The racism expressed in this article is breathtaking. 20% of the population is dismissed by most Israelis as an impediment? Why are we giving this country military aid? How can Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and way too many others insist there is no daylight between us and Israel? We need more than daylight between us. We should be running as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
10
"A campaign billboard for an Arab party in Umm al-Fahm. Some residents are frustrated with the political infighting among Arab parties."
The United Arab List is no longer united. Infighting is the major characteristic of the Arab parties (a characteristic often characteristic of Jewish parties).
Many of the Arab voters are concerned with local municipal matters. The politicians at national level deliver little on this. Actually they deliver little in general because they focus on national matters.
YNet this morning puts Blue and White ahead of Likud, but the Right-wing bloc still in coalition-making lead. I doubt Arabs will have the final say.
"In Umm al-Fahm, an Arab town in northern Israel, residents complain that the government does little for them."
As for that complaint, guess what Mr. Halbinger, the residents of Ramat-Gan make the same complaint.
Everybody in Israel has the same complaint. Always. Every government. We complain a lot, Jew and Arab, yet surveys have us all relatively happy (Arabs too; they know what their other options are).
5
Wasn’t this same article written before our last election
How did that turn out?
2
"...nearly half of Israeli Jews would favor expelling all Palestinians, and a large majority believes Jews should have privileges that Arabs do not."
Could someone explain the unquestioning fealty of so many American politicians to a country with attitudes like this and why criticism of anything Israel does has become a third rail of American politics? I just don't get it.
34
@Andy
It's very simple. Every American politician knows that if he or she breathes a word of sympathy for the Palestinians or hints at any unhappiness with Israeli racism, AIPAC will punish them and they will lose in the next election.
13
@Andy People with a history of being oppressed can, when given autonomy and power, react in one of two ways. They can oppose oppression and say things like, "never again", or they can decide to become the oppressors and do unto others what was done unto them. One is morally right. One wins cheap votes.
6
Has it occurred to anybody out there that all the Israeli-Arabs in the Knesset have to do is pass a resolution to simply vote Israel out of existence?
4
@sharon5101. No, it hasn't. For good reasons.
1
The Arab voters must turn out, but too often they have been convinced that their voting will give legitimacy to the state, something many refuse to do. If Palestinians genuinely want to control their own destiny they must start by taking the vote seriously and making sure their votes count. If they do not, they may find that they will not ever get that chance. The evidence from their own leadership outside of Israel is that few Arab states allow for real voting. The Israeli riht is moving toward disenfranchasing the Arab voters. It's now or never.
13
I hope Israel finally kicks Netanyahu to the curb.
26
Whatever the outcome of this next election, let us not forget that Israel is a coalition government. Netanyahu’s Likud Party won roughly 23% of the vote in the last election (compared to 46% of Americans who voted for Trump). We, as Americans, don’t want to be judged on the basis of our president, especially one that was not elected by popular vote. Israelis, on the other hand, are deluged with hatred. They’re even afraid to travel to Europe because they are treated as though they are personally responsible for all of Bibi’s vile policies. What hypocrisy!
5
“...and a large majority believes Jews should have privileges that Arabs do not.”
In other words most Jews in Israel are content with the reality of a state which by definition is not actually a state of all its citizens, despite all the propaganda we are endlessly fed about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East.
In israel rights accrue based on one’s ethnicity and religion rather than citizenship. Hence Jews have fundamental righs which are denied to those citizens not Jewish by ethnicity or religion. Most fundamentally, the right of return after having been forcefully expelled.
36
@FB. It's also a state that could not exist without support from the US, so it isn't exactly a model of political sustainability.
24
I’m going with Netanyahu for the win In April.
Not a fan , don’t care either way.
The media hype is just that . April 9 th The Israeli ‘s will decide, other than that it’s theatre till than.
1
When people spoke of the inflammatory language in social media and its connection to the New Zealand killer, I could only think of the inflammatory language used routinely by many on the right in Israel and by the prime minister against 20% of the population. This language of fear and hate is not only heard during political campaigns, but steadily drips its venom. Now it has been “revealed” that Gantz’s phone was hacked by the Iranians and Netanyahu is stoking the fear that if Gantz is elected, he will be subject to blackmail, etc. If this isn’t similar to Trump’s perseverating on Hillary’s emails, I don’t know what is. I do not deny that Israel’s existential situation is a difficult one but Bibi and his reign of fear, anti-democratic principles, corruption, arrogance and entitlement have got to go.
24
“...polls have shown that nearly half of Israeli Jews would favor expelling all Palestinians.”
Similarly to the European colonizers favoring the expulsion of native Americans back in the day, or present-day “white nationalists” favoring the expulsion of non-whites, if not from the entire country then at least from their fantasy of a “state”.
At least here in America we recognize the evil of both those parallels. And thank goodness ethnic nationalists are a tiny minority of Americans, and widely despised.
Poor Israel.
27
@FB
Poor us, because we are saddled with Israel.
7
Netanyahu's Likud is the Party to whom every Democrat and Republican is supposed to pledge loyalty or be vilified as being anti-Semitic. As for me, I'll take the anti-Semitic label if that is the choice rather than blindly support Netanyahu's racist government. Let's bring back to the two state solution and stop prostrating ourselves before every vile thing the present Israeli government represents.
29
@Wayne Fuller
I thinks Palestinians - w/o a state of their own have suffered enough. They should be rewarded with not one but two states of their own.
The West Bank under PLO with Ramallah as its Capital.
Gaza under Hamas with Gaza city as its capital.
With their own separate governments, Military forces & foreign relations - Gaza & WB already functions as such. All needed is formalization by the international community.
2
Speak to many Israelis about a State for Palestinians, & they will bring up Gaza. They gave up Gaza, & received rockets in return. They feel that a Palestinian State along side of Israel will lead to Israel’s demise.As much as, the Israeli’s distrust the Palestinians the Palestinians distrust Israel.Neither side is willing to move an inch in their demands. So the rockets keep coming & the Israeli’s strike back. As long as this goes on Netanyahu will remain Prime Minister.
7
I was a huge fan of Benjamin Netanyahu, especially when he was the defense minister. But it's now time for Bibi to retire and go do his time in prison, which many ex-presidents of South Korea have done. It's time to atone for your sins, Benjamin Netanyahu. Please go in peace. Let new blood lead Israel.
15
It’s probably time for Netanyahu to move on. Shouldn’t every real democracy have term limits?
One of Israel’s defensible boasts is the rights and economic freedoms of Arabs. It’s sure a lot better than how Jews have to live in the 22 surrounding Arab states! (Get it....) One little state for the Jews certainly seems fair? The standard shouldn’t be those other states, but Arabs feeling enfranchised as Israelis. I don’t live there, so I try to judge less. But society and government should, in all cases, be progressing for all citizens. That’s a better society.
The tragic flaw of Palestinians is their embrace of terrorism. As long as they justify and celebrate the murder of Jews for political reasons—when there are and have been ways forward—then many Jewish citizens will have no choice but to favor security over hope. As the Arab gentleman points out, at the daily street level everyone does business together and gets along. Jews and Arabs have to release themselves from the politics that distort reality and breed hate and distrust.
8
2 words for Israel: Term Limits!
7
One astonishing element related to Israeli society as a whole, and voters in particular is that - such a sophisticated and educated society still falls into Bibi's trap to vote for him.
As seen with new political alignments forming there - unlike any other democracies - Israelis are demonstrating their dynamism in which constantly re-invent itself.
Except the late Ben-Gurion in the 50's & 60's no other PM ever served more then 4 to 6 years - yet Bibi has managed, not only survive but get re-elected time & time again.
Lets hope on 09 April Israelis will demonstrate their legendary dynamism and elect leaders with centrist ideology which hopefully will bring peace to the region.
No democracy has ever tolerated extremists elements for long - not in Israel nor here in US.
10
When two people, Israeli and Palestinian, want to eliminate each other how can there be peace ever. There is no win win compromises, it will be a compromise where both parties will feel that they got a bad deal.
2
Sorry to disappoint those PC readers who want to see Netanyahu take a fall.
He will get fewer votes for his Likud party than before; no doubt of that.
However, with over 40 parties on the ballot and no party having gotten the necessary 61 to make a majority in the parliament ( 120 seats) the odds of him and Likud not being able to cobble together a coalition to rule are almost non-existent.
Even the Blue and White party of Gantz, which is his major opponent, which may get more votes than Likud, has promised to not form a coalition with Arab parties.
No one in their right mind in Israel will join with Arab parties that call for the destruction of the state.
It would be political suicide.
Zionism, the Jewish national liberation doctrine, espouses a Jewish state, Israel, on ancestral Jewish lands including Judea and Samaria ( the lands long occupied by Palestinians .who will be permitted to live there if they obey the laws).
Israel protects and recognizes all groups but is unabashedly a Jewish state. The Jews, long marginalized by our enemies, finally have a state.
We aren't leaving and will not give land to people who want us dead.
Netanyahu is a pure opportunist politico. That is how he has managed to remain in office for so long ( 1996 - present).
As much as many Israelis despise him they simply do not believe that the others will be as strong an advocate for Israel sovereignty as he has been
It is not as easy a situation as it may look from California or NYC.
10
@simon sez Sadly, your political calculus is accurate, as I’ve heard from several Israeli friends and relatives. Just as sadly, its accuracy is founded on the commonly held view you espouse: “We aren't leaving and will not give land to people who want us dead.” Self-fulfilling prophecy.
2
@simon sez - When coalition governments are formed in places where that is normal, there are binding agreements signed by all parties. If - and it's a big if, of course - Blue and White were to go into government with an Arab party, the Arab party would have to disavow any policy that is contrary to Israel's peaceful existence. In such case, it could be a very good thing for Israel. But, again... If.
1
After reading this article, now I fully understand why so many people compare Netanyahu to Trump.
40
Netanyahu is and always had been a provocateur---he needs to go. The Likud has had a tight grip on the country for far too long. Having lived in Israel, I can honesty say that the nasty rhetoric and racism that Netanyahu espouses has only worsened, but in day-to-day interactions with people of all walks of life, including Israeli Arabs and Druze, I have had pleasant and warm friendships and interactions, but these are not the things you hear about. True, the long and conflicted history and resulting tension is real, but as long as Netanyahu and his ilk play the destroy card, any type of co-existence seems impossible. Time for a regime change.
49
Israel will compromise its reputation and standing in the international community if Netanyahu wins on the basis of his racist rants like America has due to Trump.
33
The World Happiness Report for 2018 just released this morning
calls Israel the 11th happiest country on the planet.
More good news for Netanyahu, more bad news for Netanyahu-bashers.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-ranked-11th-happiest-country-in-the-world-ahead-of-US-582515
7
@A. Stanton
Why they the majority of Israeli young prefer to leave Israel if they are so happy?
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-real-reason-young-israelis-are-leaving-1.5319044
They cannot wait to leave... why do you think so?
I live in southern California, they are all over the place. Many over stay their Visas. I am told many go to China for the same reason.
22
@A. Stanton, the World Happiness Report's findings on Israel make many people unhappy.
1
@A. Standing
.....but at what cost?
4
It's good to be reminded that 1/5 of the citizens of Israel identify as Arabs, and of course that they have equal voting rights, freedom of religion and expression, and so on.
I would guess that only a minority of Americans, Europeans, and others outside of the region know that.
29
A few corrections. First, as the article states, many Arabs prefer to be called Palestinian citizens of Israel. Second, the term Arab is problematic since Mizrahim are Arab Jews. Third, it is true that Palestinian citizens of Israel have many rights that are close to those of Jewish Israelis. However, the inequities of citizenship are real and apparent in areas including infrastructure and land rental/leasing/ownership. For example, the Jewish National Fund, which has considerable representation in the Israel Land Administration and owns quite a bit of land in Israel explicitly denies the leasing or sale of land to "Arabs," meaning non-Jews. That is a serious inequity precisely because it ensures Palestinian citizens cannot expand on the land. There are a great many other land prohibitions in place that have been documented by scholars including Oren Yiftachel. Finally, many Americans and Europeans know Palestinian citizens have significant rights in Israel (albeit limited in certain areas) because the Israeli PR machine is good at promoting it. That doesn't mean Israel, which the basic law states is a country of and for Jews, primarily, is equal in its treatment of Palestinian citizens. Let's not ignore injustice simply because some justice exists.
26
@Jake Roberts Equal rights? Freedom of expression? Maybe in the same way a white Mississippian would have said the same about his fellow black citizens in the 1940’s.
21
In the United States, it is illegal to accept campaign contributions from foreign governments. Campaigning candidates seldom make appearances overseas. In contrast, we have Bibi scheduling a "hugely bigly" campaign appearance with Trump two weeks before the upcoming elections in Israel, just as he did before the last election when the GOP invited him to speak in front of congress. Bibi's right wing supporters here in the United States (i.e., Sheldon Adelson along with Evangelical leaders) will give a wink and a nod as their $$ flows to Bibi's campaign. As a American woman who is Jewish, I sincerely hope Bibi's days are numbered.
58
One thing often neglected here in the Western press, that Zionism itself was founded by Nationalists Atheists European Jews. When an Israeli friend told me about it, I thought it was fiction. BTW, he is from the political right in Israel, therefore he is not from the left.
For example, Za'ev Jobtinsky, the father of the Israeli right, idealized Mussolini who funded his Betar Movement, even he built him a naval academy in southern Italy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betar_Naval_Academy
Some may think this is an aberration or an exception, they are wrong. Zionism was cut from the same fascist thread the hatched in Europe, and it covers the left and the right in Israel.
Avraham Burg, the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, exposed so much I didn't know in his book.
https://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Over-Must-Rise-Ashes/dp/0230618979
Also Joseph Masad wrote an excellent article about this
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/05/2013521184814703958.html
11
@Salah MansourPeople should also look up the IRGUN at wikipedia. Detailed history of the terrorist outfit that successfully fought for the creation of the state of Israel. Countless attacks on British troops in the region at the very same time the Brits were fighting Nazi Germany in WWII. The greatest irony for the group is that one of its leaders was Menachem Begin - who was later elected as prime minister of Israel. Ironically, that attacker later shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Egypt's murderous President Anwar Sadat.
So, murderous terrorism was okay for Zionists - who proudly reached quick victory in their battle. Would they have kept killing if there was no quick victory? We'll never know. Begin is an Israeli national hero - as are other terrorists.
27
No, it was founded largely by socialist Jews. Jabotinsky and co were a minor, marginalized segment. The founders were nationalist in that Zionism calls for the establishment of a Jewish nation state, but they weren’t fascist. Labour Zionism according to Wikipedia article on zionism: “Labor Zionism became the dominant force in the political and economic life of the Yishuv during the British Mandate of Palestine and was the dominant ideology of the political establishment in Israel until the 1977 election when the Israeli Labor Party was defeated.”
7
@Luke Fisher
The above 2 letters take off from the claims of subtle bias found in the article. The article implies or outrightly claims"racism" on the part of the right wing, when nothing could be further than the truth. It is the fifth column which is being addressed by the right wing.
Zionism began on Mt Sinai in approximately the year 3000 BC, and has continued as a pillar of the religion and culture since.
Avraham Burg is not a reliable source for anything. He is a troubled man, unfortunately.
The Irgun was fighting a double enemy, Arabs who tried violently to thwart a Jewish state and the British who largely and openly backed the Arabs militarily, turned away and prevented the saving of hundreds of thousands of Jews fleeing death in Europe, prevented the acquisition of arms by the Jews, and arrested Jews for fighting back.The British also brought in tens of thousands of arabs from Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other parts of the Middle East and North Africa through the back door while blocking entry of the Jews through the front door. The British reneged on the Mandate of the League of Nations, and did everything possible to ensure a continued empire with the "more compliant" Arabs.
In war for survival, one fights to survive, against anyone who is preventing survival. It is win or lose.
Umm al Fahm residents leave out more than half the story. To obtain services requires taking responsibility via taxes and financial and legal transparency.
2
As they say, "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
31
My issue is with the headline, not the text of the report which is judicious, particularly when making reference to the fact of Israeli war crimes. Thank you for your candor.
But the headline is perverse, “Last laugh.”
How can humor in any way be associated with racist denigration of Palestinian Arabs?
Will Jews who are the focus of vicious anti-Semitic disparagement have a “last laugh”?
11
@Michael Hoffman Absolutely! I had the same reaction.
1
@Michael Hoffman
I don't know how verse are you with the Arab-Israelis living in Israel.
Until the first bloody intifada with senseless suicide bombers - they declared themselves "Israelis" of Arab descent.
When Arafat thought he had found the perfect weapon to destroy Israel - some of Arab leaders in Knesset had begun to identify with the Pals - calling for elimination of Israel and identify themselves as "Palestinians citizens of Israel".
A phrase which Nenayahu & other right wing leaders like Lieberman were waiting to hear, after which they used it to draw wedge between Jews & Arabs with great effect.
Blame the Arab-Israeli leaders for never miss the opportunity to miss an opportunity to shoot themselves on the foot. Not the Israelis
Given the state of the Middle East, where numerous hostile (and failing) Arab nations surround tiny Israel, the only functioning democracy in the area, it's shameful for the left to employ the tropes of their identity politics to the situation. No, it's not "racist" for an Israeli leader to express that there are Arabs who want to destroy Israel - as is the stated goal of Hamas. (I'm surprised the article doesn't claim that Israelis have "white privilege" compared to Arabs!) And it's entirely appropriate for Israel to refer to itself as a Jewish state. Imagine being a Jew living in Israel and be subjected to rocket launches from Gaza, and have the international media shrug and constantly refer to Arabs as victims.
15
Re: ‘white privilege’, that’s for the European Jews, not Mizrahim.
9
@R.P. "tiny Israel, the only functioning democracy in the area". It's a democracy for "Jews only" - not really for the Arab/Palestinian Israelis. You misread and misstate the article.
"No, it's not "racist" for an Israeli leader to express that there are Arabs who want to destroy Israel - as is the stated goal of Hamas."
The Arabs in Gaza lead by Hamas are, time and again, acting as enemies of Israel, a state that does everything to make life in Gaza as difficult as possible.
The Arab/Palestinian Israelis are citizens of Israel, but are treated with racist vitriol by Netanyahu. Clearly, they are not citizens with full rights in the "Jewish State" which is a mockery of "democracy" by laws that privilege Jews.
30
The old trope “ only democracy in the region” rings hollow when an authoritarian racist is at its’ helm
Just because German citizens voted Hitler into office in “ free elections” didn’t give Germangovt moral authority
Same goes now for Israel
47
According to NYT, 93% of Israeli Arabs consider themselves Arabs first.
Why do you expect Israel to treat them differently.
6
Differently? They were born there, and I daresay have more right to live there than all the Russian and American immigrants.
60
@Lev Not only were they born there but generations back to the beginning they were there. Not so for Jews from Europe and Russia. I hope we don't have to listen to Netanyahu for one more day....he has done more to destroy the character or Israel than any other leader..actually he is not a leader...but quite the opposite. ..a rabble rouser. The area deserves better than that!
30
@Sammy
Why Native indigenous Americans feel the same way too Sammy but with regards to America?
Because
1- Palestinian Israeli Arabs are the indigenous population...
- 2/3 of Palestinians in what is now Israel were dispossessed and thrown out to make way for persecuted European citizens Sammy?
I understand why you are confused. Although most Israelis and Jews are highly educated, they still believe that the most important land bridge in history... Palestine... was empty and romantically waiting for Jews to redeem its lands after 2000 years of exile!!
Do you really believe Palestine was empty until European Jews settled it? Bibi believes this, he said it many times.
14
Just as Donald Trump is hastening the decline and corruption of our nation's core values, Netanyahu is cynically hastening the decline of Israel's founding principles. Both of these men represent a clear and present danger to their respective nations.
97
@James Well said! NOTHING of the soul and spirit of David Ben-Gurion can be seen in the corrupt and misguided government of Netanyahu. Sad but true.
26