What’s Right on the Left?
May 31, 2024 – כ״ג אִיָיר תשפ”ד
וְנָתַתִּ֤י שָׁלוֹם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּשְׁכַבְתֶּ֖ם וְאֵ֣ין מַחֲרִ֑יד וְהִשְׁבַּתִּ֞י חַיָּ֤ה רָעָה֙ מִן־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְחֶ֖רֶב לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֥ר בְּאַרְצְכֶֽם׃
I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down untroubled by anyone; I will give the land respite from vicious beasts, and no sword shall cross your land.
וּרְדַפְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־אֹיְבֵיכֶ֑ם וְנָפְל֥וּ לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם לֶחָֽרֶב׃
[Your army] shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. (Leviticus 26:6-7)
“We are now fighting a second War of Independence.” Ret. Gen. Yair Golan texted me yesterday: “But this time it is not over territory and not being fought by soldiers. Rather, this is a war over the soul of the State.” Golan just won a sweeping victory as the new head of the Labor party in Israel with the hopes of uniting the Zionist Left and growing its political influence.
The failure of the Oslo Peace Process of the 1990s is widely regarded as the downfall of the Israeli Left. It resulted in a collapse of the negotiation process and a spiral into violence from which the Israeli Left has not yet recovered. Similarly, the failure to prevent the massacre on October 7th and continual governmental incompetence since should be regarded as the demise of Israel’s “full-right” coalition. Those who speak about strength, power, and the necessity to vanquish Israel’s enemies have not been able to do so. Instead, they have fanned the flames of extremism, ultra-nationalism, and the mainstreaming of previously disregarded marginal views and ideologies.
In many spaces in Israeli society, the term “leftist” has come to be synonymous with “traitor” and “weakling.” It is used to discredit anyone who takes issue with the decisions of Netanyahu’s extremist, militant, and hostile coalition.
This week, Channel 14 (a right-wing pro-Netanyahu news network) published an abhorrent and terribly flawed poll. It showed that more “left-wing” Jews were murdered on October 7, asserting that “being left-wing increased the likelihood of being killed on October 7.”
This was both horrifying and insensitive, as the hostage family forum reacted by “expressing shock at the report.” They issued a statement in which they called the report “manipulative, divisive, false, and bloodletting … The attempt to present the citizens of Israel who were massacred, murdered, and kidnapped in the October disaster as based on political affiliation is a wrongful act that harms the foundation of our national resilience, the families of the murdered and the fallen, and national solidarity vis-à-vis the hostages.”
In the last general election, the left-wing parties shrunk considerably, with the Meretz party failing to cross the election threshold (for the first time since 1992) and now absent from the Knesset thereby shrinking the Zionist left bloc considerably.
As we all know, a crisis can become a fresh breeding ground for opportunity.
Could this be the moment for the Zionist Left to rebuild and mobilize all those who are deeply alarmed by the current situation of illiberalism growing throughout Israeli society?
Could this be the moment for those who are alarmed by the risky rhetoric and dubious decisions of the current ruling government coalition, by the lack of a ‘day-after’ plan, and this government’s refusal to acknowledge that a Palestinian state will ever come into existence?
Could this be a moment for all those who protested and fought to preserve Israel’s democracy in the many months before the October 7 massacre, and who are relentless in advocating tirelessly for a deal with Hamas to redeem the captives?
Could this be the moment to unite together under a pro-democracy, liberal, pluralistic, and Zionist Party coalition?
This could be that moment as Ret. General Yair Golan becomes the next head of the Labor Party. Golan is probably the most apt leader at this moment. A former head of the central division presiding over Judea and Samaria (i.e. West Bank), and then serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Golan has argued for a humane policy towards the Palestinians and knows well that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Golan served for a stint as a Meretz MK and a deputy minister, but since Meretz’s failure to enter the Knesset, he has been briefly out of politics.
Golan raised many an eyebrow in May of 2016, when, as Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF he shared his personal feelings in a highly controversial speech on Holocaust Memorial Day:
“On Holocaust Memorial Day, it is appropriate to discuss our own ability to uproot from our midst signs of intolerance, signs of violence, and self-destruction on the path toward moral deterioration. In fact, Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for introspection. If Yom Kippur is a day of private reckoning, then is it proper and even necessary for Holocaust Memorial Day to be a day for national soul-searching. And in this national soul-searching we must include some unsettling phenomena.”
On Shabbat morning, October 7, Yair Golan was at home when he, like most Israelis, began to realize the reality of the situation in the south. He quickly grabbed his fatigues and showed up at the home front command, got a gun and some equipment, and set out in his private jeep to the south. There (along with other retired generals), he took on Hamas terrorists and saved many lives on the grounds of the Nova festival, including the son of Haaretz journalist Nir Guntarz who publicly pleaded for someone to save his son.
In the weeks after October 7, a poll of the Israeli electorate was taken and Yair Golan would have earned 14 Knesset mandates if he led a party. Such was the gratitude of so many in Israel for a man who took the risks necessary to save lives.
Yair Golan reminded the Israeli public that he is a true hero and that Left-wing leaders show up when it counts. Together with MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv and MK Naama Lazimi, there is newly restored hope for the future in Israeli politics of the Zionist Left. MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv (our former Israeli Reform movement leader) said, “Today, members of the Labor Party voted unanimously for Yair Golan, for unity of forces in the Zionist left, and for a path of hope. This is a first step in a long journey towards the repair and rehabilitation of Israel and its society.”
None of this means that elections necessarily will come soon, nor that the power and influence of the right wing will be subdued, but Yair Golan’s election is a positive sign that it is possible to restore politically the soul of Israel to what the state’s founders envisioned 76 years ago when the state was established.
The Zionist left knows two truths succinctly articulated in this week’s Parasha:
- There is no question that: “[Your army] shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.”(Leviticus 26:7). We have no choice but to be strong and to defend ourselves, and that includes vanquishing our enemies.
- Our ultimate goal should be not just victory but peace: “I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down untroubled by anyone; … and no sword shall cross your land.” (Leviticus 26:6).
While we cannot predict the future and we can’t know whether the current cabinet tumult will topple the government and bring about new elections, we can hope that those in favor of democracy, pluralism, and equality will unite for the sake of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom.