Israel at the Crossroads?

Leon Orbach, Hatikvah Board

This year 3 pivotal days in the Jewish calendar rolled over each other in quick succession. Yom HaShoah gave way to Yom HaZikaron which in turn is transformed into the celebrations of Yom Ha’atzmaut. So much Jewish history packed into such a short time.

Yom HaShoah speaks to the trauma and lessons of exile - Galut. Yom HaZikaron honours the price paid in the struggle for national self-determination – the answer to that exile. Yom Ha’atzmaut allows us to celebrate the achievements of those sacrifices that brought us once again to be a nation amongst nations. Together these days, these ימים, trace a powerful arc from destruction to renewal, from vulnerability to sovereignty.

My mother belonged to the generation that lived through the transition from Galut to nationhood. For her the creation of the State of Israel was truly a miracle. Israel for her was a source of immense pride and joy. At last, even though she found a home in Australia, she deeply felt herself to be a part of the reborn Jewish nation. She was proud that in her lifetime from the ashes of history a just, democratic country emerged, an ethical country, a country whose respect for human dignity and justice was a light unto nations.

She marvelled at the myths of the vibrant sabras who were making the desert bloom and creating a homeland for Jews, a country that honoured and respected all its citizens. She glowed with pride that the Israeli army truly lived up to its doctrine of “purity of arms” (טוהר הנשק). And she knew, as all mothers know, that war means one thing; that women and children will suffer and that families will be shattered.

My mother died 8 years ago now. She did not live to witness the profound shifts that have since taken hold. She did not live to see a new, uncompromising mutation of messianism grow and prosper. She did not see her dreams and those of the founders of the State of Israel perverted by a growing willingness to justify any means by invoking sacred ends. The coming of the Messiah, the era of the third temple allows the desecration of other religions, the persecution of anyone who stands in their way, Jews and non-Jews alike.

A growing trend of soldiers illegally displaying tags declaring their allegiance to the Messianic movement

She did not see soldiers smashing statues of Jesus. She did not see Arab towns and villages subject to pogroms. She did not see soldiers treating civilians; men, women and children, as collateral damage in the messianic rush to hasten the coming of the messiah. She did not see the insidious strategy of the messianists to destroy Israeli civil society. She did not see one part of a growing sector of society refusing to defend the State of Israel while feeding off the State pap. She did not see another part of that sector infiltrating all the institutions in the land; Defence, Treasury, Police, Security, etc etc. She did not see those institutions that can’t be subverted from the inside being subverted by the creation of new laws that shift Israel from a pluralistic democracy towards becoming a theocracy.

I am grateful that she did not live to see her miracle twisted and perverted.

And yet, we who remain must confront a difficult question: how did we arrive here?

Are the Jewish people the latest example of the proverbial frog sitting in a pot that is slowly coming to the boil? Will we wake up in time to jump out and save ourselves? What are the forces heating the water? Are they the calls for unity, the calls to circle the wagons instead of allowing open and honest debate about the direction society is heading? Are they the blind faith in a binary, zero sum game, where “you’re either with us or against us”? Are they the belief that our military and technological edge will always be enough to protect us?

As the celebrations and pride of Yom Ha’atzmaut fade and division, uncertainty and fear return to stalk the land, we must reflect on what we can do to preserve the dreams of the founders of Israel who embodied those dreams in the Declaration of the State of Israel. They sought to build a homeland for all Jews. A land that didn’t make distinctions between the streams of Jewish practice and belief. A land that welcomed the stranger and protected all its citizens.

Elections this year in Israel signal a true turning point, a fork in the road. The dream will either be fulfilled as ground zero for the coming of the messiah or as a place where all Jews, across the world, can take pride in a homeland, an anchor, a beacon of justice. Trump will not save us. Europe will not save us. Australia will not save us.

Only we can save ourselves, by acting, by voting, by encouraging friends and relatives to vote. As Herzl wrote “If you will it, it is no dream.”