The wishful thinking of Ehud Barak

Opinion

Extremist fringe parties love to translate their idealism into pipedreams. Their fanaticism can be dangerous and must be exposed, though their value may be inspiring or fueling more reasonable and realistic ideas for change, like we find in Benny Gantz or the TOI with their certain degree of Wokeness but, in contrast, surely rooting themselves in realism and facts.

Ever since Barak lost the trust of the vast majority of Israelis, he periodically makes headlines proclaiming the bankruptcy of Israel’s real leaders. He seems energized by being out of touch and disgruntled.

This penthouse-based millionaire is part of what I’d call the world’s ‘New Labor,’ which is neither. You won’t find any blue-collar worker in their Woke parties, and these intellectuals speak for the working class without actually ever having listened to anyone who does manual labor.

Capitalism per definition is based on lies and exploitation. Its challenge is to fool the workers enough so that they will support a right-wing, rich minority to keep ruling and fooling them. Therefore, progressives can honestly say they are morally better because they strive and work for a better world for all with less inequality. However, the New Labor still has this self-image of moral superiority while they generally are a bunch of arrogant know-it-alls with tremendous egos that patronize the workers.

It gets worse. They don’t really accept democracy. Since they know best, everyone should just obey them and believe in their pipedreams. Because they will always stay an extremist fringe, their fictive road to power goes via forcing the majority through ‘tricks and imbalances’ and rebellions.

Ehud Barak once did a lot of good for Israel but since has transformed into an unpopular, self-appointed leader of the loony left, the New Labor. He has all the solutions and all the brains and others should just follow him.

Not inhibited by humility or knowledge of English, Barak sat down for an interview with a known Israel critic (I put it friendly) and missed how she guided him to misspeak on Gaza, setting off an international firestorm.

In his newest flight of thought, he calls upon 30,000 Israelis to camp opposite the Knesset for three weeks to force new elections—which he would win, of course. He quotes a book (of course, not common wisdom) that says that 8% of a population suffices to disempower any government.

It’s a typical example of their wishful thinking, which is not thinking at all.

Of course, this 8% could only work if they were representatives of the vast majority of the people. But he wants to gather just a fringe 8% to take over the country and then divide it into two democratic States, Palestine and Israel, that would live peacefully, side by side, forever after, to benefit all, which is so detached from reality, dictatorial, and uninformed by everything that is going on in the Holy Land for 120 years already.

This is different from the regular left-wing leaders who spin, cheat, lie, and manipulate just like the right. That’s what you do in the political arena if you don’t want to be eaten alive. But the New Labor does not use tricks. They are naturally oblivious to the facts and really believe in themselves.

His lawyers must have told him not to call for a revolution or violent uprising, or he would end up in jail. Rather, he calls for civil disobedience while the country fights for its survival on ten fronts against Holocaust II.

I’m not worried that Israelis will heed his calls. The few who will encamp opposite the Knesset will get free meals and publicity but for the rest, will be Israel’s laughing stock. What I do worry about is how he energizes the poorly (Trump, Macron) or maliciously informed people outside of Israel.

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About the Author

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. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 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, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * 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 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. * 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