Expose the Renegades
Expose the Renegades

In Jewish studies, asking questions and debating differing opinions is very much encouraged. Our sages did it and it still goes on today in all our seminaries. Hence the often repeated saying, ‘Two Jews – three opinions.’ The outcome of such discourse is always beneficial to the continuance of our Jewish heritage.



What is less helpful, even damaging to the image of Judaism in general and Israel in

They remind me of the urge of lemmings to march towards the sea, regardless of the consequences.

particular, are the utterances of the many renegades among Jews world wide, which do not as in the case of our sages, crystallise the problems into sensible solutions. Quite the other way around,  their antics and machinations do incalculable harm to Israel, to Judaism in general and by implication to themselves in due course.  To me, their motives are not clear but remind me of the urge of lemmings to march towards the sea, regardless of the consequences.



There are sections of Israel’s academia, that openly delegitimize the country, by supporting  one or another boycott of Israel, forgetting  that their salaries are paid from the taxes collected from fellow citizens.    These educators, though on the face of it meant to be objective and factual, exercise an enormous influence on their charges, many of whom consider them beyond reproach.



When we tolerate senior academics referring to our country as an ‘apartheid State’ - then, as newspaper columnist Isi Leibler writes: ”it is an abomination in the name of freedom of expression”, taking an ideal to a lunatic extreme. Tenure at State sponsored institutions should be denied to all who engage in such activities.



Free speech is a privilege to be jealously guarded, but when large circulation national

Tenure at State sponsored institutions should be denied to all who engage in such activities.

newspapers openly promote critiques of Zionist doctrine, the raison d’etre of our presence in this land, some kind of rebuke, if not censorship, is called for. It was the recent campaign from certain quarters inside Israel, against the IDF, that gave rise to the Goldstone report. 



In the Diaspora too, there are individuals and groups which, though calling themselves Zionist, are working against the interests of a viable Jewish State.

The upstart organisation J-Street in the US is a case in point. In the publicity for their student wing, they recently dropped ‘Pro Israel’ from their slogan “Pro Israel - Pro peace”, so as not to offend certain sections of the student body. They allow individual chapters to ad “Pro Palestine”.  

Young Israelis who evaded service in the IDF have gone on speaking tours in the US financed by ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ to foment resistance against Israeli policies.  A film festival in Toronto was boycotted, because ‘Tel Aviv was built on destroyed villages of Palestinians’. In San Francisco, the local Jewish Federation provided funds for a film festival of vile anti Israel films and a radical Rabbi invited a woman who justifies suicide bombings to address his synagogue on Yom Kippur.



The Jewish ‘enemies from within us’ hide in the crevices provided by their benefactors

The [maligners]need to be exposed as the unrepresentative fringe that they are.

whose only aim is assimilation and success, at the cost Israel’s security.  These renegades, who present themselves as a legitimate post- Zionist alternative need to be exposed as the unrepresentative fringe that they are. 

Leibler reminds us that “Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion took ruthless measures against Israeli renegades, insisting that Israeli embassies keep close ties with local Jewish leaders and persuade them to refrain from publicly criticising policies…… that could have life and death implications for Israel’s citizens.”  This is more relevant today than it ever was.