Their frantic warning against Pollard getting a hero’s welcome is disturbing
Normally, I would not read anything that former Israeli premier Olmert said or writes. It’s so lacking honesty and a sense of reality that I find it a waste of time. Yet, I recommend reading his latest words on Pollard if you still think that there is anything worthwhile in the fringe of the left here.
It’s pro-survival to do away with false hope.
Olmert doesn’t want Pollard to make alliyah. It shows that he thinks that Israel is really only for Jews he likes and those who think like him.
He said that Pollard is not an idealist because he did it for big money. Look who’s talking. The only Israeli PM who went to jail for theft.
He said that celebrating Pollard will anger influential Americans. This crazy attitude that Israel is not a safe haven for Jews but rather a country to appease the nations of the world. If we’d do what the world wants us to do, there will be no Jewish State left. And if we do what the UN wants, there will be no Jews left in the Middle East.
He can’t celebrate Pollard’s freedom because of the damage he did to Israel’s good name. Look who’s talking.
It is fair to say that, Lieberman, center-right, said the same thing, but that could be his anti-Americanism that he, as ex-Russian, never shed.
***
I remember how smug Olmert was during all his court cases. He was a slick lawyer and they would never be able to prove anything. Until he double-crossed his secretary, that is. I have never heard a sorry for all the things he went to jail for and all the court cases he wasted on Israel’s taxpayers.
Olmert’s coldness now toward Pollard is nothing new. His token request when he was PM to free Pollard was not enthusiastic. And his frosty words now are likely influenced by his wish to justify himself.
Of course, he added a jab at Netanyahu. His ongoing lack of respect for the democratically elected PM is telling.
It’s an important Jewish principle to free captives and an important Israeli one to leave no soldier behind. One must be so far removed from anything Jewish and Israeli to even question these principles. Let alone to exchange them for finding favor with the capturers. The latter betrayal can still be seen somewhat favorably when coming from Diaspora Jews (Stockholm Syndrome), but when said by Israelis, there’s simply no justification.
Let’s overlook Olmert’s lack of solidarity and gratitude. But where is his empathy with someone spending decades in solitary confinement for helping Israel, then released to a tiny apartment almost with house arrest? Olmert was like a year in a luxurious jail and still lives in the lap of luxury.
To add hurt to injury, he made money from writing a book in jail.
***
When some lie that Pollard’s freedom only will make the extreme right happy, remember that Jewish Members of Knesset unanimously pleaded for his release! That means that anyone who doesn’t celebrate his return to Israel is, per definition, an extremist, a fringe figure–and a liar if they portray themselves as moderate. Stop believing just anything anyone says.
Those who say that Pollard was a brazen traitor to the US, Israel’s friend, we shortly answer: Rather, the US was not behaving like Israel’s friend. In fact, US foreign policy vis-à-vis Jews and Israel has always prioritized US interests. If that was nice for Israel too, that was only a side effect. That’s not the rhetoric US politicians give the American People, but that’s how they get away with their various levels of not really standing with the Jews.
The idea that a ‘good,’ ‘solid’ US-Israel relationship can only be when Israel shows itself to be a doormat to the US is too antisemitic to even ponder.
Clinton (Democrat, “Yesh berirah“), Bush II (Republican, “Israel, I’m the best friend you ever had in the White House”), Obama (Democrat, “no U.S. administration has done more in support of Israel’s security than ours”), and Trump (Republican, “You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money”) collectively stand for decades of not freeing Pollard.
***
Jewish unity is dear. Between left and right, secular and religious, the urban and the rural, the Ashkenazic and the Sephardic, young and old, etc. Conflicts between Jews have always cost us a lot. I’m convinced that over 90% of the Jewish Israelis want good relationships with all Israelis and all Jews in the Diaspora–and with all Arab non-Jews in and around Israel. But some fringe people (on the left and the right) can’t be included. Driven by hatred, lacking a sense of reality, and all their critical sense is for others.
When we talk about Jewish unity and democracy, we do not include people who hate so much that their ideal is to reject, ignore, silence, and expulse large sections of Israel’s population. This not because we hate them. Rather, because they are impossible to work with, please, appease. Their goals are opposed to unity, love, peace, and happiness for all.
Without a heavy heart, ignore them and don’t include them.
I chose the above clip despite my dislike of Caroline Glick’s customary hard-line right-wing positions. Because on antisemitism among US leaders, she’s spot-on. While the American People, in general, is great with Israel and Jews. Always distinguish between the People and the elites.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
