New York Times: Fanatic Rabbis Encouraging IDF To "Expel Non-Jews."
As Israel moved right and religious, the IDF moved with it. In 1967, the officer corps was mainly from the kibbutzim, secular, and left-wing. But that Israel is disappearing (along with the near defunct kibbutz movement).
Now the officers, like a near majority of the troops, come from religious right backgrounds. And suddenly you have rightist rabbis who offer sanction to attacking anything that moves.
I am lucky. I spent some great times in my youth in the real Israel, the secular lefty place that existed until Menachem Begin brought Likud to power in 1977.
I'll never forget that ugly night. Begin won, ending 19 years of Labor dominance, and immediately headed to a West Bank settlement to join settlers dancing around with Torah scrolls.
Nonetheless, the old Israel hung on and even produced Rabin and Oslo.
But demography is doing its work. In a country of six million Jews, you have over a million religious fundamentalists, a million Russian immigrants (right of right), and over a million Jews from Arab countries who also are pretty rightwing. The "old" Israel is outnumbered and also produces fewer kids. And Avigdor Lieberman is just offstage, waiting for his close-up.
Is there good news? Yes, they may be outnumbered but Israel still has a left. It has a growing movement of teenagers who refuse to serve in the occupation. It still has writers, artists, and journalists who try to keep the dream alive. It still has Ha'aretz.
There's hope, just not much.
