When Yitzhak Mordechai resigned as minister in the Israeli cabinet people saw it as a refreshing change. Not because he had allegedly tasted forbidden fruits but because he did the right thing in resigning even before he was tried.
However, in announcing he was quitting politics, at least temporarily at the time, he was unique in modern Israel.
Scandal after scandal has rocked Israeli politics and the morning after the politicians carry on as though nothing had happened.
Now, I am not saying that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should resign or even suspend himself at this stage of the investigation into his role in the Greek island affair, however, this is an excellent opportunity to bemoan the moral fiber of Israel’s leaders.
Israel boasts that it is the Jewish state or the state of the Jews, but that means the country is accepting Jewish tradition. That does not necessarily mean the adopting of a religious moral code, but it does infer the acceptance of a rich history – a history based on biblical heritage and tales of survival in the face of tortuous ordeals. A history marked by humility.
A humility that was lost with statehood.
There is a big difference between national pride and personal ego. For a nation to jubilantly dance in the streets when David Ben-Gurion became the country’s first prime minister was an act of nation building, with no strings attached. Pure joy.
But just three generations later the children of 1948 and the following years have become a national embarrassment. Whether they belong to religious or secular parties there seem to be no limits to politicans’ underhandedness, calculated backstabbing and damned preparedness to make themselves first among equals.
They are elected representatives – they are not superiors. Politicians are public servants, there to do the voters’ bidding. That is what representative democracy is all about.
Political philosophers maintain that without an electoral system democracy would rapidly turn into anarchy.
But that is exactly what the Knesset and Israeli cabinet have become – elected anarchy. Favors for friends, siphoning money towards pet projects and a total u-turn on electoral pledges.
By now you are probably thinking Harris is being unfair. Israel is just like any other nation, perhaps better than some. And yes, you are right. But look at it from the other perspective, that of the dreamers, that of the new-nation builders, that of the Zionists, that of the bible believers. Israel tries to set itself up as being on the moral high ground. When it comes to the Middle East, Israel always says “but I am the only democracy in the region.” If that is the case, Israel, then you must act inwardly as well as outwardly on a different plane.
A light unto the nations you are not.