Israel’s Future is Terrifying
By Ramzy Baroud
Israeli society is constantly swerving to the Right and, by doing so, the country’s entire political paradigm is redefined regularly. Israel is now ‘ruled by the most extreme rightwing government in its history’ has grown from being an informed assessment to a dull cliché over the course of only a few years.
In fact, that exact line was used in May 2015, when rightwing Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, formed his thin majority government of like-minded right-wingers, religious zealots and ultra-nationalists. The same sentiment, with almost the exact wording, is being infused again, as Netanyahu has expanded his coalition by bringing to the fold the ultra-nationalist, Avigdor Lieberman.
As of Wednesday May 25, Lieberman has also become Israel’s Defense Minister. Considering Lieberman’s rowdy and violent politics as demonstrated in his two terms as Foreign Minister (from 2009 to 2012 and, again, from 2013 to 2015), being a Defense Minister in Israel’s ‘most extreme rightwing government in history’ harbors all kind of terrifying prospects.
While many commentators rightly pointed to Lieberman’s past provocations and wild statements – for example, his 2015 statement threatening to behead Palestinian citizens of Israel with an axe if they are not fully loyal to Israel; advocating the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian citizens of Israel; his death ultimatum to former Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, and so on – his predecessor, Moshe Ya’alon, was spared much blame.
Worse, the former Defense Minister, Ya’alon, was regarded by some as an example of professionalism and morality. He is ‘well-regarded’, wrote William Booth in the Washington Post, compared to the ‘polarizing maverick’ Lieberman. But ‘well-regarded’ by whom? By Israeli society, the majority of whom support the cold-blooded murder of Palestinians?
Israel has adhered to its own definition of political terminology for a long time. Its early ‘socialism’ was a blend of communal living, facilitated by military onslaught and sustained by colonialism. Its current definition of ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘center’ are also relative, only unique to Israel itself.
Thanks to Lieberman – the former Russian immigrant, club bouncer-turned-politician who is constantly rallying the roughly one million Israeli Russian Jews around his ever-violent political agenda – Ya’alon is now an example of level-headedness and morality.
Indeed, the quote that has been reproduced numerous times in the media is that of Ya’alon stating the reason behind his resignation is that he has lost confidence in ‘Netanyahu’s decision- making and morals’.
Morals? Let’s examine the evidence.
– Read more: Israel’s future is terrifying: Moshe Ya’alon and Israel’s disconcerting ‘morality’ – MOMO
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