Now’s the time to support Israel
What to do when universalism and minority rights are defeated by radical nationalism
Israel’s 72nd Independence Day celebrations found Israeli and US Jews at the intersection of global and local crises. The analysis that follows of these crises and their results leads to the adoption of a single path, so well known in the history of the Jewish people, and that is to unite around supporting the Jewish people and its only state, Israel.
The global coronavirus crisis has exposed just how human beings are equal in the face of nature. But at the same time, it has exacerbated the wave of nationalism that has spread over the world in the last decade.
The expected short-term economic and social outcomes of the crisis will only intensify the failures of nationalism; in particular, we expect a rising wave of antisemitism. The tension between universalism and human rights, especially minority rights, is at the forefront of the world’s struggle against a seclusionary nationalism that sometimes violates these rights.
The fake-news culture, which has become a legitimate and routine form of expression, is used as a cover and camouflage that preserves it. Unfortunately, in this struggle, universalism has suffered defeat. This has certain implications for the fate of the Jewish people and that of Israel. It is when universalism and minority rights are defeated by radical nationalism that one must support the State of Israel.
The coronavirus crisis is taking place against the backdrop of elections in the US and Israel. Especially in Israel, the political crisis teaches us that the regime’s method does not suit the value changes in Israeli society. Alongside the existing tensions – between religion and state, Arabs and Jews, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews – the security situation in the northern sectors (Syria and Lebanon) and the southern one (Gaza) is volatile, and is intensifying in the face of the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East.
To this should be added Israeli society’s struggle to recognize the integrity of its governing body in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictments. The dissolution of the Blue and White political alliance and the move by its leader, Benny Gantz, to establish a government with the Likud and Netanyahu has unleashed intense frustration and has exacerbated the messages in Israeli society. This is, in effect, a victory for nationalism in Israel, with the importance of security leading by a wide margin the value of integrity.
The struggle to maintain Israel’s integrity has brought the judicial system to center stage: both the State Attorney’s Office and the Supreme Court. Calls to limit the justice system are now on the agenda and threaten to strike the delicate democratic balance that has characterized Israel as the only democratic state in the Middle East. Emergency orders and regulations issued to deal with the coronavirus crisis have only strengthened this line of thought.
In the US, the situation is different. The federal system grants certain powers to President Donald Trump and leaves significant others to the state governors.
But there is no doubt that the wave of nationalism and Trump’s messages are reminiscent of the political discourse in Israel. The similarity between the two leaders, Trump and Netanyahu, is evident.
It is interesting that while Israel’s way of dealing with the pandemic involves a politician’s adoption of the policy of a civil servant, that is, Netanyahu’s compliance with the Health Ministry’s decisions, it is actually in the US that the politician Trump has chosen to adopt a manner that, though it may have proven successful for him in the past, is now sowing uncertainty about the US’s ability to deal with the outbreak. And the result is public support for Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, who is, paradoxically, keeping silent.
The US elections will be over by the end of the current year. In Israel, it is now clear the state has avoided a fourth election round. What is clear is that the current national, global, economic and socioeconomic crises are expected to be detrimental to Israel and the Jewish people.
The coronavirus crisis is an opportune point in time for rethinking, with an eye toward the future, the changes that are needed in Israel, its stability, and its relationship with US Jewry. But in the meantime, it is appropriate to set our differences aside and unite.
The writer is dean of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo, president of the Israel Political Science Association and a visiting professor at New York University.