Obfuscate. The word means to bewilder or confuse. And that's exactly what the Left has been doing for the last few weeks in Israel. To justify leaving the government coalition in a time of war, for his own narrow political purposes - upcoming Labor Primaries - former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and the Labor Party had to obfuscate; that is, they had to create an artificial crisis and confuse people with a smoke screen.
The Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Rabbinical Council had to 'call for revolt' against the army. The outposts had to be 'illegal'. Settler youth had to be seen as 'violent, wild, and uncontrollable'. And finally, Minister Effi Eitam, leader of the pro-settlement National Religious Party had to be discredited. With primaries coming up in late November, Mitzna and Ramon breathing down his neck, Ben-Eliezer had to shore up his left wing in Labor. Beat up on the settlers, blame them for getting too much from the government budget pie, 'justifiably' walk out on 'principle', and claim support for the poor in Israel. So, Labor voted Wednesday (Oct. 30) against the budget, excusing itself from the government.
It seems another 'Soviet-style' disinformation campaign about the events leading to the expulsion from Havat Gilad has occurred. For example Ha'aretz reported (Oct 21), that Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called Monday for the head of the Yesha Rabbinical Council, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, to stand trial for issuing a religious ruling forbidding settlers and soldiers from evacuating the outpost of Havat Gilad. "I request that we not go back to the atrocious scenes from seven years ago [referring to the murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin]," the Defense Minister said at that Monday's meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, "You, the rabbis, who called upon settlers to refuse to evacuate the outposts, issued similar calls seven years ago which led to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin." Can he really say that with a straight face?
The truth is, as reported on Israelinsider.com (Oct. 15), in a joint statement, signed by Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Rabbi Elyakim Lebanon, Rabbi Dov Lior, and Rabbi Daniel Shilo, the rabbis noted that Defense Ministry orders calling on soldiers to dismantle outposts take them away from security duties. The rabbis' statement said:
?1. Every outpost in Eretz Yisrael (the Biblical boundaries of the Jewish State) was established as part of the commandment to settle the Land, and therefore it is strictly forbidden to evacuate its residents.
?2. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is the People's army, and its mission is to prevent terror and to defeat Israel's enemies.
?3. It is forbidden for any party, including an Israeli government minister, to misuse his standing and order the IDF to dismantle outposts, thereby bringing about a public debate on the issue.?
Arutz Sheva reported (Oct. 21) that Labor MK Tzali Reshef called the recent statements by the Yesha rabbis against the government "incitement to murder, the worst seen since the Rabin assassination" seven years ago. Then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in his comments concerning the Yesha Rabbinical Council also took the liberty to degrade many Torah scholars and spiritual leaders, without any consideration for their position in their respective communities. FM Peres Sunday called the rabbis "sh***y inciters," blaming them for contributing to setting the stage for the Rabin assassination.
The truth is that the rabbis suggested that soldiers ask their commanders to excuse them from evacuating Jews from their homes, saying that it contradicts their beliefs (according to Arutz Sheva, Oct 15). I don't hear incitement to murder or rebellion against the state. I hear a Halachic ruling that advises whoever cares what Rabbinical opinion is on the matter.
Yet the 'Soviet-style' dis-information campaign continued, illegal outpost, illegal encampment, these terms have been used so frequently in the last few weeks and months, that we hardly question them. But is Havat Gilad truly 'illegal'? According to all accounts, Moshe Zar bought the land; it is privately (and legally) owned property, no disputes there. So what is illegal?
According to Aviad Visoli, head of the Headquarters on Behalf of the Land of Israel, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is in contempt of court for dismantling the Gilad Farm without granting a hearing to its residents (Jerusalem Post Oct. 21). Visoli quoted from a decision by Supreme Court Justice Tova Strasberg-Cohen regarding a petition by him that she rejected. Visoli petitioned the High Court on the legality of outpost evacuation in June of this year. Strasberg-Cohen rejected the petition, but in her ruling wrote, "I would assume the government will behave according to the law with regard to everything having to do with the evacuation of outposts, if it decides to evacuate them, and that outposts will not be evacuated without granting their residents the right to a hearing, if there is not a reason that has been clarified that denies them this right." According to Visoli, the government did not grant the residents of the Gilad Farm a hearing before evacuating the outpost. So, who's breaking the law?
Visoli also said that under paragraph 34 (4) of the Jordanian Planning and Building Laws (No. 79), which are in force in Judea and Samaria, the use of land for agricultural purposes is not defined as construction that requires a permit. Private land, no need for permits; so, again I ask, what's illegal?
The Left continues its Bolshevik disinformation drive with accusations of massive violence on the part of 'settlers'. Did you see any violence? I watched most of the news broadcast on IBA TV for the week of Oct. 16-22, and saw the same footage of police and soldiers pushing, pulling, and hitting people. I saw settlers passively resisting, being dragged away. I saw one scene of someone pushing back a policeman after being viciously shoved. I saw a little boy maybe 7-8 years old being shoved by a policeman. I never saw any rock throwing, or other attacks on police or the army. I believe if it was so widespread, they would have filmed it and shown us. In fact, according to Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), a Jerusalem Court has ordered IBA TV to hand over all its films and photos taken at Gilad Farms, to help in the police investigation, on accusations of violent settlers. It seems they're having trouble finding the scenes of violence.
Oh yes, it seems no matter how long they chose to edit the footage, they always showed (former Kach leader) Baruch Marzel being pushed by several policeman, backpedaling, almost tripping, and trying to walk past them again. By focusing on Marzel, I suppose the news was trying to make a parallel, to the 'famous' Kikar Tzion protest in Jerusalem (blamed by the Left for inciting Rabin's murder). Footage from that protest always focuses on the Kach flag, Binyamin Kahane on someone's shoulders dancing and the picture of Rabin in a Nazi uniform (a picture that was distributed by Shabak [General Security Services] agent-provocateur Avishai Raviv). Although long-since discredited as an authentic expression of the 'National Camp', the Left continues to use that footage to obfuscate and incite against half the country.
According to news reports, 2,000 protesters were at Havat Gilad the first Wednesday; over 1,000 were there that Saturday night; as of Sunday (Oct. 20), only 25 policemen, 17 soldiers, and 19 settlers were treated for minor injuries, on the spot. That's for what, cuts? Seven policemen were brought to the hospital with light injuries and released. With what, sprained fingers from pulling too hard when trying to throw people off the roof of the building that they were 'defending' (i.e. passively resisting evacuation)? I saw it on IBA TV. It seems the Left equates 'civil disobedience' with outright revolt. Or, did a policeman sprain his arm when choking someone; as the photo on the front page of the Jerusalem Post (Oct. 21), and in Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), clearly shows. I think its terrible that anyone, citizen or member of the security forces, suffered injury, however minor. But, with the numbers of protesters so high, and the police and army determined to complete the expulsion, no matter what, I would have expected much higher figures for injuries, since it has been portrayed as a violent, riotous event, a 'near revolution' by the Left.
According to Moshe Zar, owner of the Gilad Farm, who spoke to Arutz Sheva (Oct. 21), "First, to say that people are raising hands against policemen is simply not true; it's a total lie. Saturday night, we were sitting here, about 120 people, boys, girls, and others. Suddenly 200 huge special-unit policemen, each one a gorilla, came and lined up about 80 meters from us. All of a sudden, they started running towards us like a swarm of bees, and started swinging and attacking and punching us horrifically. They didn't begin by asking us to leave, but just started hitting, like animals! There was not one policewoman amongst them [to deal with the girls]. Not one of us hit back; they started hitting us! The Prime Minister and everyone else talking about people who hit policemen are mistaken; none of us hit, except one case I saw where five or six policemen were on top of one kid, kicking and punching him; wouldn't you try to fight back in such a situation?
"[Regarding Wednesday's incident], there were a few youths who threw rocks at cars, and this disturbed me greatly, but the ones who started a real war were the policemen! Not one of the policemen wore an ID tag or their ranks, even the police commander of Ariel! When asked their names, they all said that their name was Shachar Ayalon (the district commander). There is no bigger lie than to order policeman not to give their names!" Per Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), charges of Police Brutality have been filed. Meir Indor of Terror Victims Association relayed that a media photographer said that his instructions were to bring back only photos of settler violence against the police.
"Settlers' violence" does not appear to be the issue at all, not only according to Moshe Zar, but also according to Samaria-Judea District Police Chief Shachar Ayalon. Ayalon told Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shaul Goldstein last week that none of the injuries were caused by the settlers. "He told me loud and clear," Goldstein told Arutz Sheva (Oct. 21), "that none of the [policeman] were hit by settlers. All the policemen that were hit were hit (hurt) because they fell, because of the darkness and they broke their glasses. None of them was hit by settlers..." So, where's all the violence that's supposed to have happened?
The last element of the Left's 'Soviet-style' disinformation program is its attempt to discredit Minister Effi Eitam. In an interview with Israel Radio on Sunday (Oct. 20), Eitam called Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer "a fool and a liar," and sharply criticized him for not accepting responsibility for the army's evacuation efforts, which began Saturday afternoon and violated the Jewish Sabbath. Eitam charged that Ben-Eliezer's decision to evacuate outposts at that time was part of his Labor Party re-election campaign (views echoed by Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau - Arutz Sheva Oct. 22). During that Sunday's cabinet meeting, Eitam took back his statements. In an official apology, Eitam said that he intended to criticize the Sabbath evacuation of Havat Gilad, and not Ben-Eliezer personally.
Yet, the Jerusalem Post reported (Oct. 21), Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said at the end of Sunday's cabinet meeting (based on Eitam's earlier interview with Israel Radio), "Eitam's charges are the kind of wild incitement that was rampant prior to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin." Again using Rabin's death to shut people up.
Similarly, Labor Party Secretary MK Ofir Pines called on State Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein to take immediate action against rabbis, MKs, and cabinet ministers, who incited towards violence during the recent dismantling of Gilad Farm. Pines called for acting "without silk gloves" against Rabbi Melamed, head of the Yesha Rabbinical Council and Minister (NRP) Effi Eitam. "It is unacceptable that they permit themselves to incite towards rebellious actions against the law and democracy," he added.
Yet, in contrast to Pines' disinformation, at Sunday's cabinet meeting (Oct. 20), Eitam emphasized that he was opposed to soldiers refusing to obey orders (to evacuate outposts) on the one hand, and also objected to settlers attacking soldiers during evacuation efforts. "I call on the settlers to refrain from confrontations with IDF soldiers and condemn all violence against soldiers and policemen," he said. I also heard him say this on Sunday evening (in English), on Israel Radio. So, again, where is Eitam's call to incite towards rebellious actions against the law and democracy or the kind of wild incitement that was rampant prior to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, other than in the minds of people who want to obfuscate, to justify their leaving the government.
The Labor party in general and Ben-Eliezer in particular needed a 'smoke screen' to justify pulling out of the government. Ben-Eliezer wanted to show just how 'Left' he really is. It seems obfuscation has become a way of life for the Israeli Left.
--------------------------------------------
Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant.
The Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Rabbinical Council had to 'call for revolt' against the army. The outposts had to be 'illegal'. Settler youth had to be seen as 'violent, wild, and uncontrollable'. And finally, Minister Effi Eitam, leader of the pro-settlement National Religious Party had to be discredited. With primaries coming up in late November, Mitzna and Ramon breathing down his neck, Ben-Eliezer had to shore up his left wing in Labor. Beat up on the settlers, blame them for getting too much from the government budget pie, 'justifiably' walk out on 'principle', and claim support for the poor in Israel. So, Labor voted Wednesday (Oct. 30) against the budget, excusing itself from the government.
It seems another 'Soviet-style' disinformation campaign about the events leading to the expulsion from Havat Gilad has occurred. For example Ha'aretz reported (Oct 21), that Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called Monday for the head of the Yesha Rabbinical Council, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, to stand trial for issuing a religious ruling forbidding settlers and soldiers from evacuating the outpost of Havat Gilad. "I request that we not go back to the atrocious scenes from seven years ago [referring to the murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin]," the Defense Minister said at that Monday's meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, "You, the rabbis, who called upon settlers to refuse to evacuate the outposts, issued similar calls seven years ago which led to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin." Can he really say that with a straight face?
The truth is, as reported on Israelinsider.com (Oct. 15), in a joint statement, signed by Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Rabbi Elyakim Lebanon, Rabbi Dov Lior, and Rabbi Daniel Shilo, the rabbis noted that Defense Ministry orders calling on soldiers to dismantle outposts take them away from security duties. The rabbis' statement said:
?1. Every outpost in Eretz Yisrael (the Biblical boundaries of the Jewish State) was established as part of the commandment to settle the Land, and therefore it is strictly forbidden to evacuate its residents.
?2. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is the People's army, and its mission is to prevent terror and to defeat Israel's enemies.
?3. It is forbidden for any party, including an Israeli government minister, to misuse his standing and order the IDF to dismantle outposts, thereby bringing about a public debate on the issue.?
Arutz Sheva reported (Oct. 21) that Labor MK Tzali Reshef called the recent statements by the Yesha rabbis against the government "incitement to murder, the worst seen since the Rabin assassination" seven years ago. Then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in his comments concerning the Yesha Rabbinical Council also took the liberty to degrade many Torah scholars and spiritual leaders, without any consideration for their position in their respective communities. FM Peres Sunday called the rabbis "sh***y inciters," blaming them for contributing to setting the stage for the Rabin assassination.
The truth is that the rabbis suggested that soldiers ask their commanders to excuse them from evacuating Jews from their homes, saying that it contradicts their beliefs (according to Arutz Sheva, Oct 15). I don't hear incitement to murder or rebellion against the state. I hear a Halachic ruling that advises whoever cares what Rabbinical opinion is on the matter.
Yet the 'Soviet-style' dis-information campaign continued, illegal outpost, illegal encampment, these terms have been used so frequently in the last few weeks and months, that we hardly question them. But is Havat Gilad truly 'illegal'? According to all accounts, Moshe Zar bought the land; it is privately (and legally) owned property, no disputes there. So what is illegal?
According to Aviad Visoli, head of the Headquarters on Behalf of the Land of Israel, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is in contempt of court for dismantling the Gilad Farm without granting a hearing to its residents (Jerusalem Post Oct. 21). Visoli quoted from a decision by Supreme Court Justice Tova Strasberg-Cohen regarding a petition by him that she rejected. Visoli petitioned the High Court on the legality of outpost evacuation in June of this year. Strasberg-Cohen rejected the petition, but in her ruling wrote, "I would assume the government will behave according to the law with regard to everything having to do with the evacuation of outposts, if it decides to evacuate them, and that outposts will not be evacuated without granting their residents the right to a hearing, if there is not a reason that has been clarified that denies them this right." According to Visoli, the government did not grant the residents of the Gilad Farm a hearing before evacuating the outpost. So, who's breaking the law?
Visoli also said that under paragraph 34 (4) of the Jordanian Planning and Building Laws (No. 79), which are in force in Judea and Samaria, the use of land for agricultural purposes is not defined as construction that requires a permit. Private land, no need for permits; so, again I ask, what's illegal?
The Left continues its Bolshevik disinformation drive with accusations of massive violence on the part of 'settlers'. Did you see any violence? I watched most of the news broadcast on IBA TV for the week of Oct. 16-22, and saw the same footage of police and soldiers pushing, pulling, and hitting people. I saw settlers passively resisting, being dragged away. I saw one scene of someone pushing back a policeman after being viciously shoved. I saw a little boy maybe 7-8 years old being shoved by a policeman. I never saw any rock throwing, or other attacks on police or the army. I believe if it was so widespread, they would have filmed it and shown us. In fact, according to Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), a Jerusalem Court has ordered IBA TV to hand over all its films and photos taken at Gilad Farms, to help in the police investigation, on accusations of violent settlers. It seems they're having trouble finding the scenes of violence.
Oh yes, it seems no matter how long they chose to edit the footage, they always showed (former Kach leader) Baruch Marzel being pushed by several policeman, backpedaling, almost tripping, and trying to walk past them again. By focusing on Marzel, I suppose the news was trying to make a parallel, to the 'famous' Kikar Tzion protest in Jerusalem (blamed by the Left for inciting Rabin's murder). Footage from that protest always focuses on the Kach flag, Binyamin Kahane on someone's shoulders dancing and the picture of Rabin in a Nazi uniform (a picture that was distributed by Shabak [General Security Services] agent-provocateur Avishai Raviv). Although long-since discredited as an authentic expression of the 'National Camp', the Left continues to use that footage to obfuscate and incite against half the country.
According to news reports, 2,000 protesters were at Havat Gilad the first Wednesday; over 1,000 were there that Saturday night; as of Sunday (Oct. 20), only 25 policemen, 17 soldiers, and 19 settlers were treated for minor injuries, on the spot. That's for what, cuts? Seven policemen were brought to the hospital with light injuries and released. With what, sprained fingers from pulling too hard when trying to throw people off the roof of the building that they were 'defending' (i.e. passively resisting evacuation)? I saw it on IBA TV. It seems the Left equates 'civil disobedience' with outright revolt. Or, did a policeman sprain his arm when choking someone; as the photo on the front page of the Jerusalem Post (Oct. 21), and in Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), clearly shows. I think its terrible that anyone, citizen or member of the security forces, suffered injury, however minor. But, with the numbers of protesters so high, and the police and army determined to complete the expulsion, no matter what, I would have expected much higher figures for injuries, since it has been portrayed as a violent, riotous event, a 'near revolution' by the Left.
According to Moshe Zar, owner of the Gilad Farm, who spoke to Arutz Sheva (Oct. 21), "First, to say that people are raising hands against policemen is simply not true; it's a total lie. Saturday night, we were sitting here, about 120 people, boys, girls, and others. Suddenly 200 huge special-unit policemen, each one a gorilla, came and lined up about 80 meters from us. All of a sudden, they started running towards us like a swarm of bees, and started swinging and attacking and punching us horrifically. They didn't begin by asking us to leave, but just started hitting, like animals! There was not one policewoman amongst them [to deal with the girls]. Not one of us hit back; they started hitting us! The Prime Minister and everyone else talking about people who hit policemen are mistaken; none of us hit, except one case I saw where five or six policemen were on top of one kid, kicking and punching him; wouldn't you try to fight back in such a situation?
"[Regarding Wednesday's incident], there were a few youths who threw rocks at cars, and this disturbed me greatly, but the ones who started a real war were the policemen! Not one of the policemen wore an ID tag or their ranks, even the police commander of Ariel! When asked their names, they all said that their name was Shachar Ayalon (the district commander). There is no bigger lie than to order policeman not to give their names!" Per Arutz Sheva (Nov. 1), charges of Police Brutality have been filed. Meir Indor of Terror Victims Association relayed that a media photographer said that his instructions were to bring back only photos of settler violence against the police.
"Settlers' violence" does not appear to be the issue at all, not only according to Moshe Zar, but also according to Samaria-Judea District Police Chief Shachar Ayalon. Ayalon told Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shaul Goldstein last week that none of the injuries were caused by the settlers. "He told me loud and clear," Goldstein told Arutz Sheva (Oct. 21), "that none of the [policeman] were hit by settlers. All the policemen that were hit were hit (hurt) because they fell, because of the darkness and they broke their glasses. None of them was hit by settlers..." So, where's all the violence that's supposed to have happened?
The last element of the Left's 'Soviet-style' disinformation program is its attempt to discredit Minister Effi Eitam. In an interview with Israel Radio on Sunday (Oct. 20), Eitam called Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer "a fool and a liar," and sharply criticized him for not accepting responsibility for the army's evacuation efforts, which began Saturday afternoon and violated the Jewish Sabbath. Eitam charged that Ben-Eliezer's decision to evacuate outposts at that time was part of his Labor Party re-election campaign (views echoed by Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau - Arutz Sheva Oct. 22). During that Sunday's cabinet meeting, Eitam took back his statements. In an official apology, Eitam said that he intended to criticize the Sabbath evacuation of Havat Gilad, and not Ben-Eliezer personally.
Yet, the Jerusalem Post reported (Oct. 21), Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said at the end of Sunday's cabinet meeting (based on Eitam's earlier interview with Israel Radio), "Eitam's charges are the kind of wild incitement that was rampant prior to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin." Again using Rabin's death to shut people up.
Similarly, Labor Party Secretary MK Ofir Pines called on State Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein to take immediate action against rabbis, MKs, and cabinet ministers, who incited towards violence during the recent dismantling of Gilad Farm. Pines called for acting "without silk gloves" against Rabbi Melamed, head of the Yesha Rabbinical Council and Minister (NRP) Effi Eitam. "It is unacceptable that they permit themselves to incite towards rebellious actions against the law and democracy," he added.
Yet, in contrast to Pines' disinformation, at Sunday's cabinet meeting (Oct. 20), Eitam emphasized that he was opposed to soldiers refusing to obey orders (to evacuate outposts) on the one hand, and also objected to settlers attacking soldiers during evacuation efforts. "I call on the settlers to refrain from confrontations with IDF soldiers and condemn all violence against soldiers and policemen," he said. I also heard him say this on Sunday evening (in English), on Israel Radio. So, again, where is Eitam's call to incite towards rebellious actions against the law and democracy or the kind of wild incitement that was rampant prior to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, other than in the minds of people who want to obfuscate, to justify their leaving the government.
The Labor party in general and Ben-Eliezer in particular needed a 'smoke screen' to justify pulling out of the government. Ben-Eliezer wanted to show just how 'Left' he really is. It seems obfuscation has become a way of life for the Israeli Left.
--------------------------------------------
Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant.