Q: What two utterances will compel a secular left-wing Israeli to get in touch with his or her "spiritual" side?
A: Yigal Amir.
The secular Left becomes deeply religious - in a dark, subterranean sort of way - upon the very mention of that name. The oracles of the Left were particularly wicked this week, as news of a possible wedding for Amir surfaced.
Meretz Member of Knesset Yossi Sarid proclaimed on Israel Radio, "We need to do everything to make sure this wedding does not take place." The prominent czar of Meretz continued his rantings in the press: "I would be pleased to be invited to his funeral, not his wedding. The curse of the world is on him, his bride and his seed."
Not to be outdone, Meretz MK Ran Cohen declared that the "abominable murder is not worthy of one second of joy."
Labor MK Eitan Cabel spewed out similar wrath: "The State of Israel needs to let Yigal Amir the murderer rot in prison, and never let him marry.... There is no reason in the world for a hated murderer such as Amir to have children."
Labor MK Dalia Itzik declared that a "pool of blood" would be the only appropriate venue for the wedding.
Yes, the enlightened ones seemed ever-so primitive this week. They conjured up images of the Inquisition, with its shadowy priests delivering incantations, curses and torture. I feel a bit silly having to remind those champions of humanity of the following: Ceaseless solitary confinement and virtual castration is not consistent with human rights.
The official canon of the Left decrees that Yigal Amir killed their lord and he should, therefore, be condemned to eternal damnation. A tacit addendum to the doctrine implicates all those who voiced opposition to the Oslo Accords as inciters to murder (for the record, I would like to say that I was at home that night).
Come on! Even the Catholic Church, save for maybe Mel Gibson, has softened-up on that stuff.
For the official news services to connect the wedding story to Dalia Rabin Pelosoff's admission to the hospital with a reported heart condition was a bit - shall we say - unscrupulous.
Yigal Amir does not have an exclusive on delivering heartache to this country. He gets to share the honor with the architects of the Oslo Accords.
If, over the past decade in Israel, one has been admitted to the hospital with panic attacks, heart palpitations and other stress related symptoms, then they can consider themselves one of the lucky ones - as they got off easy. Does anyone happen to have the figures on the amount of Valium, anti-depressants, anti- spasmodics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and blood-pressure medication that's been prescribed over the last several years in Israel? I hear TEVA's stock is up.
An accurate description and recap of events is called for, because a little honesty may help relieve the collective knots in our stomach and ache in our heart.
I hate to interrupt the Left's feeding frenzy with facts, but chew on this for a while:
In the fall of 1995, elections were fast-approaching and Yizchak Rabin was lagging behind in the polls. Terror was on the increase and the public was out on the streets screaming bloody murder. It was a given that Oslo was already a dismal failure. The left-wing coalition, along with Peace Now, initiated frantic damage control measures. They enlisted the help of the ever-ready media and Shabak (the General Security Service) to help stem the tide.
For lack of a better term, I have to say that things took a very "weird" turn. An enormous "peace" concert featuring Israel's most popular idols and icons was planned as a sort of last-ditch effort to save the process. Israel's most cunning prophets of peace were summoned and assembled to speak, sing and offer hope.
And then shots rang out and the party was over.
Darkness descended upon the already greying landscape, followed by curses, erroneous accusations, false arrests and candle children. There was utter confusion and the ensuing investigation took on the flavor of an hysterical witch-hunt. But in the end, Yigal Amir was convicted in an Israeli court of law and sentenced to life in prison.
In spite of the intrigue surrounding the case, conspiracy theories and lingering suspicions, there is no doubt that Amir pulled a trigger. But there are unanswered questions, and Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff and her mother, the late Leah Rabin, would be the first to tell you that. There was negligence and scheming on the part of the security services, media, public and government. The case is likely to keep resurfacing and we will continue to be plagued by unanswered questions, because justice has not been fully served and treason is in the air.
Those who believe the country's current woes began with an assassin's bullet are a little late in the game. The crime even predates Oslo, the handshake on the White House lawn and Madrid. It may have begun at Sinai. Whether we turned our backs on commitments made at biblical, spiritual, territorial or strategic Sinai makes no difference, as it's all the same. Regardless of one's personal world view and politics, we're all part of the same people living a page in the ongoing epic narrative of the Jewish People.
It's time the Left crawled out of their subterranean space, where only tunnel vision is possible, and saw the light. It's time we all took a panoramic view of our history and remembered who we are, where we are, and reviewed our obligations and commitments as part of the Jewish People.
The Left need not be concerned about inappropriate celebrations. From what I understand, living in a cell under 24 hour-a-day surveillance is not conducive to marital bliss. Allowing minimal simcha for a man condemned to a life in prison for a crime that, in some grand existential way, every member of the Jewish nation played either an active or passive part in, may help put things in perspective for all of us.
Knowing that Yigal Amir will step on the glass while standing under a wedding canopy within prison walls is, in a "weird" sort of way, almost cathartic.
A: Yigal Amir.
The secular Left becomes deeply religious - in a dark, subterranean sort of way - upon the very mention of that name. The oracles of the Left were particularly wicked this week, as news of a possible wedding for Amir surfaced.
Meretz Member of Knesset Yossi Sarid proclaimed on Israel Radio, "We need to do everything to make sure this wedding does not take place." The prominent czar of Meretz continued his rantings in the press: "I would be pleased to be invited to his funeral, not his wedding. The curse of the world is on him, his bride and his seed."
Not to be outdone, Meretz MK Ran Cohen declared that the "abominable murder is not worthy of one second of joy."
Labor MK Eitan Cabel spewed out similar wrath: "The State of Israel needs to let Yigal Amir the murderer rot in prison, and never let him marry.... There is no reason in the world for a hated murderer such as Amir to have children."
Labor MK Dalia Itzik declared that a "pool of blood" would be the only appropriate venue for the wedding.
Yes, the enlightened ones seemed ever-so primitive this week. They conjured up images of the Inquisition, with its shadowy priests delivering incantations, curses and torture. I feel a bit silly having to remind those champions of humanity of the following: Ceaseless solitary confinement and virtual castration is not consistent with human rights.
The official canon of the Left decrees that Yigal Amir killed their lord and he should, therefore, be condemned to eternal damnation. A tacit addendum to the doctrine implicates all those who voiced opposition to the Oslo Accords as inciters to murder (for the record, I would like to say that I was at home that night).
Come on! Even the Catholic Church, save for maybe Mel Gibson, has softened-up on that stuff.
For the official news services to connect the wedding story to Dalia Rabin Pelosoff's admission to the hospital with a reported heart condition was a bit - shall we say - unscrupulous.
Yigal Amir does not have an exclusive on delivering heartache to this country. He gets to share the honor with the architects of the Oslo Accords.
If, over the past decade in Israel, one has been admitted to the hospital with panic attacks, heart palpitations and other stress related symptoms, then they can consider themselves one of the lucky ones - as they got off easy. Does anyone happen to have the figures on the amount of Valium, anti-depressants, anti- spasmodics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and blood-pressure medication that's been prescribed over the last several years in Israel? I hear TEVA's stock is up.
An accurate description and recap of events is called for, because a little honesty may help relieve the collective knots in our stomach and ache in our heart.
I hate to interrupt the Left's feeding frenzy with facts, but chew on this for a while:
In the fall of 1995, elections were fast-approaching and Yizchak Rabin was lagging behind in the polls. Terror was on the increase and the public was out on the streets screaming bloody murder. It was a given that Oslo was already a dismal failure. The left-wing coalition, along with Peace Now, initiated frantic damage control measures. They enlisted the help of the ever-ready media and Shabak (the General Security Service) to help stem the tide.
For lack of a better term, I have to say that things took a very "weird" turn. An enormous "peace" concert featuring Israel's most popular idols and icons was planned as a sort of last-ditch effort to save the process. Israel's most cunning prophets of peace were summoned and assembled to speak, sing and offer hope.
And then shots rang out and the party was over.
Darkness descended upon the already greying landscape, followed by curses, erroneous accusations, false arrests and candle children. There was utter confusion and the ensuing investigation took on the flavor of an hysterical witch-hunt. But in the end, Yigal Amir was convicted in an Israeli court of law and sentenced to life in prison.
In spite of the intrigue surrounding the case, conspiracy theories and lingering suspicions, there is no doubt that Amir pulled a trigger. But there are unanswered questions, and Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff and her mother, the late Leah Rabin, would be the first to tell you that. There was negligence and scheming on the part of the security services, media, public and government. The case is likely to keep resurfacing and we will continue to be plagued by unanswered questions, because justice has not been fully served and treason is in the air.
Those who believe the country's current woes began with an assassin's bullet are a little late in the game. The crime even predates Oslo, the handshake on the White House lawn and Madrid. It may have begun at Sinai. Whether we turned our backs on commitments made at biblical, spiritual, territorial or strategic Sinai makes no difference, as it's all the same. Regardless of one's personal world view and politics, we're all part of the same people living a page in the ongoing epic narrative of the Jewish People.
It's time the Left crawled out of their subterranean space, where only tunnel vision is possible, and saw the light. It's time we all took a panoramic view of our history and remembered who we are, where we are, and reviewed our obligations and commitments as part of the Jewish People.
The Left need not be concerned about inappropriate celebrations. From what I understand, living in a cell under 24 hour-a-day surveillance is not conducive to marital bliss. Allowing minimal simcha for a man condemned to a life in prison for a crime that, in some grand existential way, every member of the Jewish nation played either an active or passive part in, may help put things in perspective for all of us.
Knowing that Yigal Amir will step on the glass while standing under a wedding canopy within prison walls is, in a "weird" sort of way, almost cathartic.