I consider the Ha?Aretz newspaper?s interview with Moshe Ya?alon to be the most important newspaper interview and possibly the most important event of the past decade in Jewish history.
The significance of the matter is that for the first time in Israel in the past 10 years, a senior leader of the country, in this case the IDF's Chief of Staff, dares to speak the truth. The content of the interview is hardly surprising to anyone with normal intelligence. Indeed, it is little more than declaring the obvious, that the emperor is naked. It is a daring declaration of the simple and the obvious, that very first obligation of all honest men (in Orwell's famous quip). The interview is important because it was almost impossible over the past decade to find Israel public figures willing to state the simple and obvious truth. It is important because it represents the first crack in the wall of totalitarian leftist hegemony in Israel, the first glimmering of a will to survive reasserting itself in Israel.
Over the past decade Israel has been under the totalitarian hegemony of a leftist cult. This cult introduced Oslo and led the country on a path of national self-annihilation. Under the control of this cult, which still controls the media, the Supreme Court and the universities, it has been virtually impossible for any politician or public figure to speak the truth. It has been almost impossible to speak the truth on campus due to dangers of leftist persecution. Despite being a minority pseudo-religion, this cult took over the Israeli media virtually in its entirety. It also took and retains control of the Israeli Labor Party and large segments of the Likud.
For nearly a decade, it has been almost impossible to speak the truth in Israeli media, much like the darker days of the Soviet era. The courage of the Chief of Staff in blowing apart this regime of censorship and repression may be the most important event in the past few years of Jewish history.
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Steven Plaut comments on current events.
The significance of the matter is that for the first time in Israel in the past 10 years, a senior leader of the country, in this case the IDF's Chief of Staff, dares to speak the truth. The content of the interview is hardly surprising to anyone with normal intelligence. Indeed, it is little more than declaring the obvious, that the emperor is naked. It is a daring declaration of the simple and the obvious, that very first obligation of all honest men (in Orwell's famous quip). The interview is important because it was almost impossible over the past decade to find Israel public figures willing to state the simple and obvious truth. It is important because it represents the first crack in the wall of totalitarian leftist hegemony in Israel, the first glimmering of a will to survive reasserting itself in Israel.
Over the past decade Israel has been under the totalitarian hegemony of a leftist cult. This cult introduced Oslo and led the country on a path of national self-annihilation. Under the control of this cult, which still controls the media, the Supreme Court and the universities, it has been virtually impossible for any politician or public figure to speak the truth. It has been almost impossible to speak the truth on campus due to dangers of leftist persecution. Despite being a minority pseudo-religion, this cult took over the Israeli media virtually in its entirety. It also took and retains control of the Israeli Labor Party and large segments of the Likud.
For nearly a decade, it has been almost impossible to speak the truth in Israeli media, much like the darker days of the Soviet era. The courage of the Chief of Staff in blowing apart this regime of censorship and repression may be the most important event in the past few years of Jewish history.
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Steven Plaut comments on current events.