Removing Mahmoud Abbas Won’t Bring Peace

The Palestinian president’s speech last week—in which he blamed Jews for the Holocaust while calling Zionism an instrument of British imperialism—provoked condemnation from even European leaders, alongside calls for his resignation. But, argues Yossi Kuperwasser, the problem runs far deeper than Mahmoud Abbas himself:

In light of the recent calls for Abbas to step down, one must emphasize that his remarks are a reflection not just of his personal opinion but rather of the Palestinian belief system. They constitute the basis of the false Palestinian narrative that holds there is no such thing as the Jewish people. The Jews are merely a religious group and as a result they have no right to a nation state. In a statement following the outcry over his remarks, Abbas apologized not to the Jewish people but to “members of the Jewish religion.”

The Jews, [by this logic], have no historical connection to Palestine and there is therefore no basis for their demand for a return [there]. As the descendants of the Canaanites, the Palestinians are the only indigenous people [in the land]. The Jews are intolerable beings, which is why the Europeans created Zionism in a bid both to rid themselves of the Jews and to defend themselves against the strengthening of the Arab nations and Islam. . . .

The struggle against Zionism is at the root of Palestinian identity and is at once national and religious in nature. It is just that for now, Abbas believes certain means of struggle are less beneficial to the Palestinian cause. The Palestinians, [according to their own narrative], are the only victims in this conflict, and they must fortify their identity as such through the perpetuation of their refugee status and the strengthening of the public’s consciousness of the Nakba [or “catastrophe,” as the creation of Israel is termed by Arabs. Since the Palestinians are victims], no one should demand that they take responsibility for their actions and their plight. . . .

It is not enough to replace Abbas. [It is necessary to] replace the Palestinian narrative, which is a much harder goal to accomplish.

Read more at Israel Hayom

More about: Holocaust denial, Israel & Zionism, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinians

It’s Time for Haredi Jews to Become Part of Israel’s Story

Unless the Supreme Court grants an extension from a recent ruling, on Monday the Israeli government will be required to withhold state funds from all yeshivas whose students don’t enlist in the IDF. The issue of draft exemptions for Haredim was already becoming more contentious than ever last year; it grew even more urgent after the beginning of the war, as the army for the first time in decades found itself suffering from a manpower crunch. Yehoshua Pfeffer, a haredi rabbi and writer, argues that haredi opposition to army service has become entirely disconnected from its original rationale:

The old imperative of “those outside of full-time Torah study must go to the army” was all but forgotten. . . . The fact that we do not enlist, all of us, regardless of how deeply we might be immersed in the sea of Torah, brings the wrath of Israeli society upon us, gives a bad name to all of haredi society, and desecrates the Name of Heaven. It might still bring harsh decrees upon the yeshiva world. It is time for us to engage in damage limitation.

In Pfeffer’s analysis, today’s haredi leaders, by declaring that they will fight the draft tooth and nail, are violating the explicit teachings of the very rabbis who created and supported the exemptions. He finds the current attempts by haredi publications to justify the status quo not only unconvincing but insincere. At the heart of the matter, according to Pfeffer, is a lack of haredi identification with Israel as a whole, a lack of feeling that the Israeli story is also the haredi story:

Today, it is high time we changed our tune. The new response to the demand for enlistment needs to state, first and foremost to ourselves, that this is our story. On the one hand, it is crucial to maintain and even strengthen our isolation from secular values and culture. . . . On the other hand, this cultural isolationism must not create alienation from our shared story with our fellow brethren living in the Holy Land. Participation in the army is one crucial element of this belonging.

Read more at Tzarich Iyun

More about: Haredim, IDF, Israeli society