Published: 5 March 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
In his article “While we’re waiting for redemption,” Micah Goodman, author of the Israeli best seller “Catch-67,” describes a captivating symmetry between the right and the left on tactical matters, in reference to the divisive reality of the occupation. However, he avoids taking a hard look at the image of the country that the dispute has generated.
Devotees of Jewish history know that it wasn’t the disputes, nor even the fraternal hatred, but nationalist and religious fanaticism, arrogance and a blind belief that God will save us in the face of tremendous forces, that led to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile. Twice.
For years, processes of destruction, some of them irreversible, have corroded the foundations of responsible statesmanship, democracy and the rule of law in Israel. One side of the political map appropriated – at first gradually, now with knee-jerk defiance – Zionism, Judaism, love of homeland and nationalism.
Contrary to what Goodman maintains in the book, the “passionate focus” and the “height of dreams” of the left is not peace, but the web of the state’s fundamental values.
Our strength does not derive from our (non-existent) unity. It is, rather, ingrained in our moral common denominator, as embodied in the country’s formative document, the Declaration of Independence: a people that returned to its land in the hope of achieving a secure, egalitarian, pluralistic, democratic life in a country that has a Jewish majority and respects its minorities.
FULL STORY Shrinking the occupation won't do. Israel needs to separate from the Palestinians (Haaretz)
READ MICAH GOODMAN’S ARTICLE HERE
Why Israel’s shift from hope to fear could help shrink the Occupation
AND SEE
In West Bank reality, annexation is a pipedream (Times of Israel)
The settlement enterprise has failed to scuttle a two-state solution; separation is still eminently possible
Photo: Palestinians waiting at the Qalandiyah checkpoint in the West Bank.Majdi Mohammed/AP
