Kidnapping highlights Israelis' surrender to settlers
It is natural that the kidnapping of three Israeli youths would generate solidarity among the public, but it also raises the question of why peace-loving secular Israelis have let themselves be dragged along for years, from clash to clash, by a nationalistic messianic minority.
On June 17, I took part in a discussion about settlements at a conference sponsored by the state prosecutor’s office in Modi’in. The event was attended by dozens of prosecutors from all over Israel.
The first speaker was the journalist Israel Harel, a resident of the Ofra settlement and a veteran of the Gush Emunim settlement movement. Harel praised the settlement enterprise and rejected the right of the “Arabs in Judea and Samaria” — the word “Palestinians” never crossed his lips — to an independent state. Harel’s remarks were greeted with exemplary silence. No heckling. Not a single critical comment.
Then it was my turn. I pointed to the damage incurred to Israeli citizens because of the settlement policy. I spoke of the damage caused by the settlements to the Zionist enterprise and warned of their negative influence on Israel’s international standing. I was constantly interrupted by shouting. The message — “How dare you attack the settlers at a time like this” and “Now is the time to stand united.” In short, they were essentially saying that I should be ashamed. To be fair, after my speech two or three prosecutors came up to me and apologized for the behavior of their colleagues.
This episode illustrates the prevailing atmosphere in Israel since the kidnapping of the three young hitchhikers from the Etzion settlement bloc. The one incident has managed to do to the Israeli public in a matter of days what the settlement establishment has been trying unsuccessfully to do for years. The tens of millions of shekels invested by the Yesha settlement council in its “Yesha is here” campaign failed to bring the settlers into every household in Israel, unlike the scenes of the anxious parents and friends praying for the safe return of the missing youths.
