Distorting Israel’s Loyalty Oath, and the Reality Behind It

Execrable comparisons with Hitler and Mussolini are accompanying the proposed oath to the Jewish state, ignoring the very real problem that 64% of Israeli Arabs deny Israel's right to exist.

P. David Hornik
pajamasmedia.com
25 October '10

Is Israel becoming a fascist country? Seemingly that question would only be raised by someone hostile to Israel or ignorant. The ignorant could, for example, be informed of Freedom House’s high rating of Israel as a free country, or of the fact that this year Israel was accepted into the exclusively democratic OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Yet an article posted last week on ynetnews.com — an English portal closely connected to Israel’s largest daily, Yediot Aharonot — is called “Fascism in Jewish state?” At the top it features a photo of two well-known fascists. One is Mussolini, the other … guess who?

The article, penned by leftist journalist Uri Misgav, goes on to quote mostly far-left Israeli academics who confirm that … yes, fascism is just around the corner in Israel. Israeli readers of Yediot, where the column first appeared in Hebrew, know that Israeli academia, particularly humanities and social-science departments, is a hotbed of far-left views. In Israel’s 2009 elections, the party representing such views, Meretz, won all of three Knesset seats out of 120.

Ynetnews.com’s readers from all over the world, though, may well not know those things.

The site, like Yediot itself, presents a wide range of Israeli opinion, right, left, and center — fair enough. But Israel as an imminently fascist state, with Hitler and Mussolini gazing sternly at us from the top of the page?

(Read full article)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.