I will be taking off to Israel for a family wedding in a few moments. But I wanted to get this thought in before I left.
Israeli minister and firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir has once again been universally condemned by the entire Left, including by the Biden administration and the US State Department.
What was the outrage about this time? It seems that Mr. Ben-Gvir, in a conversation with a Palestinian representative, mentioned that the security of his wife and family to live without threat of being killed is more important than the freedom of Palestinians to roam free and do what they want.
“Apartheid! Racist! War monger!” was the knee-jerk reaction from the Left – as expected.
Here’s my question before I leave. Even assuming that Mr. Ben-Gvir was not careful in choosing his words, why is it that we never hear equal condemnation of Mahmoud Abbas when he calls for the continuation of the “resistance”? Why is his support for terror not universally condemned? Why does his “pay for slay” program, which encourages terrorists to murder innocent Israeli citizens, allowed to go on unabated under Mr. Biden? Why are Israelis murdered simply for getting gas in an Arab village? (Yes, Huwara again…Please note all those, including Orthodox, who condemned the violent reaction to the murderers from this village a few months ago.) Why is Abbas not charged with racism, terrorism, apartheid, etc.? Why does the media not say anything about the murder of Jews until Israel reacts? Why nothing about the kindergarten teacher who was brutally shot down in Qiryat Arba last week? Why does the media not report on Hamas missiles until Israel reacts…only to condemn Israel for “disproportionate response”? Why is Abbas never referred to as an “obstacle to peace”? Why??
The answer is one of two choices: either because these people hate Jews, or because they don’t expect more from Arabs; they only have high expectations from Israeli Jews. Pick your poison. These two approaches apply to Jewish leftists, just as they do to non-Jewish ones. Either way, they are guilty of the very racism they accuse the Ben-Gvirs of this world.
For those who accuse the “settlers” of terrorizing Arabs, I leave you with a question: If you were given a choice of being dropped off in a right-wing Jewish settlement wearing an Arab keffiyeh or in a Palestinian village wearing a yarmulka, which would you choose? Why?
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
