The days of characterizing Diaspora Jews
as disloyal to the State of Israel for expressing our concerns about
societal trends in Israel are over.
The images are no less shocking to Americans: participants at a Jewish
wedding in Jerusalem dance while brandishing assault rifles, guns,
knives and a fake fire-bomb.
They repeatedly stab a photograph of Ali
Dawabshe, the 18-month-old Palestinian who was murdered along with his
parents in the West Bank village of Duma five months ago by Jewish
terrorists.
The song to which the revelers were dancing,
“Zachreni Na,” is a well-known “revenge song” based on Samson’s final
words: “Remember me... let me take one vengeance for my two eyes on the
Philistines.” In Hebrew, “Philistine” and “Palestinian” derive from
the same root and are essentially the same word.
This song is
played regularly at bar mitzvas and weddings in the religious Zionist
community, so it cannot be dismissed as some sort of extremist anthem,
and its playing unfortunately cannot be viewed as an aberration.
The
video, taped on a wedding guest’s smartphone, has gone viral since it
originally aired on Channel 10 TV. Israeli leaders across the political
spectrum have strongly condemned the “wedding of hate.” Yet Ayelet
Shaked, a star in Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi Party and the current
justice minister, told Army Radio a day after the video first aired
that she “regretted” that it was released because it “hurts the State
of Israel.”
Actually, Minister Shaked, what is hurting the State
of Israel is the atmosphere in which this kind of blood lust –
something we are used to seeing with Islamic State (IS), even with
Palestinians celebrating the deaths of terrorist “martyrs,” but not
from fellow Jews – finds expression in one of the holiest Jewish life
cycle events.
The bride and groom – who have subsequently been
arrested along with several wedding guests – belong to an extremist
group, The Rebellion, whose aim is to topple the Israeli government,
replace it with a monarchy and expel all non-Jewish inhabitants. The
newlyweds are friends with the two settler youths being held as
suspects in the murder of the Dawabsha family, and wedding attendees
included the lawyer for the suspects, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bentzi
Gopstein, leader of the virulently anti-Arab group Lehava. Even the
rabbi who officiated, Rabbi Daniel Stavsky, has weighed in by stating
that the Duma killings were perpetrated by the Shin Bet, Israel’s
domestic security service, and Arabs.
There have been warnings
for some time about a growing atmosphere of intolerance, racism and
violence in Israel. For too long, it appears that the security services
did not act aggressively enough to staunch the growing Jewish
terrorist underground movement by investigating its crimes, such as
church and mosque burnings, “price tag” actions, illegal outposts
established by the “hilltop youth,” and more. Carmi Gillon, who headed
the Shin Bet when prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in
1995, has described the threat to Israel by the far-right Jewish
terrorist underground as even greater than that which existed during
the period leading up to Rabin’s murder at the hand of a Jewish
extremist. In chilling reminders of that time, President Reuven Rivlin
and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been depicted recently in
social media in Nazi and Arab garb, just as Rabin once was vilified.
Clearly,
these extremists do not represent the vast majority of Israelis, and
all countries, including the United States, have to contend with
intolerant, racist and hateful elements in their midst. But Shaked’s
suggestion to “keep it in the family” or out of the international
public view is merely an ill-conceived (and completely ineffectual)
attempt to counter efforts to defame and delegitimize Israel through
the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
When we
witness the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, whose members are Israeli
army reservists, being criticized and marginalized by Israeli public
officials for publicizing experiences during army service in the West
Bank and Gaza, we must ask ourselves who is protecting whom and from
what. Sunshine is still the best disinfectant.
Of course,
Israelis have good reason to feel beleaguered – the instability of the
region, the threats from Iran, Hezbollah and IS, and the latest wave of
violence against innocent civilians that shows no sign of abating. But
the idea of keeping Israel’s challenges and less than positive aspects
“in the family” is beyond antiquated; it harms Israel’s own interests.
I
sometimes get the feeling that Israeli officials are surprised that
American Jews follow developments in Israel as closely as many of us
do. But we have access to Israeli print and television news in Hebrew
and in English and in real time, so this should come as no surprise.
The
days of characterizing Diaspora Jews as disloyal to the State of
Israel for expressing our concerns about societal trends in Israel are
over, and those of us who still believe in Israel as a Jewish and
democratic state need to speak up and support those in Israel who share
a deep distress about a growing atmosphere of intolerance and hatred
that leads to scenes like the “wedding of hate.” After all, we’re still
family, and it’s time to break our own silence.
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