The Zealots of the 21st Century

In the year 70 CE, Jerusalem fell not only under the weight of the Roman legions but also due to the bitter internal discord among the Jews themselves. The zealots, a vibrant and uncompromising faction, believed that the only way to face the Romans was through total and unrestricted resistance. In their ideological blindness, they considered any attempt at negotiation to be treason.

During the siege, the zealots took extreme measures to ensure that everyone in the city fought to the end. They destroyed the food supplies, believing that hunger would force the citizens to fight more fervently against the Romans. But what followed was a catastrophe. The lack of food caused widespread famine, disease, and despair. Instead of uniting the city against the common enemy, this measure only exacerbated internal tensions and weakened the defense. The different Jewish groups within Jerusalem were in constant conflict. There were the moderates, who sought a negotiated solution to save the city, and the zealots, who saw any form of compromise as unacceptable surrender. The battles between these groups within the walls of Jerusalem were as fierce as those fought against the Romans outside the walls. This radicalism and religious extremism, fueled by an inflexible worldview, only hastened Jerusalem’s fall. Jerusalem was devastated when the Roman commander Titus finally broke through the city’s defenses. The Temple, the most sacred symbol of Judaism, was looted and burned, an event that deeply marked Jewish identity and history. The ensuing diaspora dispersed Jews throughout the Roman Empire, fueled by both military defeat and internal disunity. This diaspora only ended with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, nearly 1,900 years later. This grim history is a painful lesson about the dangers of disunity, radicalism, and religious extremism, a lesson that, tragically, seems to have been forgotten.

In current times, at the Sde Teiman detention center, Israeli military police, executing a legal order, stormed the facility and detained nine reservists on suspicion of abusing a Palestinian detainee. The detainee, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to the hospital with severe injuries to the rectal area (He was raped), leaving him unable to walk. The soldiers barricaded themselves inside the facility, resisting the authorities with pepper spray before being finally detained. Since the beginning of the war with Gaza, Sde Teiman has been a symbol of abuse and inhumanity. About 4,000 Palestinians have been detained there, many without any formal charges or legal representation. Reports from former detainees and independent investigations point to practices of torture, including beatings, electric shocks, and the humiliation of being forced to wear only diapers during interrogations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response, condemning the invasion, rings hollow in the face of evidence of a system he helped build. His leadership and that of his far-right allies, such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who exalted the suspect soldiers as heroes, foment division and radicalization, eroding the moral foundations of Israeli society. The wound inflicted on the Palestinian detainee is a profound blow to our humanity. Severe injuries to an intimate part of the body, leaving him unable to walk, are not just a physical violation but an indelible mark of our moral failure. We are not a savage society. Laws and codes of conduct, national and international, govern our treatment of prisoners, including enemies. Ignoring these norms is flirting with barbarism.

The grotesque scene of military police facing the resistance of barricaded soldiers, with pepper spray being used, symbolizes a nation at war with itself. It is a cruel irony that those tasked with maintaining order and fulfilling their legal obligations are embroiled in internal chaos fomented by leaders who should seek cohesion, not division.

On Israel’s northern border, the situation is equally tense. Since last October, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated, with constant attacks from both sides. Recently, a rocket fired by Hezbollah hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, killing 12 Druze children and injuring several others. This incident is just one example of the potential for a devastating regional conflict, with Hezbollah possessing an arsenal of about 150,000 rockets and missiles that can reach any part of Israel.

Netanyahu and his cronies, like Zvi Succot and Amichai Eliyahu, have been promoting an agenda that sows division and disunity. They lead with enthusiasm that destroys and fragments, returning to the dark days of the year 70 when disunity led to our ruin. We have not learned the lesson and are paying the price with our dignity and morality.

While these modern zealots set our society ablaze with their irresponsible actions, we are on the brink of a regional war of unimaginable proportions. History has taught us that internal disunity can be fatal, but we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes, blind to past lessons. Netanyahu and his far-right group not only divide our people but also dangerously push us towards the abyss, ignoring the devastating implications of their actions. It is time to reassess our paths before we find ourselves again in the ruins of our own making.