The Cats of Ariel

Then there is the "nation law." It says that Israel is the "Nation State of the Jewish People." This is, of course, quite silly: a "nation" and a "people" are two quite different concepts.

Under the existing legal formula, Israel is "a Jewish and democratic state." Both concepts are equal. The new bill said, in its original version, that when a contradiction exists between the Jewish" and the "democratic" character of the state, the "democratic" has to yield to the "Jewish." In plain words, Israel would cease to be democratic.

There was a public outcry, and these words have now been dropped. But even so, the bill discriminates against the 20% of Israel citizens who are Arabs, and perhaps against another 5% who for religious reasons are not recognized as Jewish.

Then there is Ayelet Shaked, the Minister of Justice, who is the main enemy of the Supreme Court. This venerable institution is a mainstay of the occupation, but in individual cases it frequently obstructs the government. The minister (ministress?), who relies on her good looks to say and do the most atrocious things, has found a remedy to this annoyance: to create a parallel court.

This court, the Court of National Security, would be competent to deal with all cases in which the government cannot expect the Supreme Court to judge in its favor. Such courts exist in many totalitarian countries.

THE ZEAL of the ministers remind me of a joke that was current in our army:

There are four categories of officers: (1) the intelligent and diligent, (2) the intelligent and lazy, (3) the stupid and lazy, (4) the stupid and diligent.

They are rated in the following order: The intelligent and diligent are the best: they do much, and everything they do is good. Then come the intelligent and lazy: they do little, what they do is good. Then come the stupid and lazy: everything they do is bad, but thank God they don't do much. The fourth category is the worst: they do a lot, and everything they do is catastrophic.

ALL THIS happens in a country that is still known as the "Only Democracy in the Middle East." One can only wonder how long this appellation will be accepted by the civilized world.

Lately, Netanyahu said something that could have shocked the world, if the world had been listening. But Netanyahu has been saying so many things that even many Israelis have ceased to listen to him.

One of the most famous sentences in the Bible is a question addressed by Avner to Yoav. Avner was King Saul's army chief, Yoav was the commander under David. After a long civil war, which was won by David, Avner (after whom I named myself) addressed Yoav, asking: "Shall the sword devour forever? Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?" (2 Samuel, 2.26) Yoav did not listen, and in the end killed Avner.

In ancient Hebrew, the text reads literally: "Will you forever eat the sword?"

This week Netanyahu answered the ancient question. He told the Israeli people: "We will forever eat the sword!"

To put it in modern language: Yes, we shall live by the sword forever. There will never be peace.

It is not that Netanyahu loves war. He only knows that in order to achieve peace, we have to give back the occupied territories. Neither he nor the people surrounding him are ready to do so.

That is the whole problem in a nutshell.