Prof. Paul Eidelberg
Some of the highest officials in Israel’s government are committed to Israel’s demise as a Jewish state. I have especially in mind Justice Minister Tommy Lapid and Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, both of the anti-religious Shinui Party. Since both men were appointed by Ariel Sharon, one also has to wonder about the prime minister’s sense of Jewish identity. After all, in justifying his choice of Shinui to promote immigration to Israel, Mr. Sharon said: “I see that [a Jew is] whoever comes, sees himself as part of the Jewish people, serves in the army, and fights”
Quite apart from his commitment to a Palestinian state on Jewish soil, Sharon opposes amendment of the “grandfather clause” of the Law of Return, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of Russian gentiles to enter the country. Many wish to establish an autonomous Russian national entity in Israel. Consider a letter of Anatoly Gerasimov, Chairman of the Russian Community in Israel, which seeks worldwide support for that community’s nationalist objectives. (I have corrected the letter’s grammar):
We ask you to devote your attention to the situation of national minorities in the Jewish democratic state of Israel, and to the situation of the Russian national minority in particular. The Russian national minority consists of 50-70 thousand people, which is 1.5 % of the whole population of Israel. Russian citizens of this State who came here together with their Jewish relatives feel discriminated against according to their ethnicity and religious identity. They are prohibited from having their own national community and national schools. They are even denied having their Russian nationality recognized. Only two possible things are offered to them today on the official level—assimilation or conversion to Judaism…. (My emphasis)
It has been estimated that there are some 8 million Russian gentiles who are eligible to immigrate to Israel under the grandfather clause. If Moscow wants to transform Israel into a Russian satellite, the bodies are available!
Russians aside, given Mr. Poraz desire to grant Israeli citizenship to the children of foreign workers, we are on the way to destroying Israel as a Jewish state!
Now, I submit that ever since the State’s rebirth in 1948, the Jewish people have been victims of a colossal fraud. First of all, Israel’s Declaration of Independence called for the establishment of a “Jewish State.” On 16 February 1949, however, Israel's Provisional Government enacted the “Law of Transition” which established Israel as a secular democratic state: secular in that its laws are not based on Jewish law, and democratic since the State endows Jews and non-Jews with political equality. That the Jewish people have since acquiesced in this fraud does not make the present State legitimate, let alone just.
Second, this fraud is compounded by the absurd and intellectually dishonest claim that a secular democratic state is compatible with Judaism. (Spinoza, who rejected the Torah in the name of democracy, would laugh at today’s Jewish apologists.) Is it not obvious that the democratic principle of one adult/one vote will enable Israel’s burgeoning Arab population to transform this so-called Jewish state into an Islamic dictatorship? Indeed, thanks to that principle, Israel’s Arab parties made possible the 1992 Labor Government whose 1993 pact with the PLO at Oslo is dismembering this “Jewish” state.
Third, the Declaration of Independence called for an "Elected Constituent Assembly" to adopt a Constitution. Instead, that Assembly constituted itself as the Knesset, assumed absolute power, and then delegated this power to the Government. This is why Israeli prime ministers have had the audacity to surrender Jewish land to the PLO-Palestinian Authority.
Fourth, the Basic Laws by which the Supreme Court rules this country have never been submitted to a popular referendum! The court itself is a self-appointed oligarchy that scorns the abiding beliefs and values of the Jewish people, almost 80% of which are either orthodox or traditional.
Fifth, this undemocratic state of affairs is perpetuated by Israel’s parliamentary electoral system. Knesset members are not individually accountable to the voters in regional elections. Also, fixed party lists allows those party leaders who gain government ministries to ignore Jewish convictions with impunity.
The people’s tacit consent to this undemocratic State does not cure its illegitimacy, especially today when the Government has failed to protect the Jews of this country against Arab terrorism. This Government, which parades as a democracy, has no legitimate or just foundation. Its release of Arab terrorists makes this obvious.