Visitors to the Herzl Center on Mount Herzl can now view a video during their tour – a video which is closer to a lecture on morality than a lesson in history, and purports to present the type of state Herzl envisioned as a result of his efforts.
During the video, the actor playing the part of Herzl decries the type of state that has been established, saying that it is nothing like what he had intended.
“I planned to establish a reformed Jewish state,” the Herzl character says. “A state that would be exceptional, a paragon of equality and advanced ideas.”
The video also refers to “the inhabitants of the land,” and it turns out that these are the… Arabs. “In the new type of society I envisioned, the inhabitants of the land, the Arabs, would have been partners in our social vision, one that is based on equality,” the actor says. “The idea hasn’t expired yet, even though it is complicated to implement. A people that has suffered so much as a persecuted minority should know how to treat the minority that now lives among them with dignity.”
The Herzl character adds, “Despite the prejudiced ideas that prevailed in my times regarding women, I led the Zionist Federation to grant voting rights to women. But the phenomenon of discrimination is still prevalent in the society you built.”
The screen background to this last statement is a picture of the feminist organization the Women of the Wall, and Herzl then says, “It seems to me that here you have created a blend of West and East, and maybe that is the main sign that we as a people are no different from any other people.”
Later in the video, a huge picture of Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for their Oslo Accords is displayed, and “Herzl” says, “The building of an exemplary society that desires peace and contributes to the perfection of the world [tikkun olam].”
MK Avi Maoz has written a detailed letter to the administration of the Herzl Center, asking that they remove all such controversial content from the museum. In his letter, Maoz lists a number of exhibits which are presented as Herzl’s legacy, though they actually reflect liberal and postmodern ideas, he alleges.
“The messages being conveyed here are described as those that pertained to the original vision for the State; in fact, they are liberal and postmodern ideas,” Maoz writes. “This is a manipulative exercise to transpose contemporary ideas into bygone times, and it should be obvious that Herzl did not espouse such ideas. In fact, the views expressed are those espoused by only a certain segment of modern Israeli society, and are actually offensive to many others,” he notes.
Maoz also criticizes the fact that the video portrays “women dressed in revealing clothing, which apart from being offensive and disgraceful, also means that anyone who is religious or haredi cannot view the video without transgressing his religious values.”
Maoz then refers to the statement made by the Herzl character – that a people who know what it is like to be a persecuted minority should know how to treat the Arab minority living in their midst.
“While the character is expressing this view, the backdrop is security officers engaged in the holy work of foiling terrorist operations,” Maoz points out, “totally ignoring the fact that those working for Israel’s security services are the most moral in the whole world, endangering themselves sometimes to an extreme degree in order to protect Israeli citizens in an ethical manner.”
According to Maoz, “The figure of Herzl is being used to cast aspersions on Israeli society,accusing it of discriminating against women and demanding gender equality. These accusations have no basis – they stem from the agenda of radical feminists. In fact, Israel is one of the safest places in the world for women, and women in Israel contribute toward and are influential in all aspects of life.
“In addition, I would note the fact that the average Israeli woman realizes the miraculous powers of bringing life into the world that have been planted in her to a far greater extent than her counterparts around the world, whose essence has been suppressed by destructive agendas for women in particular and human society in general. These agendas do not provide happiness; instead, they fuel an imaginary war between the sexes.”
Maoz also stressed his objection to the use of a picture of the radical Women of the Wall group, wearing tefillin at the Wall, to illustrate Israel’s “diversity.”
“Are these women, who have been engaging in creating provocations at the Western Wall for decades – women who do not represent more than a miniscule percentage of Israeli citizens – really what prove our diversity?” he writes.
“Furthermore, when the video speaks of a people that desires peace, the image shown is that of the arch-murderer Yasser Arafat, who – as everyone knows – succeeded in fooling Israeli leaders and getting them to sign terrible agreements whose only result were incessant terrorism and rivers of blood.”
Maoz also takes objection to the use of liberal and secular examples of Israeli culture and the total lack of any depiction of traditional Judaism as an expression of the Jewish People’s uniqueness – no mention of the Festivals, of the Torah world, of any Jewish symbols whatsoever.
The issue of heads of state appearing during the video is also raised by Maoz: “The prime ministers depicted in the video are all from the left side of the political map; there is no mention of right-wing leaders. It seems that not only does the video not represent the values of a significant part of the people living in Israel, but it also leads to the exclusion of entire publics – religious and national – from their representation in the Center, thus entirely missing the point of the Center’s establishment.”
In conclusion, Maoz writes, “Such an important site, whose purpose is to convey the vision of the founder of the State, should not be permitted to turn into a tool for instilling postmodern values which do not reflect the views of so many in Israeli society. It is in the name of these people that I request of you that you remove the flaws from this video and restore the museum to being a place that is acceptable to all members of Israeli society, as is fitting for a Center dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Zeev Herzl.”