A Cultural-National Revolution

Ma’ariv, Israel, February 16

What we are witnessing in Israel these days is not a legal reform – it is a cultural-national revolution. More precisely, it is a revenge revolution that masquerades as a beautifying legal reform. This vengeful revolution rests, like everything stable, on four legs. The first leg is a vengeful one of some Mizrahi Israelis, mostly of North African origin. The second leg is the leg of the Smotrich-Rothmans and the Ben-Gvirs, the extremist politicians who intend with the help of this revolution to realize the dream of a great and complete Land of Israel, with the laws of the Torah governing it. They hope to bring back the days of the Kingdom of Judah and enable the construction of the Temple, with the help of illusory laws and budgets. The third leg is the leg of the ultra-Orthodox community, Ashkenazi and Sephardic, who need this revolution in order to completely prevent the recruitment of their sons into the IDF. This revolution also allows for the flow of state funds into their education systems (where they don’t teach core subjects like math and English), to improve housing conditions, and to establish ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and cities. The fourth leg is the leg of Binyamin Netanyahu, who needs this revolution as much as Christ the Redeemer in order to get out of a potential prison sentence. For 15 years, Prime Minister Netanyahu prevented necessary reforms in the judicial system. On numerous occasions, his attempts to quash reform initiatives were successful. Without his interventions, it is clear that the country would be in a very different place – most likely with a different government – today. When Knesset member Dudu Amsalem stated that “the Mizrahim don’t take humiliations” and that “no one will humiliate us, not even a prime minister from the Likud” after Netanyahu failed to appoint him as a minister in the new government, it was an expression of vengeance that resonated with those who want to sustain the fire of enmity. Without it, they would have no political legitimacy. They are the ones who ensure that the legacy of the past is passed down from generation to generation, while the forefathers of this country – those who built the kibbutzim, drained the swamps, fought Arab gangs, and established a modern society – are trampled on. Today, their sons and grandsons have become, at best, “traitorous leftists,” and, at worst, “oppressors of Israel.” There is no disputing that reforms to the judicial system, including the Supreme Court, were long overdue. However, there is a stark difference between such reforms and the hard claims of discrimination. We’ve seen no claims against the fact that there have been no Moroccan doctors, brain surgeons, engineers and scientists over the years. The late Edmond Levy is a testament to the presence of such individuals. Very simply, immigration from Morocco did not bring doctors, engineers and scientists. This fact is often ignored by those who are hostile to immigration. It is likely that they will eventually ask why none of the Jews who have won Nobel prizes are of Moroccan descent. It appears that only those with leftist views sit on the committees that award the prizes. Anyone familiar with the history of the country over the past 75 years recognizes the discrimination and bias that immigrants of all kinds faced in the early years. Life in the transit camps was not easy for anyone, including Ashkenazi Jews. However, over time, those who worked hard and studied achieved success and many members of the Mizrahi ethnic group outdid their Ashkenazi peers. To turn this today into a sectarian struggle, masquerading as a legal reform, that divides the country and puts its future in jeopardy, gives aid to those who take advantage of it to evade accountability and who use it for their own personal benefit and to pursue illusory goals that clearly damage the country’s future. – Ephraim Ganor (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)