Reflections on Israel Occasioned by our September 2011 Visit
by Jack Hoeschler, 2011
1.The big event of this past summer was the demonstration by the middle class of their dissatisfaction with the system and its distribution of resources. The middle class simply cannot make ends meet even while working two jobs. Housing, especially, is getting too expensive. In addition, there is serious objection to the fact that the economy is controlled by 10 tycoon families who seem to be reaping all the reward for the recent economic success of the economy. The middle class do not see the present parliamentary democracy system as adequately representing them.
2. Many Israelis seem to look down upon the Palestinians. Indeed, throughout the Middle East the Palestinians are not well regarded or accepted by many. The apparent Israeli view of Palestinians seems just an excuse for other Arab countries to criticize Israel.
3. Israelis know what it feels like to be a minority and they can define fair treatment for minorities when they think about it. Israel cannot have a representative democracy if it wants to be a Jewish state (because of this risk of being outvoted by Palestinians, especially if there is a right of return). They therefore need to develop another form of fair and just government that will meet the legitimate needs of the Palestinians without jeopardizing the Jewishness of the state. If they are successful, they might well provide a paradigm for a just state that could be model for the other Mid-East countries (for whom representational democracy is an equally different idea). A democracy is not the only model for a just state and may not ever be that if it embraces apartheid or if it is controlled by tycoons and oligarchs.
4. Therefore, Israel is faced with three challenges:
a. An economic challenge to provide for more equitable distribution of wealth to give a better share to the middle class.
b. A religious challenge to bring the Haredi (ultra-orthodox) into the mainstream of productive citizens. They do not pay taxes, serve in the IPF, add to the GNP or otherwise contribute to the country except by their prayers (and complaints!). They seem to have few employable skills and intellectual accomplishments outside of the Talmud Torah studies seem few. They are an ever-expanding group of beneficiaries of an original political deal made by Ben Gurion at the inception of this State. They are now a serious problem for the State due to their strength in a parliamentary system.
c. A political challenge to provide fair and just treatment to the Arab and Haredi minorities even when they are not represented in government. Can you have a fair system that is not representative/democratic? [The question for us is whether there is a much difference between the Haredi and Christian religions in the U.S. – monks who simply pray and do not work? At least in the States such religions do not get direct state aid, they merely avoid taxation]
5. This trio of challenges can be compared with the trio of values that Tom Friedman sees being sought by Israel: 1) a state in Palestine; 2) a Jewish state; 3) a democratic state. The problem, as he sees it, is that they can only have two of the three values, not all three [explain.] It appears to me that most Jews are willing to give up the democratic state value, if they must, to keep the other two.
This is likely the case because they do not see current parliamentary majority with ultra-orthodox control of social aspects, and oligarch control of economic aspects, as working for most people.
6. A new visitor to a complex society or place like Israel needs to be careful about expressing a glib and simple solutions to the problems of the place based on impressions gathered in a few weeks’ time. It is better to look at what one sees in such a brief visit as a reflection on and of the same sort of problems we have at home.
They are having many of the same problems we are experiencing:
a. The middle class is being squeezed between high taxes and government regulation on one hand and insufficient economic rewards on the other.
(1) Gas is $8/gallon
(2) Taxes on cars are 80% of value
(3) Income taxes are ______.
(4) Other taxes combine to take ____% of personal income.
b. There is a growing underclass of unproductive citizens who must be supported by the State:
(1) Palestinians – their birth rate is much higher than middle class
(2) Haredi – their birth rate is much higher than middle class
They do not serve in IDF (army)
They do not work
(1) Palestinians cannot get to work in Israel due to settlement road crossing problems.
(2) Haredi have few employable skills and little interest in doing anything but studying the Torah.
Each, in its own way, can exercise substantial influence in this system.
1. Palestinians via world opinion
2. Haredi via original Ben Gurion deal that they need not do anything but vote and pray.
3. There is a growing divide between the wealth and power of the oligarchs (10 tycoon families control most of the wealth in the state) and the rest. Politicians respond most quickly to the oligarchs. The middle class can not make ends meet even though they hold 2 or 3 jobs.
Other Thoughts
A. Three wars to consider regarding the Middle East:
1. Crusades re Israel as agent of U.S.
2. Great Game as instructive re Afghanistan
3. Vietnam War regarding Iraq and Afghanistan wars
A1. The parallels between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Israel should be studied and learned from, i.e., (1.) be sure not to always push for the fight; (2.) use strategic alliances with separate Muslim princes to keep them from unity; (3.) try to undercut the concept of Jihad as a unifying force.
A2. Israel should do nothing to cause the Muslims to unite. It should seek alliances with significant Muslim states that take advantage of the natural distrust and disunity that already exist.
A3. British experience in Kashmir should point to a better way for US to approach Afghanistan. Bring native leaders to the US for school and training and then send them back.
A4. Israel should not make strength and unity appear in its Muslim enemies where it actually does not naturally exist. Israel should not (too often) say and think that all the Arabs/Muslims are against them. They are not and can be split apart. But if Israel thinks and acts like all are against it, they will be.
B1. The strength of US is in its enlightened ideas. These can corrode and defeat some of the regional medieval ideas. US military strength should not be wasted in endless Mideast wars.
B2. Modern Israel is shaped by the Holocaust and the guilt at not having fought back – Never Again will the Jews go passively! But Israel runs the risk of being overly aggressive and creating unity in enemies where it may not necessarily be. The modern, liberal state of Israel could/can provide a better and more attractive model of a fair state if it were to treat the Palestinians more fairly. The solution is not parliamentary democracy. It is in finding a fair state that treats non-Jews fairly – as the iconic minority Jews through the years would have wanted to be treated.