29/06/2016,
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They are not
just four generals. They are former chiefs of staff, and they are outraged by
the fact that their intractable prime minister has appointed an inexperienced
Moldavian as defense minister. Of this man it is said: “The closest he ever
came to a bullet was a tennis ball whistling past his ear."
The amply decorated generals are soldiers of
demonstrated heroism: this one held his fire till he saw the whites of the
enemy's eyes, that one took part in assassinating Abu Jihad on the shore of
Tunisia. In stark contrast, the newly appointed defense minister immigrated,
settled in the West Bank, and got rich; his heroism has been confined to
stonewalling numerous police investigations for corruption. The contrast
between Avigdor Lieberman and the group of military men
(Moshe Ya'alon, Gabi
Ashkenazi, Benny Gantz and Ehud Barak) could hardly be stronger.
Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu's choice
of Lieberman could not have been worse. Ya'alon's ouster rankled the generals
and, as a result, they decided it was time to replace the government. The most
vocal and qualified is, of course, Ehud Barak. He called the right-wing
government “fascist” and pushed for a popular protest to overthrow it. When he
blamed Netanyahu for losing his way, he conveniently forgot that during his
time as defense minister, he worked in perfect harmony with and under
Netanyahu. He even split the Labor Party in order to be in the government.
Netanyahu is under pressure. Lieberman's
appointment was meant to be just a prologue: Labor leader Isaac Herzog was to
follow him into the right-wing government. That is why Netanyahu continues to
hold important portfolios for the Labor Party. Nonetheless, Barak and Ya'alon
upset the applecart, making Labor's entry a suicidal act. The political system
has reached a boiling point: Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi are establishing a
new movement called “Pnima” (lit. "inside"); Ya'alon has said he
would run for the premiership; former Environment Minister Avi Gabbay, who also
resigned following Lieberman's appointment, is waiting on the sidelines along
with dozens of other politicians and activists, "victims of Bibi,"
who seek revenge.
Ostensibly, toppling Netanyahu should not be
difficult. When the army's elite, the wealthy, the Supreme Court, the press,
academics and intellectuals come together, one might think no force could
withstand them. Netanyahu offended them when he placed Lieberman in charge of
the army -- this after putting Ayelet Shaked in charge of the legal system --
and pitted Israel Today against Yediot Ahronot. (The former is a
free daily newspaper owned by Sheldon Adelson and biased in favor of
Netanyahu.) Some even compare Netanyahu to Erdogan or Putin, leaders who
eliminate opposition by all the means at their disposal. So it looked as though
the slogan "Just not Bibi" might create the majority needed to carry
out a revolution and put an end to Netanyahu's rule. However, it's not that
simple. While the “nays” are very clear, the “yeas" are a lot more nebulous.
Netanyahu's right-wing ideology is consistent and mobilizes all shades of the
Right. In contrast, Israel's Left and Center lack ideological backbone. They
are at odds with each other, and they flee from the label "leftist"
as though from plague.
Just this week, Israel's Channel 10 reported
that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli opposition
leader Isaac Herzog reached understandings on a peace agreement through secret
talks they conducted prior to the 2015 election. The agreement is not new and
it mainly recycles understandings that Israeli governments reached in the past
(and that have since gathered dust.) The main points are these: Israel withdraws
from most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem; Israel retains sovereignty in
the area of the Western Wall; Palestinian refugees receive financial
compensation; counterterrorism efforts will be supervised by a joint body
comprising representatives from Israel, Jordan and Palestine.
All this is set forth in a document of
understanding between the two and, according to reports, it was specifically
approved by Herzog. Discussions were held in the home of peace activist Gershon
Baskin, and the purpose was obviously to give Herzog ammunition on the eve of
the election. But wonder of wonders, when Abbas asked Herzog to present the
understandings to the public, Herzog (according to Baskin) shelved the
agreement, fearing to appear an “Arab lover." In contrast, Netanyahu
pledged that a Palestinian state would not be established on his watch and
publicly expressed his disgust with the Palestinians, thus securing himself
another term. Herzog became a bad joke. The four generals made him even less
relevant by ignoring him in their assault on Netanyahu.
Like Herzog, the generals are not ready to
present an alternative political program. In the deeper past, Ya'alon attacked
the Bar-Ilan speech in which Netanyahu accepted the principle of a two-state
solution. The "no-partner" paradigm is registered in the name of Ehud
Barak. Gantz and Ashkenazi make do with the establishment of a
"social" movement. Yair Lapid (head of the centrist Yesh Atid Party)
is focused as usual on cultivating his already inflated ego. So now the
national sport is to dump on Bibi: his shady dealings with the French criminal
Mimran; his relationship with media mogul Saul Alovitz; the inflated costs of
his private villa in Caesarea; the quirks and whims of his wife Sarah. However,
all these constitute a poor substitute for the lack of a concrete alternative
political platform.
Worse, Netanyahu's opponents see themselves as
gatekeepers of a multitude of values: the value of democracy, rule of law,
freedom of the press, the morality of the army, freedom of the arts, and so on.
The problem is that when these values are voiced by former chiefs of staff,
they sound trite and lack credibility.
Barak and Ya'alon talk about fascism and
extremism, comparing Israel to abhorrent regimes in Europe in the 1930's while
totally ignoring the Israeli reality that they themselves helped shape.
Messianism, racism, and disdain for democracy did not originate with Netanyahu.
They are anchored in the body and soul of the State of Israel and have become
part of its DNA. For 50 years, Israeli citizens have had their baptism under
fire in the streets of Nablus, Hebron and Ramallah. At 18, Israeli army
recruits learn how little life, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and
the rule of law are worth when it comes to Palestinians. For 50 years,
spearheaded by the generals, Israeli society has trampled these values in the
name of safeguarding them.
Mahmoud Rafaat Badran, pictured, was
described as an ‘uninvolved bystander’
after he was shot dead by Israeli troops
chasing a gang of stone throwing youths
who were attacking a motorway earlier
this week
Just this week, on the night between Monday and
Tuesday, soldiers shot and killed 15 year-old Mahmoud Rafat Badran. They
mistook him for a stone-thrower. According to the IDF code of conduct, his
killing did not contradict army values. The values enshrined by the same four
generals are exemplified when the army destroys the family homes of
Palestinians who carried out terrorist attacks, and when water is kept from
Palestinian towns, and when Palestinians are harassed at checkpoints.
There is little doubt that Netanyahu makes
every possible mistake. He kowtows to right-wing extremists, isolates Israel
from Europe, brawls with the US administration, rejects peace initiatives, and
is losing political credibility. But he knows how to survive. The people
responsible for his survival are precisely those who are now attacking him.
They are a group of cowards. Although they have proven courage on the
battlefield, they are cowards in the face of peace. The Left likes to argue
that the nation is moving to the Right, but the truth is that people go where
leaders lead.
Leadership is lacking in Israel today. The
Right peddles illusions with a racist tinge, while the Left is afraid of its
shadow. The only way to cope with the Right is to implement the values that
Barak and Ya'alon talk about – but to implement them for Israelis and
Palestinians equally. Those who deny the principle of equality become full
partners in shoring up the apartheid regime, and their eloquent calls for a
change of government will do nothing to alter the situation.
Translated from the Hebrew by Robert Goldman
*Yacov Ben
Efrat יעקב בן-אפרת يعقوب بن افرات: Writes for Challenge, a magazine of the Da'am
Workers Party, a revolutionary Jewish-Palestinian party in Israel, of which he
is the General Secretary. He was sentenced in 1989 to 30 months jail as editor
of the bilingual weekly Derech Hanitzoz (Way of the Spark), which was financed
by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, branded as a
"terrorist" organization by the Israeli government.
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