In recent days, we have finally seen an answer. The Shimon and Levi of our time are the dozens of protesters and rioters who took action in Huwara. These Jews sent a message which made the accomplices of the murders tremble in fear.
The world has now witnessed that young Israelis will not stand by idly when their brothers are massacred in cold blood, even if the Israeli army is shackled by the Israeli government.
Sadly, there are Israelis that believe the opposite of these modern Shimons and Levis. People like Avraham Burg and Yaya Fink epitomize self-hatred and choose to stand with murderers rather than their own nation. Avraham Burg brazenly stated that he has more sympathy for the residents of Huwara than the Jewish victims from nearby Har Bracha. For many years the families of Har Bracha have been targeted by terrorists.
How could Israel have ever allowed a man like Burg to have served as Speaker of the Knesset? If Israelis really cared about security issues they would never allow such a man to attain a top position in government. When one’s brothers are being murdered in cold blood, if you show sympathy to those who celebrate your own demise, then you must not have any role in the leadership of the nation.
There is no possible way to explain such a man. It’s like a turtle advocating for more plastic to be dumped into the ocean.
Even worse than Burg is Yaya Fink. Fink did not just make some pathetic statement. Fink actively fundraised for the residents of Huwara. Unlike Burg whose words have little impact, Fink has had an impact. To go out and raise money for a town that produced such evil sons and celebrates its atrocities with handing out pastries and having schoolchildren display posters with the murderer's face is immoral. If a person really cares about justice and about their fellow Jews, this is the opposite of what needs to be done.
If anything, Fink should have crowdfunded for the family of those murdered by the very people he is trying to help. Just like the ancient residents of Shechem, the residents of Huwara should be held accountable. As the ancient Torah commentators explain, the reason why the entire city was condemned was because they allowed their leader’s son to rape Dina.
In the end Yaakov Avinu was angry at his sons for their actions: but not because of the morality of the punishment that they meted out but because of their anger. At the end of Yaakov Avinu’s life, he cursed the brother’s anger not the rationale for their armed response.
What the rioters did the Huwara was not correct. They should not have acted on their own in Huwara, it’s the government’s role to hand out punishments to our enemies. However, when the government refuses to act it is not for us to sit in our comfortable homes and condemn those who believe they had no choice.
[1] Genesis 34.