Last week, an impressive roster of presidents, prime ministers, high-ranking officials, and even a prince came to Israel for Holocaust remembrance proceedings. Shmuel Trigano is skeptical about the wisdom of the exercise:
When the justification for Israel’s existence is predicated on the memory of victimhood, Europe can view the state as a type of humanitarian [shelter] for Jews, and less as a sovereign country. Consequently, Israel is not permitted, in the eyes of Europe, to realize its legitimate right to self-defense. The moment the Israeli soldier ceases being the emaciated extermination-camp survivor, he morphs into a monster in the eyes of the Europeans.
European recognition of Israel is based, therefore, on feelings of guilt toward the Jews—implying that the same guilt applies to the Palestinians. Europe turns a blind eye to Arab-Muslim anti-Semitism—which is the main source of modern anti-Semitism—in the belief that . . . Europe oppressed the Palestinians by contributing to the establishment of the Jewish state. . . . The reliance on the Holocaust in this regard means strengthening even further the myths that breed the new anti-Semitism—nakba, occupation, original sin.
Israel cannot respond to the existential accusations against it through constant self-justification and brandishing its victimhood for all to see. . . . Israelis must turn inward and find in themselves the self-confidence and self-assuredness of . . . political and historical sovereignty. [The Jewish state] must distance itself from victimhood to fight its enemies.
Read more on Israel Hayom: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/on-the-way-to-ramallah-a-pit-stop-at-yad-vashem/