We are witnessing an encouraging phenomenon. The Israeli Left is rapidly losing its legitimacy as far as the citizens of Israel are concerned. Irit Linur, a Leftist author, has suddenly discovered that Ha’aretz, the Israeli morning newspaper, is no more than a sophisticated propaganda mouthpiece of the enemy, and has canceled her subscription. Yaffa Yarkoni, a veteran singer, whose songs won her acclaim during the 1948 War of Independence, attempted to restore her popularity by spitting into the Zionist well, and suddenly found that the rules of the game had changed. She lost the ability to sense which way the wind was blowing, and spat against the wind.
It may indeed be an encouraging phenomenon. All the propaganda “peace” attempts, all the Leftist campaigns to hijack Israeli public opinion, have now been undone by the endless waves of Arab terror. The Right need now only rest on the laurels of those who predicted what was to happen – and pick their political fruit.
In fact, the public opinion polls indicate a dramatic rise in the strength of the Right, with a corresponding weakening of the Left. The politicians of the Right certainly have good reason to celebrate. The current situation is the opportunity every politician dreams of – more jobs and more power, without having to expend special efforts.
But for the man in the street, the one faithful to his country and his Jewish identity, there is little reason for celebration. On the contrary, the current situation is more dangerous than ever before. The rise of the Right is a dangerous delusion, and it would be better for all of us to remember what happened to Eretz Yisrael a short time after the knock-out that Begin awarded Peres in the 1977 elections.
Irit Linur didn’t cancel her subscription after deep thought, and Yaffa Yarkoni didn’t apologize to IDF soldiers because she suddenly realized that they aren’t actually Nazis. Everything Linur wrote about Ha’aretz was also true five years ago, and the IDF hasn’t changed. But the very gifted Linur suffers from the usual Leftist shallowness. Her views are not based on deep rooted convictions or knowledge, but on the way the wind is blowing, the current political correctness.
Right now, the Israeli Right lacks a viable agenda to replace Shimon Peres’ vapid “New Middle East” – that is, the war to wipe out the Jewish identity of the Israeli nation, waged by the Left. The Right is benefiting from the current situation, but has no viable alternative plan of its own. The Right has never offered an answer to the process of collective assimilation referred as “the peace process.” At present, they do not have the vision to provide an answer.
As a result, every move made by Sharon (or Netanyahu, or Limor Livnat, or any other conventional Rightist leader), is intended to prevent the process of physical annihilation, but not to confront the process of spiritual annihilation. In such an atmosphere, we will inevitably go ahead with the dismantling of the settlements and ignore their message of linking Zionism to Jewish identity, heritage and vision. The only way for Israel to take a new direction, is to equate Judaism and Zionism with the Temple Mount, Rachel’s Tomb, with Me’arat Ha’machpelah, and with Joseph’s Tomb.
Most Israelis now want “to teach the Arabs a lesson they won’t forget,” but they are also prepared to uproot most of the settlements. This is not a contradiction – they are not prepared to agree to physical destruction, but they have totally lost their sense of spiritual direction, and the Right is not supplying it. Not even the religious parties are doing so.
“What is the most frightening scenarios that you can contemplate?” I was asked by a (Leftist, naturally) journalist.
“The thing that frightens me more than anything is that there won’t be a war.”
“What?”
“Yes – after all, you think that you will buy your lives at the price of destroying the settlements. Just like the Jews in Europe during the Second World War, who thought that the problem would stop on the boundary of their town. You think that you will give up the Golan Heights, then Jerusalem, then give the Arab refugees the right of return, and in the end the ships of the Sixth Fleet will rescue the fortunate holders of U.S. passports. The thing that frightens me most is that there won’t be a war”.
It is clear that uprooting the settlements won’t avoid the physical destruction of Israel, but on the contrary, will make it more likely. But the average Israeli thinks otherwise. He is ready to sacrifice his life in Jenin, but the same soldiers will destroy the settlements and, as we saw in the past, the order for this can only be given by the Right. The Right, lacking a head with Jewish-based values, is like a robot controlled by the Left. And when the arms are of the Right and the head is of the Left, we have good reason to be anxious.
So what can we do – vote for the Left? Of course not. What we have to do is to put a Jewish head on the shoulders of the Right!
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