The Hebrew-Language Hamodia newspaper, affiliated with the Gerrer Hasidic court and Agudath Israel party, on Sunday, suggested that since many bereaved families object to elected officials showing up at memorial services to fallen IDF soldiers, especially elected officials who did not serve in the IDF, “Perhaps the Haredi representatives should ask to send other representatives to the cemeteries in their place. There is no point in going to a place where we are rejected.”
Hamodia appears to have bought the line of the anarchists and the bereaved families that agree with them that Haredi elected officials who represent hundreds of thousands of Israeli voters are not relevant when it comes to the country’s Memorial Day. Like the anarchists, Hamodia ignores the fact that many Haredim have served and fallen in Israel’s wars, and the day is also dedicated to remembering the victims of terror attacks, many of whom were Haredim.
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Sunday morning wrote: “The command of remembrance obliges us to unite around it and focus on that which connects us. Don’t turn the cemeteries into an arena for debates. Communion with our fallen loved ones cannot exist under the noise of debate.”
Since the establishment of Israel, the Knesset has been sending Jewish elected officials to represent the state in IDF memorial ceremonies on Memorial Day. The anarchist campaign which is aimed at toppling the government using extra-parliamentarian methods (see my note on the Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals: Anarchists Plan to Drown Out Minister Ben Gvir with Hatikvah on Memorial Day), has added the no-serve no-speak argument to its arsenal of attacks, and managed to sway an estimated 6,000 bereaved Israelis who now parrot the same message.
On Friday, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Camp Chairman Benny Gantz, and Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid, issued a statement asking the citizens of the State of Israel, “to leave the political disputes on this day of remembrance outside the military cemeteries.”
As if elected officials at the memorial ceremonies in the military sections of cemeteries around Israel hand out political leaflets to the bereaved and carry speeches about the achievements or failures of the Netanyahu government.
But the fact that the entire political echelon has succumbed to what began as a plot by the anarchists to utilize yet another sacred value common to all Israelis to ignite the country suggests one more victory to the sinister forces undermining Israel’s democracy. The lawless mobs are handily defeating the democratic majority, in keeping with Alinsky’s first rule: “Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.”
Hamodia complained: “On the agenda is the issue of agitation against the Haredi representatives, lest they come to the military cemeteries on Memorial Day. The argument: they don’t serve in the army, so, we don’t want them, and they shouldn’t come. Calls were also heard against politicians showing up in general, but some stood up in the face of those calls. But regarding the chants against the Hare4dim, the same responders remained mum.”
“The fact that Haredi representatives holding positions in the Knesset or the government came to the cemeteries stemmed from their desire to honor the fallen and cherish the families whose sacrifice was great. None of the representatives came for personal reasons, but by virtue of the requirement of their position and status; and as long as it was that way – it made sense,” argued Hamodia.
“With the lawlessness that currently prevails in the streets of the cities of Israel, a situation may arise in which the very desire to honor the fallen and cherish the members of their families may turn into a display of contempt, shouting, and cursing that will certainly not add honor to the events,” the Agudah paper continued, urging Haredi elected officials to seek others to represent the state in those ceremonies.
If you think you can’t beat them, surrender. Makes perfect sense.
