The big news from Israel is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned away from potential centrist Zionist partners and asked the militant nationalist Avigdor Lieberman to become his Defense Minister, and that the deal with Lieberman’s rightwing party is likely to be in place by the weekend. The news has brought an explosion of condemnation from the Israeli left and from the Haaretz newspaper, but typically the New York Times buries its head in the sand. Jewish Voice for Peace says it’s alarmed: The announced deal to include the Yisrael Beiteinu [Israel home] party in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as Defense Minister will make the proposed new Israeli government the most right-wing in Israel’s history.Gideon Levy of Haaretz says the deal tears the mask off the face of Israel for the world and that it is enormously dangerous: “The territories will burn like they’ve never burned before.” For the first time in Israeli history, fascism is a clear and possibly present danger. True, Menachem Begin’s election as prime minister evoked similar fears, as did the appointment of Ariel Sharon as defense minister. But those were other times, when Israeli society still had immune mechanisms, a system of checks and balances. They were eliminated long ago. Now the state is in the hands of someone who could destroy it.Haaretz‘s editorial expresses the same fears about the occupation, and blasts Netanyahu for “blatant racism.” Yisrael Beiteinu’s leader has for many years represented a racist position that views Israel’s Arab citizens as a nuisance and their Knesset representatives as traitors. He calls for an aggressive defense policy, the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the overthrow of the territory’s Hamas government and the economically destruction of the Palestinian Authority, which in his opinion encourages, incites toward and is responsible for attacks on Israelis.Contrast the orange-level concern from Haaretz with the New York Times‘ coverage of the deal. “Benjamin Netanyahu Seeks Ultranationalists for Coalition in Israel” is the headline, on page A6. Isabel Kershner’s report is straightforward but there is no sense of the gravity of this development. And no editorial in the paper. Gideon Levy wants the mask torn off, but the Times is keeping the mask on. Once again, America’s leading newspaper is trying to hide the ugly face of Israel in the closet. Daniel Sokatch of the liberal Zionist group New Israel Fund is also anguished and links the news to Lt. Gen. Yair Golan’s speech likening political trends in Israel to currents in Nazi Germany. Instead of turning to Labor, the Prime Minister offered the Defense Ministry to Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beteinu (“Israel is Our Home”) party, the only far-right wing party currently in the Opposition. Lieberman, who formerly served as Foreign Minister, is a hardliner who has called for the death penalty for terrorists, for Israel to rid itself of parts of the country in which most Arab Israeli citizens reside, and for the beheading of Arab Israeli citizens who are deemed insufficiently loyal to the state. He has also called for the bombing of Egypt’s Aswan Dam, and for the toppling of the Palestinian Authority.Sokatch’s post is titled, “The Hope is Still Here, We Just Have to Make Room for It.” How realistic is that interpretation? Source URL |