Meir Ettinger – Corona and Politics 3/31

Corona and politics
Two unconventional events occurred during this period in the history of the people of Israel as if they were not related to one another. | New article on Meir Ettinger's blog

Meir Ettinger  Nissan 5780 15:05 31/03/2020
(This article was written a few days ago before Benny Gantz decided to go into government with Netanyahu, but the things that relate to the principled willingness to form a government with enemy supporters are true now, so I decided to publish it, despite the political developments)

Two unconventional events occurred during this period in the history of the people of Israel as if they were not related to one another.

The first is the political crisis we are in for the past year, culminating in the last few weeks with the willingness and intent of the Ramathalam Party to form a government with members of the Knesset Enemy supporters on the joint list.

It did not happen in one moment, but it is undoubtedly possible to diagnose that the last few weeks have stuck one of the last nails in the coffin of Zionism. A party of three chiefs received the mandate for state leadership in partnership with anti-Zionist and anti-terrorist parties, expressing that Zionism is no longer something substantial, but belongs to it "should move forward", even if they dare not say so, or even In this description, the legitimacy given to parties that see enemy Zionism, including the return of Zion as a colonial settlement, proves that Zionism is no longer a starting point or a cornerstone of the State of Israel.

If until a year ago you could say that some of these people may not be sufficiently aware of the intentions and actions of representatives of Israeli Arabs on the joint list, this past year we have unveiled and unveiled citations, articles, videos of Arab Knesset members who prove to anyone who wants to see their desire to cancel the state as Jewish state, and their consistent support for the terrorist organizations they call "resistance organizations" Hezbollah, Hamas and the Popular Front. Those who still believe in "wanting to integrate" are just those who close their eyes so hard not to see - there will be no more publications and more exposure now. Nor will a search be carried out in the archives of the past and the flooding of the statements of Ya'alon, Torch, Gantz and the like against the joint list. For once Zionism has become a value of no particular importance to them, these statements are not dissimilar to the promises of elections that are scattered and violated by politicians as an everyday act.

The second is the global corona epidemic, which threatens the global village that has been built here over the past few decades, health and economic, and can change the world order in so many ways. No one knows how this period of the epidemic will end soon, but there is no doubt that in many ways today's world order will no longer be the same.

On the face of it, these two different events are so fundamentally unrelated, the global threat dwarfed the political debates, and these do not touch or affect the ability to deal with the scale of epidemics. The Corona crisis reveals the disability of man's power, the last century when man came to the feeling that "they will not do anything they can do" brought mankind to abundance, to the point of thinking about the feeling of victory over the curse of the first man. And here in a short time the world is shocking, in the face of a small virus, at first thought it seems that the size of Gd is supposed to dwarf politics, one of the phrases we have heard a lot in recent weeks is that "Corona does not differentiate between humans".

But if we look at it, we can notice a few lines linking these two events.

1. If in the world, the success of science to change the face of society, and first and foremost to increase life expectancy, symbolized the success of the human project to win the curse of sin. Within the people of Israel, the Zionist project, which succeeded in bringing millions of Jews here, turning a wasteland and a ruin into a flourishing and prosperous settlement, marked the success of the people to eradicate the curse of exile for nearly two thousand years. Just as the epidemic serves as a warning sign, to the pride of the person who can overcome the curse without remedying sin, the real threat to the establishment of 'all its citizens', and the return to the reality of exile, and subordination to the enemies of Israel, puts into proportion the 'mighty and powerful' achievements.

2. The Corona can also give an explanation of the need for a nation-state, and the existence of internal social circles. Near the outbreak of the epidemic, and when the countries of the world realized the potential for danger, international borders were closed, and further within the countries themselves, regulations that were reduced as much as possible to the circle of people he met with, suddenly became a "global village" to a world where people converge with the limited family unit. . The danger of contagion that has led to isolation can shed light on the need for 'people to dwell alone' that is immune to cultural and cultural viruses. The idea that a Jewish state can be sustained, along with being democratic, turns out to be baseless arrogance, ultimately in a world of absolute equality unable to withstand foreign influences and maintain Jewish character and interest.

3. Global emergencies and natural disasters, and in general, every period of agony that passes through a person or world, again begs the question 'why'. The one in the daily routine is repressed under the endless preoccupation with How. Science and technology achievements have been able to improve the quality of life and create solutions to previously complex situations, along with a variety of occupations, and leisure culture has pushed the essential questions into a defining corner of our lives. Crises like that of the Corona, which undermine the stability of life, along with the isolation of tens of thousands in the country and millions in the world. The "why" questions are again flooded with what the world was created for? Why do anguish exist?

Zionism, too, dealt with the survival questions of the Jewish people, accepted us as an existing fact, shaped by persecution and anti-Semitism, sought a practical solution and succeeded in a big way. The question 'Why are we Jews' was rejected aside, even our belief in the land was accepted as an existing assumption, without engaging in it. The question was, "Why do we have a country" anyway? The purpose was the existence of a "safe haven" and that was fulfilled - the end of Zionism, was sought and inevitable. Zionism's bankruptcy was sought, with no future goal and vision.

After all, how much you can lean on the past, and stick to the 'narrative' of 70 years ago, and have to pay political prices. After all, Zionism has no meaning, when a safe haven is no longer needed, the aspiration to establish with all peoples - crumbles when 'in all nations' no longer believe in the concept of 'people'. What is the reason for Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya'alon to fight for the Law of Return? And what do they care about whether a Jewish immigrant or not? What value is there to dwell on the memories of the past from the War of Independence, in the face of the present where we have half a million Arabs unable to identify with this narrative.

Instead of performing failed CPR actions in Zionism, and trying to mention past values, it is necessary to internalize that, even if, in fact, in our grievances, we did not receive redemption 'in mind,' and we arrived at Eretz Israel conferences from exile, it turns out that we have reached the stage where Zionism has no answer - Three Ramtalam - the icing on the whipped cream in Zionist crops unable to respond to a single import, and bend over to the terrorists' advisers and Nasrallah's fans. This is a time when the shell that wrapped the fruit is finally falling apart. Bankrupt, encountering an impervious wall of rigidity and misery, but also in it They have a great deal of misery, as long as they do not respond to the emptiness left in the hearts of those chiefs who fought all their lives by virtue of inertia, and now ask themselves why all this?

The Corona as well as the political crisis are evidence of the need to restore faith to the forefront. The space left by Zionism must be filled with an alternative of yearning for a Jewish state - a state devoted to Torah and commandments. In front of the "State of all its citizens" is a vision of a Jewish state - a state of faith, a state of Torah, a state of law. And it is to be hoped that today, when people see the disintegration of the secular state, and the suicide path it surpasses, and the disintegration of the stable anchors that held the world and disappear - in health, law and trust in the security system - the Jewish alternative will be accepted willingly