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Has Israel's civil war already started?

The incitement campaign against Israel's right-wing President Reuven Rivlin, who dared expressing sympathy to Gazans' suffering, has broken all records of hatred and verbal violence.
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The incitement comes across loud and clear this time too. But the writing on the wall is much larger now than it was prior to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. This time, nobody will be able to say, "We saw no evil, we heard no evil, we spoke no evil." Rabin refused to wear a bulletproof jacket because he found the idea of a Jew murdering another Jew unfathomable. However, our bitter lesson has taught us that a Jew can murder another Jew and a bulletproof vest will not cut it anymore. Israel is now standing at a juncture leading to a political, social and religious rift. Violent and sharp, it includes all of the country’s political streams. Yet, it is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is largely to blame.

Netanyahu has set himself the goal to delegitimize Israel’s left-wing camp. It all began during his first term in office (1996-99). While visiting a synagogue in the Bukharim quarter in Jerusalem in 1999, he whispered in the ear of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri — one of Shas Party’s spiritual leaders — “The left has forgotten what it’s like to be a Jew.” This attitude has continued throughout his premierships.

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