Photo:Reuters
Time to hear the silent Israelis
Op-ed: It’s not just the Left that’s dead - the common sense Israeli who just wants to live with a sense of normalcy is trapped in silent apathy.
In all the elegantly worded speeches and eulogies mourning the “death of Yitzhak Rabin,”
his name could easily be exchanged for “Israel’s Left.”
Many Jews abroad still support Israel regardless of government policies, but quickly find themselves abandoning their Western principles to do so. Others eventually realize that unconditional support of every action Israel takes compromises these principles and they struggle to reconcile these opposing realities. Sadly, some come to the conclusion that their Jewish identity, and therefore their automatic association with Israeli policies, are harmful to the world and they overcompensate by supporting BDS and other anti-Israel campaigns.
The prime minister’s death was a turning point for politics in Israel. He was the last truly capable leader of Israel’s liberal thinkers and after his departure, the Left slowly slid into a coma with no sign of waking up. Currently, the only political challenge to the mega multi-minister Benjamin Netanyahu is from within the Right itself, namely from Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked. Their shrewd maneuvers have pulled the prime minister to the right of the Fiji Islands, to the very edge of the map.
Mourning Rabin 20 years later - in silence (Photo: Reuters)
But it is only a half truth to claim that Israel’s Left is dead.
Politically, the rise of the Right has transformed the whole of Israeli society. Similar to the effect of the Tea Party in American politics, the entire political spectrum has shifted to the right, like a plane desperately trying to avoid a missile that isn’t even there. In any other developed nation, Israel’s Labor Party could hardly be considered left-wing, but 20 years after Rabin’s murder the Left is irrelevant, the center is Left, the Right is center and the fringe ideas of the far Right are being seriously considered or even justified and implemented.
This shift can partly be explained by legitimate frustration and anger over continual rounds of fighting in Gaza and underground incitement in the West Bank from sources both within and without the Palestinian government. But Israel has contributed to the continuation of conflict by abandoning the reason and common-sense desire for peace that once crossed the lines of political affiliation and united Israelis.
If the Left is dead, then so is the center, and so are the dreams and aspirations of any Israeli who hopes to someday live without conflict, regardless of his/her political views.
It’s often said that the Left is poor at protesting, which is true. Movements with left-leaning agendas are sparsely attended, lack energy and therefore cannot enjoy the sort of media attention needed to make them legitimate.
Even when every-day Israelis do gather in large numbers, it is only to mourn, not to take meaningful action (Photo: Reuters)
Some, perhaps, feel hopeless and doubt that their active participation will achieve anything. Others, maybe, are nervous about being lumped in with a group of “leftists,” a term that’s become a dehumanizing slur in Israeli society. But the real reason that the masses have not emerged from their homes to form an inspired movement with an inspiring leader who could potentially oust Netanyahu, is that the vast majority of Israelis just want to live their lives like normal human beings.
To meet this end, they are content to complain from the privacy of their homes or during private phone conversations. They are (rightly) tired of fighting. They would rather focus on living instead of surviving. Taking to the streets to lead the kind of social movement that Israel needs is hardly what a normal life looks like.
Government policies may feed the cyclical rounds of violence with the Palestinians, but the security bubble that’s been created allows level-headed, common-sense Israelis to live just normally enough that they choose apathy over action. It could easily be argued that a similar attitude was adopted by Germany’s Jewish population during Hitler’s rise to power.
Democracy, of course, is not to be undermined. Netanyahu’s continuous election victories and the rise of the Right seem to have been legitimately and purposefully chosen by more than half of the Israeli public. However, the slightly less than half who wouldn’t and didn’t vote for Netanyahu are largely silent or intentionally silenced. What remains is a society that constantly digests one side of the political spectrum without ever finding the opportunity to honestly explore the other as anything more than a threat.
The political change in Israel has also crossed oceans and manifested itself as an identity crisis among European and American Jews who see themselves as synonymous with Israel. Their connection to the Jewish homeland is not just about blood lines or religion, but a shared experience. Feeling oppression, pushing through adversity and knowing when to fight for survival are all elements that seem to make up the universal Jewish experience and align with the story of Israel as well.
Netanyahu may have been elected legitimately, but his devisivness has pushed a wedge deeper into the world-wide Jewish community (Photo: EPA)
So what would it take for the silent Israelis to start making some noise? Perhaps an inspiring leader has yet to emerge that could revive the Israeli quest for peace. This is, however, most likely a naive pipe dream, due to the cut-throat nature of Israeli politicking that has become more and more difficult for an honest individual to navigate.
More likely is that some tragedy will shake the country, reawakening the Left, stirring the center from their sense of apathy, and perhaps even piercing the over-confident, arrogant conviction of the Right, causing some to humble themselves and reconsider where they’ve been leading the country.
Either way, if Israel ever wants to find a better alternative to the status quo the nation must remember that Israel should never be about Left and Right, right and wrong or friend and enemy. The Israeli dream is one is which Jews have the right to self-determination, but in peace, not carefully maintained conflict. That’s the dream Rabin believed in and it’s a dream worth fighting for.
The author can be followed on Twitter @johnmkibrick.
