Beware brothers and sisters: There are traitors in our midst
Op-ed: The Netanyahu administration's policy in the Palestinian territories is highly problematic. Luckily, there are convenient distractions available in the form of easily-targeted human rights organizations.
At the start of the week, former minister Eli Yishai declared via his Facebook page, "A terror attack in Otniel: B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence are responsible for another heinous murder." You could look at that statement as evidence that Eli Yishai is a fool, but that would be a mistake. What should interest us isn't the stupidity or internal soul of a man who has already declared that Israel should "wipe out whole neighborhoods in Gaza," along with their elderly and women and children.
Yishai's sould is a very simple maze, half of which is made of populism, and other half out of moral imbecility. Yishai as a thinker and a judicial inspector is not the subject therefore, but Yishai as a representative of Israeli dialogue, which he is attempting to curry favor with via that status.
Eli Yishai. Half populism, half moral imbecility. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
That dialogue has been focused on Israeli human rights organizations for the past few months. Eli Yishai may have fired an idiotic shot from the hip, but many of his political camp are firing well-aimed and prepared shots of the same nature.
Human rights organization have been called Israel's number one problem: They don't just place an unwanted mirror in Israel's face; they aren't just "good souls" who don't understand that "morality doesn't fit in this part of the world" and that "the only language Arabs understand is power;" it seems that the language of blame has recently changed, from accusation of naivete to accusations of malice, and furthermore – treason.
Starting as a bothersome burden, human rights organizations have now become an existential threat. I assume one of the reasons for this is the severe shortage in existential threats as of late: Iraq and Syria are out of the picture, Hezbollah is busy, Hamas isn't firing, Iran – heaven forbid – is keeping to the term of its nuclear deal.
B'Tselem. An easy target. (Photo: EPA)
Netanyahu's Israel has to settle for measly replacements, like the doubtful statement by the Swedish foreign minister. We did indeed quickly announce that the distinguished lady is a crazy anti-Semite, hypocrite, and deathly threat to us, but even the prime minister's closest associates didn't believe that silliness. Well, maybe Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. She is a believer, after all.
We're left with the enemy from within. For the move to work, we need an initial action: Warning people that the boycott movement isn't targeting Israel's policies (especially in the Palestinian territories), but its very existence. The boycott movement (assuming there's an actual "movement" and not just a random bunch of disparate groups) is therefore a threat to our survival. There are journalists who dedicate their entire careers to fanning these hot coals, hoping that it they don't catch fire they'll at least produce some smoke.
From the moment threats to Netanyahu's holy government became concrete evidence of anti-Semitism and insatiable lust for our destruction, the question becomes about who is helping the villains in random colleges in south Wales plot our demise. The answer was found at home. To find the existential threat, just as it is with the blue bird, you don't have to go far. Human rights organizations are "moisers" (in Jewish tradition, a person who informs or betrays). They give villains out there in the world details of what we do in the Palestinian territories (admittedly, they are true details).
The Netanyahu administration's policies in the Palestinian territories are a problem, but human rights orgs get the blame. (Photo: Lowshot.com)
And the goyim see what happens and are shocked. And then they demand that their governments stop supporting the Netanyahu administration's holy policy. And the town burns. Fire, my brothers, fire.
And how nice is it that we can accuse B'Tselem, and Breaking the Silence, and Ta'ayush of treason and of attempting to destroy the state of Israel. And some day someone will do something about it already and take vengeance against these traitors, with our glazing eyes gazing at our Prime Minister.
And after that happens, we'll reflect and blame the other side of spreading generalizations and condescension. And when we say the word condescension, we'll be forgiven. Because condescending isn't nice.
Israel's problem isn't the mirrors in its face, no matter if the image they present is correct or distorted. The problem is the government's reckless policy as it concerns the Palestinian territories. Resistance to this policy isn't the disease, but a desperate attempt to find a cure.
