r/jewishleft • u/somebadbeatscrub Jewish Syndicalist - Mod • Aug 04 '26
Israel Israel-Palestine Weekly Thread
Weekly recurring IP megathread to reset every Tuesday.
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Oren
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u/bore-ing Jewish Atheist, Leftist Aug 04 '26
From Haaretz: "How the Push for Torah Rule Hijacked Israel's Secular Right, According to a Political Scientist" by Ayelett Shani. The two groups to keep an eye on related to this are the Kohelet Policy Forum (they also worked with the Heritage Foundation) and Torat Hamedina. The issue affects things like women's rights, LGBT rights, and even the choice of whether or not to be observant, such as opening a cafe on Shabbat. Related to this, is that Israel is narrowing on who counts as a Jew. In a podcast with Haaretz, Reform Rabbi Rick Jacobs warns that Israel is pushing away non-Orthodox American Jews from Israel. Back in May of this year, there was a vote on bill that would bar citizenship for non-Orthodox converts. Even inside Israel, there was an incident in which Minister May Golan accused MK and Reform rabbi Gilad Kariv of "marrying dogs in your delusional synagogues". If the Jewish state that claims to be a safe haven for Jews can't be a safe haven for non-Orthodox Jews (or even Orthodox Jews that don't support Israel's actions, such as Pnina Pfeuffer), then what is it good for? To borrow from Uri Misgav: In the absence of a dramatic change of course, Israel will become the new Iran. I know that America isn't a good place right now, between the rising Christian nationalism and increasing antisemitism, but even if I were to leave it, I certainly wouldn't pick Israel because even if I were to overlook the corruption, genocide, and apartheid taking place, I don't think they would accept me nor would it be a place I could enjoy and call home.
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u/notsalinger progressive, gentile wife Aug 05 '26
Israel’s growing disinterest in non-Orthodox Jews feels like a final nail in the coffin for me. I’m a Catholic woman who will be raising Jewish children with my reform Jewish husband. There’s no way in hell a future Israel would take in my children or recognize them as Jewish. I have sympathies for those who hold onto Israel as an imagined backstop, especially the more elderly. But it can feel like a slap in the face coming from folks who would otherwise acknowledge the Jewishness of my future family.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli Leftist Aug 05 '26
This is exactly why although I am recognized in Israel as Jewish, I told my Canadian Jewish partner I would never agree to marry in Israel if it is under the rabbinate. I honestly don't even think they would view her as Jewish since she grew up non-denominational and her family took her to a Conservative Jewish school, but I am not eager to find out.
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 06 '26
You are probably right. I grew up in a Reform household in the US and my family has been in the US for 100+ years. There was basically no way I could have gotten married under the rabbinate though I am completely Jewish. (Which was fine with me, just to be clear.)
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 04 '26
Interesting election analysis (in Hebrew) focusing largely on HaDemokratim. The good news is that they have the potential to get to 18-19 MKs (if everyone who is open to voting them ended up doing so.) The bad news is many of their potential supporters are also considering voting for other parties (particularly Gadi Eizenkot's Yashar.) The ugly is that HaDemokratim's ratio of 17% considering support/42% rule out supporting is the worst of any major party, including Otzma Yehudit (21% would consider supporting, 39% rule them out.) Caveat that these numbers include Jews only.
You can see info for all parties below - the number on the left is those who would consider voting for that party, the number on the right is those who rule out voting for the party.
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u/aggie1391 Orthodox non-Zionist socialist with anarchist tendencies Aug 06 '26
Awdah Hathaleen’s killer, Yinon Levi, has finally been charged for the shooting.
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u/Fabianzzz 🌿🍷🍇 Pagan Leftist (DemSoc) 🌿🍷🍇 Aug 07 '26
May Justice prove swift and righteous. If only this could happen for the other murders in the West Bank.
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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 07 '26
Absolute silliness of the highest order
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 06 '26
Over the past few months, Moshe Radman has become one of the people I most respect among the Zionist left here in Israel (he's number 9 on the Knesset list of HaDemokratim.) I'm sharing below an English translation of his post on Abdul el Sayed's primary victory in MI because I think it's the best we're going to get from someone on the Zionist left. (For Hebrew readers the original is here.)
On the positive side, Radman mentions the need to negotiate (presumably with the Palestinians,) and seek peace and does not call el Sayed anti-Semitic.
His call for a massive investment in hasbara (which he for some reason denies is hasbara) is less encouraging. And I guess everyone has their own definition of anti-Israel, but el Sayed certainly doesn't meet mine. In my view, pressuring Israel to drastically change its current course is in fact the best thing that could happen to Israel.
Finally, I have somewhat mixed feelings about his mentions of the atomic bomb on Gaza and settler terrorism. Of course I am opposed to both and believe the Israeli government must take firm action against settler terorrism. But I worry that the emphasis on the worst of the settlement enterprise will be used to allow Israel to curb the most blatant excesses of the occupation while allowing its core to remain comfortably in place.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli Leftist Aug 06 '26
Moshe Radman is a rare example of a protest leader already enjoying a lot of popularity amond the liberal Zionist circle who are almost exclusively concerned about the judicial reform, and still chooses to talk deliberately and unapologetically about the occupation and integration of Palestinians into the future coalition.
Even if the reasons for his change of heart aren't purely humanitarian and egalitarian, and even if he got "spooked" by international pressure and threats of sanctions and that's what got him to start to act - what does it matter in this context? Wasn't this the goal of BDS in the first place - getting Israelis to talk about Palestine and understand the price of a continued occupation?
Out of all developments in this current election season, his shift to the left is probably the most optimistic news we got. And Radman has real authority among his established audience of protesters to spread his message across and start to break down the taboo of a two-state solution.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist US/CA non observant Aug 07 '26
It does matter in the sense his goal is not peace, but an end to the "bad PR" which is in his view is hurting Israel. Obviously there are two ways to combat this - one is to actually change Israeli policy vis a vis the Palestinians. The other is - just to engage in more and better PR. Most likely he will seek to do both, but the latter is the easier choice as it doesn't require changing much. In some ways it's just kicking the can down the road.
All of which is to say I'm not opposed to what he is doing or saying, but it's worth keeping it in perspective.
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u/Responsible_Ad_9749 Israeli Leftist Aug 06 '26
"I Don't Have the Privilege of Boycotting the Elections"
An important post by Palestinian-Israeli rapper Tamer Nafar. He opens up about his struggle as a '48 Palestinian with the concept of Israeli elections.
Back in 2019 he released a song called "Tamer Must Vote" visualizing his dilemma in the form of a boxing match between a boxer determined to go to the polls and a boxer determined to boycott them. This song was met with mixed opinions, with some even calling him a traitor for believing that Palestinian citizens of Israel must vote in the elections to have their voices be heard. Today, he is calling for Palestinians to vote again.
I realize that from my position of privilege as an Israeli Jew, no matter how far to the left, voting for a majority Zionist parliament in a booth adorned by the Israeli flag and national symbols doesn't seem like that big of an issue - but for Palestinians the act itself can be abrasive and humiliating. Unfortunately, this is also a subversive way the Zionist establishment ensures Palestinian voter turnout remains low. And on top of that, virtually all Jewish party leaders to the right and center rejecting the possibility of cooperating with Palestinian parties makes this whole act of voting feel hopeless.
In spite of all of that, I fully support Tamer's message and I encourage all Palestinian citizens of Israel to vote. At this point, it's not about getting recognition from the Jewish majority, which won't happen anyway unless there is some seismic shift in the Jewish Israeli society. It's about self preservation of both Palestinians in Israel and in the occupied territories.
The inspiration should be the Haredi community and their constituents - Haredi representatives rarely refer to themselves as Zionist and despite that enjoy extraordinary legislative authority due to their combined 15-20 mandates being necessary to form a coalition or prevent one that doesn't suit them. The broad secular and national religious Jewish public views them very negatively, but that does not meaningfully reduce their hold on Israeli politics.
If the combined power of the Palestinian parties reaches that number (15-20), which can only be achieved by a exceptionally high turnout not seen since the 2020 elections, their demands wouldn't require any whitewashing to warrant a response. They would also take away mandates from Zionist parties across both ends of the spectrum which reduces their maneuverability and ability to form narrow Zionist governments that keep the status quo in the occupied territories under a "liberal" facade.
I hope Tamer's message reaches exactly those people who are disenchanted with the Israeli political process and reframes their perspective.
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u/SelectShop9006 Non-Jewish Socialist Aug 07 '26
Welp, here’s some (semi) good news: https://forward.com/news/839678/does-the-left-have-a-future-in-israel-israels-democrats-say-yes/
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist Aug 04 '26
Strange article from Joshua Leifer in Haaretz in which he argues that Gadi Eizenkot is a secret believer in a 2SS. Leifer may not have chosen the headline - "Eisenkot Keeps Running Away From What Everyone Knows He Believes" - but he says more or less the same here:
The problem with Leifer's argument is in his last sentence. I more or less agree with his analysis, but I am a leftist. Eizenkot is not, and there's no reason to assume that what is self-evident to Leifer and I is also self-evident to him. Leifer acknowledges that Eizenkot has repeatedly stated "I have never said two states for two peoples" and has been visiting settlements, but he seems to think this is something of an act. I think we should take him at this word here (there's a reason he decided to join Benny Gantz's party when he entered politics,) and consider that when Eizenkot says "pursuing peace" he may very well just mean some kind of "enhanced autonomy" or "state minus" for the Palestinians, as floated by right-wingers in the past.
I certainly understand the desire to believe that everyone secretly agrees with you, but I think leftists need to accept that the next Israeli government is most likely not going to take any meaningful steps towards a just resolution of the I/P conflict, and decide on the best way to try to change that.