Laat maar komen, die extreem-rechtse regering, zegt Gideon Levy

Levy1.jpg

Laat maar komen, die rechtse nog extremer rechtse regering in Israël, zegt Gideon Levy, de regering die een eind zal maken aan de illusie dat Israël nog steeds een redelijke democratie is die de westerse steun verdient. En stiekem was ik het al lang met hem eens. Laat Israël zijn ware gezicht maar tonen, tot alle twijfelaars zien waar dat land heen gaat – als we dat laten gebeuren.

Laten de Israëlische burgers maar besluiten of ze in een land willen leven zonder mensenrechtenorganisaties, zonder Hooggerechtshof, zonder journalisten, zonder Arabieren, zonder migranten, laat ze maar de Afrikanen op het vliegtuig zetten, zorg er maar voor dat de Israëlische Palestijnen hun stemrecht wordt afgenomen, annexeer lappen Westoever, smijt Abbas eruit. Maak de apartheid maar officieel, zorg er maar voor dat ook de EU en de VS het niet meer kunnen maken om Israël nog langer te blijven steunen, ga vooral je gang.

A dangerous experiment
After the many long years in which Israel took pride in being the only democracy in the Middle East – and, as such, got an open line of credit and endless patience from the rest of the world, and gave its citizens a sense of sanctimonious self-satisfaction – an extreme right-wing government will put an end to all of it.

By Gideon Levy – Jan.03, 2013 – Haaretz

The news coming from the election arena is very encouraging: Moshe Feiglin advocates bribing Arabs to leave the country; Yuli Edelstein, Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin are promising annexation of the West Bank; Naftali Bennett is promising to “deal with” the media and the Supreme Court; and Yair Shamir is promising that no new state will be established “for a million people.”
This is really the best news we’ve had in a long time. Now we must only hope that these people and their cronies will finally be given a chance to make good on their promises.

The next government must be an extreme right-wing government – without face powder, mascara or saccharin, and most importantly, without the participation of center-left parties for “balance.”

Let the right wing win; let the Bennett-Feiglin team rule. If that’s what the people want, that’s what they deserve. The proper government for Israel is one in which “human rights activist” Orit Struck, from the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron, is a member. It will certainly be more appropriate than the outgoing government, with Labor as its partner in crime, a “moderate” defense minister, and all the Dan Meridors and Michael Eitans as decorations, like a nose ring on a hog.

Only with a Danny Danon-Tzipi Hotovely government will the world and Israel see the country’s true face. Only with an Avigdor Lieberman-Shamir government will all the zany ideas be tested. Only with a Benjamin Netanyahu-Miri Regev government will the wake-up call finally come. Enough of these deceitful governments; give us the real thing, what most Israelis are yearning for.
If Feiglin transfers, Elkin annexes and Bennett deals, the world will have its say. Then – and only then – will Israelis wake up from their hibernation and hallucinations.

When the first busload of expellees crosses the Jordan River, when the first annexation clause is legislated, when Israel’s Arab citizens are forbidden to vote and 60,000 Africans are dragged onto planes, we will have a totally different country here, and the world will respond accordingly.

An extremist government will also give the key person in this story, U.S. President Barack Obama, a serious jolt, and will wake up the European sleeping beauty. Let’s see how Israel manages even one day without American aid and the European market.

Until the insanity is realized, none of this will happen. We’re not talking about the simplistic Marxist approach of “the worse it gets, the better it is.” We’re talking about the need to speak the truth and act as it dictates. Th need to finally, finally display the country’s true desire and see where it leads us. It’s a dangerous experiment, but the continued wild behavior at this masked ball is infinitely more dangerous. It’s anesthetizing and addictive, and the passage of time destroys any chance for change.

We’ll see what happens the day after the transfer and the night after the annexation. We’ll see if we really want to live in a country without journalism, without human rights groups and without the High Court of Justice, without Arabs, without the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas, without migrants, and with apartheid as our declared policy. We’ll see what it’s like to live in a state that’s shunned and boycotted, without America, without Europe, without even the Faroe Islands. We’ll see if we can even sustain such a state.
After the many long years in which Israel took pride in being the only democracy in the Middle East – and, as such, got an open line of credit and endless patience from the rest of the world, and gave its citizens a sense of sanctimonious self-satisfaction – an extreme right-wing government will put an end to all of it.
Let there be no collaborators. No whitewashers must crawl into this government, no homogenizers, no one who doesn’t mind koshering the vermin. There will only be a future without Labor, Hatnuah and Yesh Atid. This pendulum that in recent years has swept Israeli society into the depths of the right will only be stopped if the right is given a chance to follow through on its threats. Once that plays itself out, there will be stunned but steady movement in the opposite direction. Until then, the Orit Struck government holds the most promise of all.