The security establishment, the prosecution, courts, media, and academia, all unelected, use their unshakeable powers, knowing that they will never again gain power through the ballot box. Opinion.
Shalom Pollack is a popular and veteran tour guide and writer Contact him at shalompollack513@gmail.com
The director of the “Non Arab” section of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) was recorded in a conversation with the chief of police of Judea-Samaria, Commander Avishai Mualem, which has just been revealed to the public by intrepid investigative reporter, Ayala Hasson.
The Shin Bet chief is recorded using vulgar language about those Israeli citizens he calls “the settlers”, ordering his police counterpart to round up” settlers” and throw them into mice-infested prisons with no proof of any crime. Despite the protests of illegality, the police chief was ordered in a harsh demand to do what he was told, assured that the Defense Minister (Yoav Gallant, at the time) would cover.
Although the Shin Bet is deserving of the highest praise for its courageous and brilliant work in protecting Israelis (October 7 aside) , its Jewish Division is a different story. This latest scandal is just the exposé of a rot that goes back to the pre-state period. Years before the current revelation of a scandalous recording by an ISA Jewish Division head, when the state was established, the dominant Left demanded unquestioning power. Potential challengers to their power and vision of what the Jewish state should look like were unacceptable to them..
Then, the precursor of the current secret service persecuted followers of Menachem Begin who dared challenge the leadership of Ben Gurion. Libel, kidnapping, torture, and even murder were their tools. Turning over their opponents to the British for hanging was another one. (Former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, an agent for the British, was in charge of this task)
After Independence in 1948, the self-appointed “elites” felt secure in their rightful and eternal power. They controlled the media and all else that could manipulate opinion and action. People understood for which party it was “safer” to belong. Employment, housing, education, health care were in the balance. Carrot and stick worked.
Shocked when their grip on parliamentary power was lost for the first time to Menachem Begin in 1977, as the demographics changed, they became desperate. They could not abide by the democratic will of the majority of the people. To their mind, it was a historic mistake that had to be corrected by any means. A leading figure told that this was the will of the people, famously exlaimed: “So let’s switch the people!”
So desperate were they for power that the Left began drifting towards anyone who opposed the “Right” government, even the Arab enemy, potential allies against what they perceived as their real enemy. They began to “understand” and encourage Arab claims against the state. As anti-Torah ideologues, they scoff at the concept of the brotherhood of Jews. There is no brotherhood, just political and ideological opponents. It was always about power by any means. (Remember the “Altalena”?)
To better understand the roots of the latest scandal, one must go back to the earlier days of Zionist settlement.
The “Second Aliyah”, just before and after WWI, was socialist / communist, whose people turned their backs on Jewish tradition. They were intent upon building a socialist paradise that would exclude Judaism and include the Arab peasants and “proletariat.”They were disappointed and surprised when their brother proletarian Arabs turned their weapons on them as they tried to embrace them. Socialists from Europe simply wanted to educate them about a better way. Still, they believed the Arabs would see the light. They refused to recognize the /religious component of Arab violence against them. After all, religion is silly.
Eventually, disarmed of their socialist brotherhood dreams, they recognized the “legitimate demands of the Palestinian Arabs” and were eager to offer the Arabs chunks of Eretz Yisroel for the promise of peace and friendship. It was, as PM Rabin said,” just real estate and he would decide what to do with it.” He invited arch terrorist Arafat to share the land for the promise of acceptance and quiet. That gave us “Oslo”.
In 1956, Roi Rotenberg was killed on the Gaza border by “Palestinian Arabs”. Moshe Dayan said at his grave,” He could not blame the Palestinian Arabs who killed Roi.” Only his disconnect between the Land of Israel, the Jewish Nation, and the Torah could elicit such words.
Another former Defense Minister and Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, was cut from the same cloth as Dayan. It is not surprising, then, that he said, “If I were a ‘Palestinian’ of the right age, I would have joined one of the terror organizations.” This very same Barak travels the world today defaming Israel’s government and its army (like former PM Olmert, Chief of Staff Ayalon, and other former Left PMs, chiefs of staff do). They are all from the same school described above. Incredible, you might say, but when you remove God and People, and Land from the heart of a Jew, what is left?
Joining the fray are former Secret Service chiefs, who insist that the Jewish “Hilltop youth” who settle barren hills to keep Arab encroachment at bay (and have some lawbreakers as do the rest of the population) are greater dangers to the state than the Arab enemy.
In 2005, thousands of Jewish families were violently expelled from their homes in Gush Katif(Gaza)The Police commander of the region was Niso Schacham. Taking a cue from his superiors, he ordered his men to use their sticks against the unarmed and peaceful protesters. The slurs and vulgarity he used in describing his Jewish victims reveal a wider attitude and problem. The same repeated itself when, a year later, in Amona, teens were clobbered with night sticks and run down by horses to the glee of commanders (and the press) on site with the approval of their superiors.
In 2015, a house was firebombed in the Arab village of Duma (in Samaria). There had been previous arsons before and after that one in clan disputes.
The Shin Bet rounded up the usual suspects; the “Hilltop youth” in the area. Amiram Ben Uliel, 21, married with a baby, was arrested. After prolonged isolation and extreme torture, he admitted to what they demanded. He was sentenced to three life sentences based solely on his confession under torture. Nothing else. He has since renounced his admission under torture, to no avail.
They got their “settler” and made their point. To them, Arab terror is not the worst enemy of the state. “Jewish messianic hilltop youth” is far more of a threat, as former Shin Bet chiefs have unashamedly declared. The work of the “Jewish Division” was done with the help of same-thinking judges (the current president of the Supreme Court) and the media. The malaise runs deep.
The security establishment, the prosecution, courts, media, and academia, all unelected, manipulate their unshakeable powers, knowing that they will never again gain power through the ballot box. Demographics have had the last word.
When Shimon Peres, the architect of the Oslo Accords, lost an election to Netanyahu in 1996, he was asked, “Who lost”? He answered, “The Israelis.” Then, who won? he was asked. “The Jews,”. The Jews are increasing, and Peres’ Israelis are decreasing, due to low birth rate and emigration.
The future is clear, but at present the no-holds-barred rear guard battle of the Left elites is being conducted by all means necessary. Our Torah and prophets never said it would be easy, but there is a promised happy end.
