good deal. That's it.
However, this rational arrangement wasn't to the liking of Zevulun Orlev, chairman of the National Religious Party (NRP) and the moderate member among his party ranks. Orlev responded to the strategist's announcement with his own statement: "Lieberman is the new Beilin…his true colors are shining through. It appears that the person who presented himself as a rightist is none other than a leftist whose political persuasions are astonishingly similar to those of Zahava Gal-On's" - a new Beilin is born. Mazal Tov!
So this is how it works: On the one hand, it's always nice to meet another leftist whose political persuasions are astonishingly similar to those of Zahava Gal-On's – all the more so when they resemble Yossi Beilin's. On the other hand, dear children, take a close look at these two Beilins. If you try hard enough you'll be able to find eight tiny differences between them. Children, let's help the confused Knesset member find them. Those who solve this quiz correctly will win a pair of eyeglasses and some common sense.
After all, what does the response by the National Religious Party's moderate member indicate more than anything else? It indicates the existence of some screaming conditioned reflex, which simmered within and made him, like many of his colleagues in the national-religious camp, cry out in agony when the sacred and terrible name of Jerusalem was uttered.
No middle ground
The whole of Jerusalem is sacred? Where exactly does the sacred part end and rational begin? It's unclear. The sacred part, or so it seems, is determined by bureaucratic officials and surveyors who at various points in time sketched random lines on a map. Is every spot where a sewer or a traffic light is located, and which falls under the Jerusalem mayor's jurisdiction, sacred?
Even now the municipal limits of this strange city are somewhat curious wherever reason is concerned, yet it appears that Orlev and his associates' minds will not be put to rest until the process is completed and the entire Land of Israel is declared Jerusalem. Just like Saudi Arabia, which is one great mosque, the entire Land of Israel will become "terra santa," where a biblical decree will prohibit thinking of territorial concessions.
An enclave will remain in the western part of greater Jerusalem– a type of small nature reserve called "Tel Aviv." Those who eat non-kosher food and do drugs will go about their business as usual on Shenkin Street; those whose prime concerns revolve around their worthless existence, material gains, and Yossi Beilin.
The NRP's conditioned reflex alludes to a type of dichotomous world, where there is no middle ground. Namely: Those who are not on our side are against us, those who are not part of the Right's ideological unity are undoubtedly a combination of those who have no place in the world to come – Yossi Beilin and Zahava Gal-On. Zevulun Orlev is revealing some very strange colors indeed.
Lieberman is a partner to Orlev's worldview after all. According to Lieberman, those who do not share his views are Kapos. Life, as Orlev and Leiberman are destined to find out, is not made up entirely of righteous or evil people. They are also not Hanukkah candles. They conduct themselves in the same space where people buy and sell, plant and uproot, deliver and give birth, a space in which human beings make compromises that enable them to live.
