The classic debate between truth and rhetoric, between Socrates and Gorgias in Athens, was recorded in Plato's "Gorgias". Gorgias was a sophist and rhetorician, spreading moral relativism and denying the existence of objective truth. The sophists were actually known for teaching their students to argue both sides of an issue. In the absence of any kind of truth, all the rhetorician needed to do was to be able to make his own position as strong as possible against the opposing positions of others. This included using articulate rhetoric, void of any truth.
Rhetoric imparts no real knowledge, but only opinions. The rhetorician may be more persuasive than one who speaks truth, but he does not necessarily possess true knowledge about that which he is speaking. Rhetoric can provide entertainment and can please an audience, but in the end, it distracts them from arriving at true conclusions.
The Israeli political scene is filled with its share of illogical rhetoric, ridiculous allegations, and lies, lies and more lies. Despite the overall filthiness, I do believe there are a small minority of Knesset candidates who can be proud of their records of integrity and moral legislative achievements. So, why is Kadima polling in at around 40 seats? Why is the average Israeli voter not punishing those who are corrupt?
This is because average Israeli voters define themselves more by indefinable rhetoric than by actual substance. The average self-declared "centrist" will vote for the party that calls itself a "centrist party", more or less regardless of the actual policies that the party espouses (if any). In this election campaign so far, most parties have spent more time on defining themselves as somewhere on the vague, indefinable political spectrum, than actually talking about the issues. Why? Because why spend the time talking about the actual issues, when you can just repeat a catchy slogan over and over?
This ridiculous rhetoric game actually got to the point that Binyamin Netanyahu was branded a "right-wing extremist" by the Silvan Shalom camp during the Likud primaries, despite the fact that he has actually adopted a more "leftist" stance on the issues. Just the fact that "extreme right-wing" was all Shalom needed to brand Netanyahu, in order to de-legitimize him, shows just how strong illogical rhetoric is here in Israel.
So, why has "right-wing" become such a dirty word in Israel? Why has rhetoric become so strong and influential, when it lacks the logic and substance to back it up?
It is because the Right is letting others define who they are. They are not portraying themselves as the people they really are: Zionist, patriotic, strong, idealistic, sane, rational people, who want to live in a calm and peaceful Israel, by way of destroying terrorist enemies and increasing Jewish settlement within our full borders.
In the left-wing, government-run press, right-wingers are portrayed as violent, racist, militant psychopaths. There is absolutely no legitimate dissent in Israel. But not only does the press defame the image of the right-wing, it also spreads stupefying rhetoric. Lately, the "rule of law" has been brought up a lot in various interviews with political commentators, police chiefs and politicians. It irks me to no end how misused this term is.
Moshe Karadi, the current chief of the Israeli police, said in an interview on the Yair Lapid television show, "The police [in Amona] were going there to uphold the rule of law, because of the violent resisters that were there against the rule of law, and responded with the same levels of violence used against them."
This should have set off a very big, red warning light. The rule of law dictates that everyone is to be held accountable under the same law. Police officers are not allowed to respond to violence with the same level of violence. True, rocks were thrown at them and their lives may have been put in jeopardy, but that means that they had to arrest the people doing so and put them on trial [granted, it would have been far from a fair trial]. That did not give the police the right to mercilessly beat up protestors who already surrendered. But Karadi chose to turn a blind eye to this, and joined the rest of the country in blaming the right-wing for the violence, citing the "rule of law" as the excuse for police brutality.
I can go on and on with more examples of the illogical and untrue rhetoric spread throughout Israel, but one needs to just look out the window and read the election posters for almost any of the parties. It is time for the Right to rise above this idiocy, and focus their campaign efforts on substance. It is time to stop letting the left-wing establishment define us, and denounce all legitimate dissent as "extremism" or "fanaticism".
We on the Right stand for very rational, sane and safe ideas. The Right needs to hone their tactical skills and learn discipline, how to stay focused and consistently on message. Additionally, the Right absolutely needs to find a way to unite, perhaps under a declaration of principles that all parties would be obliged to, while still being able to advance their own narrow interests. This declaration of principles would include never advocating (including by sitting in a government coalition) withdrawal from any part of the Land of Israel, protecting Israel's Jewish identity and advocating drastic electoral reform.
It is also time for us to stop viewing the Left as the champions of democracy and human rights. We all know full well that a rooftop full of Arabs getting their skulls smashed in by the Israeli police would have incurred United Nations involvement and international criticism. But a rooftop full of Jews? Silence. We hear nothing from the ones who tirelessly call themselves "human rights activists".
It is we on the Right who respect human rights and human dignity. We are the ones who would never throw our brethren out of their homes like pieces of garbage, and then hand the homes over to the very terrorists trying to kill them. We are the ones categorically rejecting the notion of negotiation with Hamas. This should be clear to anyone who hasn't had their head in the ground for the last five years. When Hamas murders hundreds of men, women and children in cold blood, injures and maims thousands more, how could anyone call for anything short of their total and utter destruction? Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni's conditions for negotiating with Hamas, which include disarming, renouncing terror and recognizing the state of Israel, are void of any morality or sense. Suddenly, mass murderers are able to absolve themselves by simply saying, "Sorry, we won't do it again"? This is our moral leadership?
By declaring a real war on terrorism, and actually killing terrorists, we are ensuring the safe future of our country. We all dream of living in a terror-free Israel. However, this absolutely cannot happen if we keep terrorists alive, let alone justify negotiating with them.
There must be an end to this left-wing rhetoric poisoning the minds of Israelis. Hamas must be destroyed, as should the Palestinian Authority and any other genocidal terrorist gangs. Any policy of even keeping them alive is morally corrupt and has no place in the policy direction of our country. I surely hope that on Election Day, Israelis will vote for those who advocate the total obliteration of the PA and all other terrorist groups, and who have shown they would never sell out on their ideals for cushy ministry jobs. We all deserve this, because it's time for a rational change.
Rhetoric imparts no real knowledge, but only opinions. The rhetorician may be more persuasive than one who speaks truth, but he does not necessarily possess true knowledge about that which he is speaking. Rhetoric can provide entertainment and can please an audience, but in the end, it distracts them from arriving at true conclusions.
The Israeli political scene is filled with its share of illogical rhetoric, ridiculous allegations, and lies, lies and more lies. Despite the overall filthiness, I do believe there are a small minority of Knesset candidates who can be proud of their records of integrity and moral legislative achievements. So, why is Kadima polling in at around 40 seats? Why is the average Israeli voter not punishing those who are corrupt?
This is because average Israeli voters define themselves more by indefinable rhetoric than by actual substance. The average self-declared "centrist" will vote for the party that calls itself a "centrist party", more or less regardless of the actual policies that the party espouses (if any). In this election campaign so far, most parties have spent more time on defining themselves as somewhere on the vague, indefinable political spectrum, than actually talking about the issues. Why? Because why spend the time talking about the actual issues, when you can just repeat a catchy slogan over and over?
This ridiculous rhetoric game actually got to the point that Binyamin Netanyahu was branded a "right-wing extremist" by the Silvan Shalom camp during the Likud primaries, despite the fact that he has actually adopted a more "leftist" stance on the issues. Just the fact that "extreme right-wing" was all Shalom needed to brand Netanyahu, in order to de-legitimize him, shows just how strong illogical rhetoric is here in Israel.
So, why has "right-wing" become such a dirty word in Israel? Why has rhetoric become so strong and influential, when it lacks the logic and substance to back it up?
It is because the Right is letting others define who they are. They are not portraying themselves as the people they really are: Zionist, patriotic, strong, idealistic, sane, rational people, who want to live in a calm and peaceful Israel, by way of destroying terrorist enemies and increasing Jewish settlement within our full borders.
In the left-wing, government-run press, right-wingers are portrayed as violent, racist, militant psychopaths. There is absolutely no legitimate dissent in Israel. But not only does the press defame the image of the right-wing, it also spreads stupefying rhetoric. Lately, the "rule of law" has been brought up a lot in various interviews with political commentators, police chiefs and politicians. It irks me to no end how misused this term is.
Moshe Karadi, the current chief of the Israeli police, said in an interview on the Yair Lapid television show, "The police [in Amona] were going there to uphold the rule of law, because of the violent resisters that were there against the rule of law, and responded with the same levels of violence used against them."
This should have set off a very big, red warning light. The rule of law dictates that everyone is to be held accountable under the same law. Police officers are not allowed to respond to violence with the same level of violence. True, rocks were thrown at them and their lives may have been put in jeopardy, but that means that they had to arrest the people doing so and put them on trial [granted, it would have been far from a fair trial]. That did not give the police the right to mercilessly beat up protestors who already surrendered. But Karadi chose to turn a blind eye to this, and joined the rest of the country in blaming the right-wing for the violence, citing the "rule of law" as the excuse for police brutality.
I can go on and on with more examples of the illogical and untrue rhetoric spread throughout Israel, but one needs to just look out the window and read the election posters for almost any of the parties. It is time for the Right to rise above this idiocy, and focus their campaign efforts on substance. It is time to stop letting the left-wing establishment define us, and denounce all legitimate dissent as "extremism" or "fanaticism".
We on the Right stand for very rational, sane and safe ideas. The Right needs to hone their tactical skills and learn discipline, how to stay focused and consistently on message. Additionally, the Right absolutely needs to find a way to unite, perhaps under a declaration of principles that all parties would be obliged to, while still being able to advance their own narrow interests. This declaration of principles would include never advocating (including by sitting in a government coalition) withdrawal from any part of the Land of Israel, protecting Israel's Jewish identity and advocating drastic electoral reform.
It is also time for us to stop viewing the Left as the champions of democracy and human rights. We all know full well that a rooftop full of Arabs getting their skulls smashed in by the Israeli police would have incurred United Nations involvement and international criticism. But a rooftop full of Jews? Silence. We hear nothing from the ones who tirelessly call themselves "human rights activists".
It is we on the Right who respect human rights and human dignity. We are the ones who would never throw our brethren out of their homes like pieces of garbage, and then hand the homes over to the very terrorists trying to kill them. We are the ones categorically rejecting the notion of negotiation with Hamas. This should be clear to anyone who hasn't had their head in the ground for the last five years. When Hamas murders hundreds of men, women and children in cold blood, injures and maims thousands more, how could anyone call for anything short of their total and utter destruction? Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni's conditions for negotiating with Hamas, which include disarming, renouncing terror and recognizing the state of Israel, are void of any morality or sense. Suddenly, mass murderers are able to absolve themselves by simply saying, "Sorry, we won't do it again"? This is our moral leadership?
By declaring a real war on terrorism, and actually killing terrorists, we are ensuring the safe future of our country. We all dream of living in a terror-free Israel. However, this absolutely cannot happen if we keep terrorists alive, let alone justify negotiating with them.
There must be an end to this left-wing rhetoric poisoning the minds of Israelis. Hamas must be destroyed, as should the Palestinian Authority and any other genocidal terrorist gangs. Any policy of even keeping them alive is morally corrupt and has no place in the policy direction of our country. I surely hope that on Election Day, Israelis will vote for those who advocate the total obliteration of the PA and all other terrorist groups, and who have shown they would never sell out on their ideals for cushy ministry jobs. We all deserve this, because it's time for a rational change.