The best way for people outside of Israel to truly understand the sometimes argumentative nature of Israeli politics is to look at it with two eyes.
The first eye reads about politics and politicians in the media, learns the different issues and forms political opinions, and the second eye has a larger perspective, said Rabbi Dr. Yona Goodman, of the National Network of Yeshivot and Ulpanot of Bnei Akiva, in an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva.
The second eye has to keep in perspective that the Jewish people finally have a home and a nation again after 2,000 years.
“It’s very easy to establish a nation but to create the nation in a way that people argue but argue politely (is not so easy),” Goodman said. “We thank G-d every day that we have a Knesset we can argue about.”
He noted that Israel is still a very young nation compared to, for instance, the United States which just celebrated its 245th birthday.
“What is much more important is our ability to look at a perspective and to simultaneously thank G-d that we have a home, we have a homeland.”
When you are dealing with real life, people don’t always agree with each other. They argue about issues they care about, he explained.
The bottom line is: “We are learning to live together after 2,000 years.”
Remarking about how incredible it is that a country as young as Israel has been able to coalesce with such a diverse population – from religious to secular, from left wing to right wing – he said, “There were people who once discussed that it is going to be a miraculous situation when we rebuilt the state. And I say if we can live together without tearing each other apart, that already is a miracle.”
While Israel may not have a simple two-party system like the US, politically Israelis are “slowly learning and there are pros and cons of the system.”
Goodman also remains very optimistic about the future of the Jewish State and the involvement of young people in society, if not in politics itself.
Even in the age when most people are lost in their digital devices, he is proud of all the kids and teenager he sees volunteering, giving weeks of their time to help the needy, working on building projects and being of service to causes that help the nation.
“I think that they are very much proactive but not in politics. Not everybody has to be involved in politics… or the political arena.”
He said that sometimes we might get too caught up in politics and forget that there is a whole world outside politics that is very important.
“The story of Israel is much bigger than only the politics,” he explained.
He is hopeful when he sees the younger generation’s commitment to improving society. “I think the kids are wonderful. I'm very proud. I think we should all have a lot to be proud about. We also have challenges raising kids but in the end, I think we all are going to be very proud.”
For Goodman, sometimes you have to pry your second eye away from the political news of the day and focus on the miracle of Jews having their own state.
“This is a wonderful country even if sometimes we are critical about the political situation,” he said.