Prof. Jordan Peterson
Prof. Jordan PetersonNathan Chan / thevarsity.ca

A rumor making the rounds in conservative Israeli circles – such as they are – says that Prof. Jordan Peterson may soon be visiting Israel , and that his book, "12 Rules for Life," may soon be available in a Hebrew version.

Adding grist to the rumor mill is a Facebook post by the small but influential conservative publishing house. Sella Meir. It featured only a photo of Peterson, along with the words: "not a teaser." Most readers jumped to the conclusion that this was, indeed, a teaser for an upcoming Hebrew version of the Canadian sage's runaway international bestseller.

Peterson is one of the world's most sought-after lecturers and bringing him to the Holy Land will therefore require a meaningful financial investment – well beyond the reach of the vast majority of private citizens. It stands to reason, therefore, that an institutional-level investment is required, either by an academic body or an ideologically motivated fund.

Factor in the fact that Israel's academic world is largely under the control of Marxists and neo-Marxists, who are experts at stifling opposing views by all means necessary, and the feat of temporarily importing the world's most powerful conservative voice becomes even more challenging.

Peterson is the most prominent representative of a modern kind of conservatism that identifies radical feminism and the political LGBTQ movement as neo-Marxist streams. Conservatives of this ilk, several of whom have risen to global prominence in the last two or three years, usually do not couch their objections to radical leftist dogma in religious terminology, but rather, in terms of academic research.

They are exceedingly politically savvy and much less stuffy than their political antecedents, and have become very popular among young people. The new conservative avant-garde has weakened the hold feminism had on American women and was probably a crucial factor in the election of Donald Trump.

Gil Ronen is a father of two and head of the Family Movement.