[Salon] Allan Brownfeld comments on "Israel Solidifying Control Over The West Bank.”

From: Allan Brownfeld Date: Fri, Aug 16, 2024 This is a letter I sent to the Washington Post concerning their very good and extensive front page report and Israel’s increasing control of the West Bank. To the editor, Washington Post. The Washington Post did a notable service with its article, “Israel solidifying Control Over the West Bank—and its future” (Aug. 16, 2024). What deserves further consideration are the extreme and intolerant religious views which motivate the West Bank settlers. A hero to the settlers is Rabbi Meir Kahane. In a different Israel, he was expelled from the Knesset as a racist and terrorist. He advocated an Israeli version of the Nazi Nuremburg laws, making it illegal for Jews and non-Jews to marry. Now, Kahane’s views are acceptable in Israel. A disciple of Kahane, Itamar Ben-Gvir , is now Israel’s National Security Minister. Until recently, Ben-Gvir had a portrait of Meir Kahane on his living room wall. Another hero of the settler movement is the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ovadiah Yosef. He is widely admired by the settler movement for his declaration that “the only reason for the existence of non-Jews is to serve Jews.” Sadly, he seems to be an heroic figure to most Israelis. His funeral in 2013 was considered the largest ever in Israel, with crowds estimated at 800,000. He is commemorated on Israeli postage stamps and many streets carry his name. Another rabbi frequently quoted by settler leaders is Rabbi A.I. Kook, who said of Jews that, “We are of a much higher and greater spiritual order.” Few Jewish Americans understand that religious freedom and separation of religion and state in the American sense do not exist in Israel. Israel has a state religion, which is ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Most Jewish Americans are not Orthodox. Few are aware that in Israel, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and other rabbis cannot perform weddings, conduct funerals or have their conversions recognized. Israel is, in fact, a theocracy. The Netanyahu government’s mistreatment of the West Bank’s indigenous Palestinian inhabitants has been characterized as apartheid by Human Rights Watch , Amnesty International and B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization. It is a violation of Jewish moral and ethical values. Few Jewish Americans, if they understood the motivation and religious bigotry of the settler movement, would support it in any way. Sincerely, Allan C.Brownfeld, Editor of ISSUES, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism (www.acjna.org)