The Foundation for Constitutional Democracy

1. To gauge the views of the public, opinion polls are transient and treacherous. Far more reliable are the results of national elections, since these follow three months of campaigning by diverse parties discussing national issues.

2. The paramount issue of the January 2003 election was “Disengagement,” i.e., withdrawal from Gaza—the policy of the Labor Party. There was no other issue that so engaged the public and the media—a media dominated by the Left, that is, by pro-disengagement propaganda.

3. The parties that campaigned against disengagement won 69 seats (and here I am excluding the 15 seats won by Shinui, which opposed unilateral disengagement). This means that that a large majority of the people rejected disengagement despite the media. In fact, the Labor won only 19 seats, by far the lowest in its history.

4. Nevertheless, Ariel Sharon, whose Likud Party won 38 seats campaigning against disengagement, adopted that policy. (more…)

“Israel is disintegrating.” This is the first sentences of my book Jewish Statesmanship. “The basic causes of this disintegration,” I go on to say, “may be listed under four headings: (1) disunity resulting from a lack of Jewish statesmanship and Jewish national purpose, (2) disunity resulting from flawed political and judicial institutions, (3) disunity resulting from extreme cultural heterogeneity, and (4) disunity resulting from secular-religious discord. Underlying each of these causes is a more fundamental one: a normless or irrational conception of democracy that clashes with Judaism and renders it impossible for Israel to achieve the national unity required for its survival in a hostile Arab-Islamic environment.”

The sequel continues: “From the moment of Israel’s re-establishment, evident in its Declaration of Independence of May 14, 1948, this so-called Jewish state has been suffering from cognitive dissonance. By this I mean that the basic concepts of public discourse in Israel clash with traditional Judaism, and most Jews in this country are quite traditional. (more…)

Although my sympathies are with those who opposed the demolition of nine Jewish homes in Amona, and though I deplore the fascist regime that ordered their destruction while condoning tens of thousands of illegal Arab homes, I find it difficult to see the wisdom of sending teenagers to confront the armed might of the State of Israel. Violence was inevitable after the futility of non-violence by the settlers in Gush Katif.

Note that I believe in the efficacy of “civil disobedience.” In a democratic country like the United States, civil disobedience may produce salutary results. Israel, however, is not and never has been a democracy. (more…)