A Haredi, an Arab and a Druze walk into a war
Yeah, but it’s no joke.
Sometimes, there are so many things happening at one time, that it is hard to keep pace. Sometimes, some of those things happen because of each other, sometimes with no connection. Sometimes, the irony is overwhelming.
This past week, the United Torah Judaism party left the coalition government in protest over an agreement that would exempt them from military duty. The government now has a tenuous one-seat majority. There was also a motion to remove Arab-Israeli lawyer and member of the Knesset Ayman Odeh. Odeh is notorious for supporting Hamas in its war with Israel. The motion failed, in part, because UTJ chose not to vote in favour. The position of the UTJ is reprehensible and indefensible. It is also predictable. Both Odeh and the UTJ call into question Israel’s legitimacy. They are not working in tandem, but the effect is the same: we are weakened. Odeh’s position is understandable, but has no place in Israel’s governing body; UTJ’s position is incomprehensible, and has no place in Israel’s governing body. Our fight for independence is in a stage of combat that is immediately physically, emotionally and psychologically threatening. This group, that professes itself to be the expression of Torah, is not only absolving itself of responsibility to help in the fight, it is aiding and abetting the enemy. Any indication of a schism within us is an incentive to the enemy to stand its ground. This directly endangers the lives of our soldiers and the hostages.
As for Odeh, I wonder if there is a country out there that would allow one whose political position is to destroy the state in whose legislative branch he sits to remain in place. And he is not a lone wolf — his party, Hadash, has four seats in the Knesset. Canada may have members of parliament who support an independent Quebec, but separating a section from the country is different than dismantling the country and murdering its inhabitants. The vote to remove him should have been clear cut and final.
When Bedouins in Syria began to attack the Druze population there, Israel came to their defence with no hesitation. No one seemed to care that this minority population would have been erased had Israel not stepped in. The Druze in Israel are basically law-abiding and peaceful. They serve in the army and the police force. In fact, in an attack on a synagogue in the Har Nof neighbourhood in Jerusalem in 2014, a Druze policeman was wounded as he attempted to stop the attack, and he later died of his injuries. We will help the Druze because they help us. They are worthy of our help. In contrast, would we offer this kind of assistance to one or the other if, for example, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were to go at each other.
Ironic, is it not, that those who refer to themselves as the core protectors of our people would step away when called upon to take action.
The irony – and the danger – of this situation should not be ignored.
