You state: 'The Jewish argument against one state for two peoples is simple: This approach is literally the definition of Jewish suicide'. I agree. The One State solution is dead (for it would mean an Arab Majority within 10 years). The Two State solution is also dead, because any Palestinian State would simply arm and then launch a Hamas-War-of-Genocide as they have sworn to, against The Jewish People. This leaves only the Occupation of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) plus Gaza, which in International Military Law is Legal because it prevents a wider war and a Genocidal bloodbath against The Jewish People of Israel. Is anyone saying this on the Right of Israeli Politics yet? Because these facts are where the debate is going to go. BTW, Expulsion of Arab Palestinians, which is talked about ONLY on the very fringes of the Far Right, is a complete non-starter, because Ethnic Cleansing such as that is ILLEGAL. Also Note: We here in the UK have monitored Nazis who call themselves The Nazi Party infiltrating UK Politics, and the State Security Apparatus itself. This is the toxic danger of Racist Ideas to the Liberal and Freedom-maintaining Democratic Law-abiding State, in the Police Force and The Armed Services. So beware.
Agree that expulsion is a non-starter. However, those Arabs living in the Gaza strip and Samaria and Judea might be given the option of living there with 'special' visas as sojourners in Israel with full rights except voting. Or, those not wishing to stay would be free to emigrate any Arab state they choose.
By any international norms of warfare, Israel has sovereign rights over the lands it conquered in the 1967 war, the historical/biblical history notwithstanding. Given Arab refusal to coexist peacefully with the Jewish state, I believe Israel can legally make decisions about who lives on those lands and under what conditions. Israel is on record for bending over backwards to peacefully accommodate the Arabs lands on Israeli conquered lands. That accommodation should not include non-stop rocket fire and/or the extermination of Jews and the state of Israel.
Yes, Martial Law is Legal if this prevents a greater Genocide. The talk of 'Occupation of The Palestinian Territories', is actually 'Martial Law, to prevent another (Nazi) Genocide against The Jewish People'. Martial Law is Legal in these circumstances in International Law. The Facts are that Hamas has sworn to commit Genocide against The Jewish People, and has been monitored here in London in an Alliance with the organisation calling itself The (Re-Formed) Nazi Party. Each of these facts taken together makes the Occupation of The Palestinian Territories, and Martial Law in The Palestinian Territories legal. They are preventing Genocide against The Jewish People.
There is nothing inherently non-democratic as seeing Jewish settlement in all of the historical Land of Israel as the fulfillment of a Jewish dream, so long as the human rights of other residents are recognized and respected. Israel's left has unfortunately become less and less connected with Jewish values and aspirations and more and more internationalist in tone. Israel's move to the right is not only survivalist, it is ideological as well. It is a return to many essential values that the left also once held.
This is an especially important essay for those of us living in the USA, and perhaps other nations as well. It clarified for me the political 'right/left' definitions in Israel vis a vis many western countries. I've definitely been guilty of using a 'coffee/tea lens' to understand Israeli politics. Thanks for the necessary and helpful education.
Very informative article. I think Israelis sharing a state with Palestinians can be compared to the Christians sharing the governing of Lebanon with the Moslems. And look how well that turned out.
"But in Israel’s case, this is not in any way, shape, or form the same nationalism that has driven Western countries to colonize and settle other territories. Israeli nationalism, by and large, has been a defensive posture rooted in basic survival."
This characterization also describes India's nationalistic/right wing perfectly. As a result, it gets smeared persistently by my Western mainstream media.
Thank you for an excellent explanation of the Israeli Right and how it perceives the old Israeli Left. I want to make an argument that it distorts the historical record in three big ways ways and one small way.
First, the achievement of that Left leadership in navigating the creation of the state, the challenges of making its institutions work, the winning of three wars (48, 56, 67) and the quadrupling or quintupling of its population, got lost in the shuffle as you explained the roots of the Israeli right. We need to bear it in mind. We owe the Ben-Gurion/Sharret/Eshkol generation a debt we cannot repay.
Second, I think that there is a tendency in Israel to think as if this country is a unique case in every way. That is simply not so. The massive Eastern European Jewish migration to the US is a case in point, with its sky high tensions between the older, established German and Sephardic Jews who mainly arrived in the early-mid 19th Century, and the "Eastern Jews" from Yiddish speaking communities in Eastern Europe. Tensions between older groups of migrants and newer ones are commonplace, tedious perhaps, but always there. As an immigrant from the US in the early 1970s, I certainly experienced them here in Israel. The small number of sometimes hostile Mizrahi and Ashkenazi bureaucrats, who by their accents were not native Hebrew speakers, caused me great headaches in those days and left an impression.
Third, I think the collapse of the Left is more related to the collapse of Oslo which represented a messianic takeover of the Left by people who genuinely thought that if we did the right thing, the Palestinians would do the right thing, and we would have a New Middle East. It was that failure, more than anything, that got Sharon elected and has kept the Right in power.
And one small quibble, if I may. I think that you are inaccurate about the inflation after the 1973 war. There was a worldwide phenomenon of inflation, but the disastrous Argentina-style inflation in Israel was mainly the result of the inept management of the economy by Begin's first government.
[First an edit suggestion: “These people wonder aloud why the Jews and Palestinians cannot just share one state for two peoples, as if asking us Jews to comprise a Jewish majority in our own state will not destroy Jewish self-determination.” You meant to state “minority,” not “majority” (which the point of the sentence that follows this statement).]
Explain why those Israelis who fully recognize and for whom 10.7 only confirmed what they already knew to be true—that the majority of Pal. Arabs support and cheer 10.7, i.e., brutal, sick genocide against the Jewish people—are the “ugly” side of the so-called “right wing.” Why are those who are honest and willing to be point blank about the truly ugly truth, and proven correct, still demonized and placed on the “ugly” end of the so-called “right wing” spectrum? Why are those who proclaim rightly and proudly that Jewish holy sites do indeed belong to the Jews, not to the usurpers, are cast as troublemakers? There is nothing inherently “wrong” or “ugly” about being forthright in choosing the survival of one’s own family over those who prefer you not exist at all and who even support your violent, bloody removal from the land that is rightly yours, or anywhere else you dare live on the planet. When people blatantly demonstrate their intentions, see it and believe it; don’t deny it and make excuses for them.
I say without any reservation—those Arabs/Muslims who truly want to peacefully coexist with Jews in a *Jewish* state, stay and do so freely and openly, and reap all the benefits in life as a result. Those who are dreaming of a 21st century Shoah, pack your bags and go live with your like minded brothers in the back waters of humanity.
A truly well written piece. Every single pundit on Israel should be required to read the historical facts here.
Thanks for providing such a well done explanation. I hope this helps people on the outside understand the situation more.
Thank you for presenting this, and for your honest sharing of your personal position.
Or dead and NOT pitied. Thanks for writing and explicating.
https://worldisraelnews.com/must-watch-people-react-with-horror-about-nova-massacre-until-they-hear-israelis-were-attacked/
Amen! Thanks for the education and clarification of both the history and the present, Joshua.
Thank you—it was so informative, and plenty of study material. Love it!
You state: 'The Jewish argument against one state for two peoples is simple: This approach is literally the definition of Jewish suicide'. I agree. The One State solution is dead (for it would mean an Arab Majority within 10 years). The Two State solution is also dead, because any Palestinian State would simply arm and then launch a Hamas-War-of-Genocide as they have sworn to, against The Jewish People. This leaves only the Occupation of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) plus Gaza, which in International Military Law is Legal because it prevents a wider war and a Genocidal bloodbath against The Jewish People of Israel. Is anyone saying this on the Right of Israeli Politics yet? Because these facts are where the debate is going to go. BTW, Expulsion of Arab Palestinians, which is talked about ONLY on the very fringes of the Far Right, is a complete non-starter, because Ethnic Cleansing such as that is ILLEGAL. Also Note: We here in the UK have monitored Nazis who call themselves The Nazi Party infiltrating UK Politics, and the State Security Apparatus itself. This is the toxic danger of Racist Ideas to the Liberal and Freedom-maintaining Democratic Law-abiding State, in the Police Force and The Armed Services. So beware.
Agree that expulsion is a non-starter. However, those Arabs living in the Gaza strip and Samaria and Judea might be given the option of living there with 'special' visas as sojourners in Israel with full rights except voting. Or, those not wishing to stay would be free to emigrate any Arab state they choose.
By any international norms of warfare, Israel has sovereign rights over the lands it conquered in the 1967 war, the historical/biblical history notwithstanding. Given Arab refusal to coexist peacefully with the Jewish state, I believe Israel can legally make decisions about who lives on those lands and under what conditions. Israel is on record for bending over backwards to peacefully accommodate the Arabs lands on Israeli conquered lands. That accommodation should not include non-stop rocket fire and/or the extermination of Jews and the state of Israel.
Yes, Martial Law is Legal if this prevents a greater Genocide. The talk of 'Occupation of The Palestinian Territories', is actually 'Martial Law, to prevent another (Nazi) Genocide against The Jewish People'. Martial Law is Legal in these circumstances in International Law. The Facts are that Hamas has sworn to commit Genocide against The Jewish People, and has been monitored here in London in an Alliance with the organisation calling itself The (Re-Formed) Nazi Party. Each of these facts taken together makes the Occupation of The Palestinian Territories, and Martial Law in The Palestinian Territories legal. They are preventing Genocide against The Jewish People.
There is nothing inherently non-democratic as seeing Jewish settlement in all of the historical Land of Israel as the fulfillment of a Jewish dream, so long as the human rights of other residents are recognized and respected. Israel's left has unfortunately become less and less connected with Jewish values and aspirations and more and more internationalist in tone. Israel's move to the right is not only survivalist, it is ideological as well. It is a return to many essential values that the left also once held.
You did a great job of explaining Israeli right and left.
This is an especially important essay for those of us living in the USA, and perhaps other nations as well. It clarified for me the political 'right/left' definitions in Israel vis a vis many western countries. I've definitely been guilty of using a 'coffee/tea lens' to understand Israeli politics. Thanks for the necessary and helpful education.
Very informative article. I think Israelis sharing a state with Palestinians can be compared to the Christians sharing the governing of Lebanon with the Moslems. And look how well that turned out.
Fascinating read!
"But in Israel’s case, this is not in any way, shape, or form the same nationalism that has driven Western countries to colonize and settle other territories. Israeli nationalism, by and large, has been a defensive posture rooted in basic survival."
This characterization also describes India's nationalistic/right wing perfectly. As a result, it gets smeared persistently by my Western mainstream media.
Shalom Joshua,
Thank you for an excellent explanation of the Israeli Right and how it perceives the old Israeli Left. I want to make an argument that it distorts the historical record in three big ways ways and one small way.
First, the achievement of that Left leadership in navigating the creation of the state, the challenges of making its institutions work, the winning of three wars (48, 56, 67) and the quadrupling or quintupling of its population, got lost in the shuffle as you explained the roots of the Israeli right. We need to bear it in mind. We owe the Ben-Gurion/Sharret/Eshkol generation a debt we cannot repay.
Second, I think that there is a tendency in Israel to think as if this country is a unique case in every way. That is simply not so. The massive Eastern European Jewish migration to the US is a case in point, with its sky high tensions between the older, established German and Sephardic Jews who mainly arrived in the early-mid 19th Century, and the "Eastern Jews" from Yiddish speaking communities in Eastern Europe. Tensions between older groups of migrants and newer ones are commonplace, tedious perhaps, but always there. As an immigrant from the US in the early 1970s, I certainly experienced them here in Israel. The small number of sometimes hostile Mizrahi and Ashkenazi bureaucrats, who by their accents were not native Hebrew speakers, caused me great headaches in those days and left an impression.
Third, I think the collapse of the Left is more related to the collapse of Oslo which represented a messianic takeover of the Left by people who genuinely thought that if we did the right thing, the Palestinians would do the right thing, and we would have a New Middle East. It was that failure, more than anything, that got Sharon elected and has kept the Right in power.
And one small quibble, if I may. I think that you are inaccurate about the inflation after the 1973 war. There was a worldwide phenomenon of inflation, but the disastrous Argentina-style inflation in Israel was mainly the result of the inept management of the economy by Begin's first government.
Brilliant
[First an edit suggestion: “These people wonder aloud why the Jews and Palestinians cannot just share one state for two peoples, as if asking us Jews to comprise a Jewish majority in our own state will not destroy Jewish self-determination.” You meant to state “minority,” not “majority” (which the point of the sentence that follows this statement).]
Explain why those Israelis who fully recognize and for whom 10.7 only confirmed what they already knew to be true—that the majority of Pal. Arabs support and cheer 10.7, i.e., brutal, sick genocide against the Jewish people—are the “ugly” side of the so-called “right wing.” Why are those who are honest and willing to be point blank about the truly ugly truth, and proven correct, still demonized and placed on the “ugly” end of the so-called “right wing” spectrum? Why are those who proclaim rightly and proudly that Jewish holy sites do indeed belong to the Jews, not to the usurpers, are cast as troublemakers? There is nothing inherently “wrong” or “ugly” about being forthright in choosing the survival of one’s own family over those who prefer you not exist at all and who even support your violent, bloody removal from the land that is rightly yours, or anywhere else you dare live on the planet. When people blatantly demonstrate their intentions, see it and believe it; don’t deny it and make excuses for them.
I say without any reservation—those Arabs/Muslims who truly want to peacefully coexist with Jews in a *Jewish* state, stay and do so freely and openly, and reap all the benefits in life as a result. Those who are dreaming of a 21st century Shoah, pack your bags and go live with your like minded brothers in the back waters of humanity.
Once again, well done Mr. Hoffman!
Speaking of parties, my only comment is that Israel has way too many and the system should be overhauled. papa j