The anti-Zionist right
Op-ed: Instead of having the state’s best interest in mind, Likud Knesset members are insisting on enacting damaging laws in order to gather a few more votes from the settler bloc.
Nevertheless, they are doing it. They are not Israel haters, they are Israel lovers. They are being warned that this legislation will cause Israel to be ostracized, but they are in a hurry. So we should call these people by their names. Anti-Zionists. They exist in the Left, and they also exist in the Right.
It’s not about Amona. It’s about Israel. Sometimes, a pawn can be sacrificed in order to achieve a different, more important move. In this case, Knesset members from the Right, but not the entire Right, prefer both to sacrifice Israel’s standing and not to save Amona. I would like to say that I have spoken with some of those who are speaking harshly today. Mainly with lawmakers from the Likud who are overtaking the Right from the right.
To know their real stance, one should look at Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon. He is their own flesh and blood. He never believed in radical right-wing views. But he too, may I remind you, was one of those who went against his party’s leadership with a very hawkish stand. It was a political need. He was intimidated by members of the Likud Central Committee. That fear no longer exists.
Today, it is senior Likud members who are intimidated by the Central Committee members. Between the national interest and the party’s interest, they prefer the latter. Fascists at least have a nationalist ideology that pretends to serve the collective interest. But not the Likud lawmakers, who are insisting on foolish laws. They are showing contempt for the state in order to gather a few votes from the settler bloc. The Likud voters love the state. Certain senior Likud members, however, are crushing the state’s best interest.
Make no mistake. It’s not the Right against the Left. It’s the Right against the Right. the Right against the state. The prime minister and the defense minister, who are not exactly beloved by the Left and don’t love the Left, either, are against the Regulation Bill. They know why. They are the ones who may suffer the consequences. And now Minister Gila Gamliel—and she is just an allegory—is joining the crazy herd. I would like to look Gamliel in the eye and ask her: Are you serious? Do you really support this terrorist attack against Israel? The vote contractors already consider you a leftist, because of the courage you demonstrated here and there. Is this what will “absolve” you?
Admittedly, I was against judicial imperialism for years. I am still against it. Historically, I argued, there are more examples of foolish court rulings than of dangerous legislation by lawmakers. But I have a bad feeling that a relatively large group of MKs has decided to prove me wrong. They might come up with a majority for a bill that has a black flag of Illegality flying over it.
It’s unclear whether there will eventually be a majority in the Knesset for this unnecessary law, which is only one in a series of laws that highlight how the Likud has lost its head and its conscience. One thing is clear: There is no need for the law to pass in order to cause damage. Nonetheless, we should hope that the majority of MKs won’t allow it. We should also hope that there are still MKs who have the state’s best interest in mind. And if this law does pass after all, I will get to congratulate the High Court of Justice on its activism for the first time in my life.
