Opinionated Pronouncements

At the best of times, Israel is the target of unsolicited verbiage from all and sundry.

These days it seems that the urge to do so has become an unrestrained phenomenon. So-called friends and declared foes alike find common cause in demanding that Israel acquiesces to their knee-jerk neurosis on every aspect of what happens here.

Every unelected “macher” living in exile feels compelled to contribute their one cent’s worth. Rejected and frustrated local politicians, as well as post-Zionist pundits, are in full cry. Funding for demonstrations is flowing in from the usual anti-Israel NGOs, foreign and domestic.

The late Albert Einstein’s quote is very applicable to today’s cacophony of discordant pronouncements.

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

How many of the current mayhem mavens actually understand the rationale behind the intended reforms being promoted? At the same time, how many of those bulldozing these reforms through the Knesset actually understand the full implications of their actions?

The recycling of convicted politicians, instead of banishing them to the political wilderness forever, is blatant enough to make citizens recoil in disgust.

How many critics of Israel’s war on terror really understand that in a war situation where one side is so brainwashed that jihad remains the only path there can be only one outcome?

How many Jews living in countries where Jewish continuity is doomed to understand that time is fast running out?

A brief look at what has been pontificated recently should suffice to demonstrate some of the challenges we face. They range over a wide spectrum of causes attracting expressions of support or revulsion from every conceivable imaginable quarter.

The Director of the CIA claimed that “Iran had not yet decided to resume its nuclear weapons programme”.

A US Defence Official declared not long thereafter that “Iran may produce fissile material for a bomb in about twelve days.”

Given Iran’s clearly stated intentions over a long period of time to eliminate the “Zionist cancer”, when exactly will the CIA and the US Government actually wake up to the reality that it has actually occurred? Declarations by the US Defence Secretary that diplomacy is the best way to avert the looming disaster ring hollow when faced with diplomacy’s complete failure to prevent North Korea from doing what Iran is now working towards. Every time North Korea fires off more missiles with nuclear capabilities and suffers no consequences the Iranians take note. Meanwhile, Russia and China facilitate the Mullah regime’s rush to the bomb and the means to deliver it.

In a script taken directly out of the Chamberlain plan to appease genocidal maniacs and human rights abusers, the UN and in particular the EU, by their inaction and coddling of brazen bullies guarantee dire consequences.

Intriguingly, amidst the cacophony of condemnations hurtling our way, there is also a stunning silence when certain circumstances prevail. When Jordan and the Arab Party which was part of the last left coalition accuse Israel of “looking to spark a religious war over the Temple Mount” and assert that the site is “exclusively Islamic” a strange silence descends. None of the groups, politicians and academics currently convulsed by moral outrage can be heard or seen.

Why should that be?

The spectacle of otherwise sane and sensible individuals spouting nonsensical rubbish never ceases to amaze.

The former Chief Rabbi of Moscow, who had to leave Russia in a hurry because of his opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, recently asserted that “once there is regime change in Russia, Jews will return and thrive there again.” This piece of historical fantasy is hard to beat. At what stage have the Jews of Russia ever thrived? When did they live free from persecution and were free to practice their faith? Can anyone actually think that when President Putin eventually departs the scene his successors will be guardian angels of democracy and that the remaining Jews will not be blamed for all the prevailing ills?

History should teach us otherwise.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, where three candidates are vying for the position of First Minister the diminishing Jewish community needs to be wary. One of the leading aspirants is Hamza Yousaf, and according to a report in the UK Jewish Chronicle, he has a rather spotty record when it comes to Israel. He wants to recognise Palestine as an independent State, impose an arms embargo on Israel and has claimed that Gaza is a place where people are starving and dying a slow death. All this is Israel’s fault, of course.

Prince Harry, now in glorious exile in California, is also one of the latest additions to the pontificating parade. As also reported in the JC, he plans to hold an “intimate” public conversation with an ultra-left trauma expert who has compared Hamas terrorists to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. For good measure, this expert described Israel as the longest ethnic cleansing operation in the 20th and 21st centuries and called it a “colonial and cruel Zionist State.” Apparently being a child Holocaust survivor somehow gives him credibility to trash Israel and appear with the resigned ex-royal.

The South African Parliament has voted to downgrade ties with Israel. Apparently, the Embassies in both countries will be reduced to “liaison offices.” This manic move by South African Parliamentarians elicited a hearty endorsement from the PA, Hamas and fellow terror travellers. It is one more indication of the perilous future faced by Jews in that country. The problem, unfortunately, is that the warning signs are being ignored and as so often in the past, when the crunch inevitably arrives, it will be too late.

As I write these lines it has been announced that the European Parliament is meeting in a special session in order to debate “the deterioration of democracy in Israel and consequences on the occupied territories.”

Isn’t this priceless?

The European Parliament has nothing better to do than interfere in Israel’s domestic affairs again. No doubt, the self-righteous parliamentarians of the EU have no other problems to debate. Their obsessive and continuing involvement in how Israel behaves makes them absolutely toxic in the eyes of most sane Israelis. Perhaps the sight of Israelis who have embraced the delights of the Fatherland demonstrating on German streets against their former homeland elicits an urge to join in. The EU Foreign Policy Head describes it as a “tough love” exercise.

Well, we should all know by now what European “tough love” towards Jews really means.

Last Friday’s edition of the Jerusalem Post contained a headline that is brilliant, at least for any reader who has a sense of history.

It reads as follows: NETANYAHU FLIES TO ITALY AND WANTS ROME TO DECLARE JERUSALEM, ISRAEL’S CAPITAL.

Who in their wildest dreams could ever have imagined that after the Romans destroyed the Temple, razed Jerusalem and exiled the Jews in the year 70 CE that such a headline would be a possibility?

I can just imagine John Cleese in the Life of Brian shouting: What have the Romans ever done for us?

Perhaps the time has finally arrived when the successors to the Romans of old might be able to rectify a historic crime.

That would be an overdue opinionated pronouncement we could all welcome.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.