Emmanuel Navon
For the Sake of Zion
09 August '10
“Behold” says the Bible: “I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your G-d …and a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your G-d” (Deuteronomy, 11, 26-27). While this warning is plain and straightforward, the Bible is obviously aware of the fact that pious people are not immune from suffering and that many renegades enjoy the good life. Hence the philosophical torments of Job, which end up with the idea that it is not for man to decide the rewards of his deeds.
Yossi Beilin will take none of that nuance –not to mention humility. Either you follow the policy of Yossi Beilin and you’re blessed, or you do not follow the policy of Yossi Beilin and you’re cursed. If reality happens to consistently suggest otherwise, all you have to do is to question with scorn the intelligence of people who challenge you. No need to debase yourself to a Job-like introspection.
Beilin recently published an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post called “The New Ghetto.” The narrative goes like this. Herzl and his peers wanted to assimilate in Europe but Europe didn’t let them. They thus figured that only a predominantly Jewish country would let them be. That country, whose main purpose is to be indiscriminately open to Jewish immigration, is a foreign implant which owes its legitimacy to the acceptance of the Arab states. Israel gained such acceptance with the peace agreement with Egypt and with the Oslo Agreements. But, today, Israel is ruled by nut cases –hence the curse of international isolation. For blessing to replace curse, all Israel needs to do is repent by walking again on the road to Oslo.
Beilin’s “reading” of Herzl is completely erroneous –indeed, one wonders if Beilin ever read Herzl to begin with. As shown by Georges Weisz in his masterly book Herzl –A Re-Reading most people who talk about Herzl never bothered to read what he actually wrote, or consciously travesty his thoughts.
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