Public Comment

Israel has made a dramatic shift to the right after the recent elections. 

Gen. Yair Golan, the deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army, voiced his concern during a speech on Holocaust Memorial Day that has sent shock waves in Israel. Reading from a prepared speech he warned,: “if there is something that frightens me about the memories of the Holocaust, it is the knowledge of the awful processes which happened in Europe in general, and in Germany in particular, 70, 80, 90 years ago, and finding traces of them here in our midst, today, in 2016.” This was a direct comparison to the treatment of Jews under the Third Reich to the decades of oppression and discrimination against the Palestinians. 

Overt racism has reared its ugly head. A growing number of rabbis have called for a boycott of Arab shops. “Death to the Arabs” can be heard at soccer matches. A member of the Knesset has called for the separation of newborns in hospitals. A chief rabbi made the absurd claim that Goyim (non-Jews) were created by God to serve the Jews. 

Quoting religious texts to justify cruelty and occupation of indigenous people can never be justified. God is not in the real estate business offering promises to certain religious groups. Christianity and Islam have all justified unspeakable acts of violence based on scripture. 

The education and cultural ministries have issued new guidelines to conform to its more extremist ideology. Criticism of elitism and political correctness bears a strong resemblance to other European far right parties and the Trump movement. The replacement of the more moderate defense minister, Ya’alon with ultra-right wing, Avigdor Lieberman, is yet another disturbing occurrence. 

The whiff of fascism is unmistakable. 

The general’s warning is apt; with the growing intolerance unleashed by Donald Trump and his supporters, a Nazi party can come to any country, including America.