Redefining the right-left divide (Haaretz)

From Haaretz (2 March 2007):

How can one criticize MK Esterina Tartman, who was hoping to be appointed minister of tourism, for her extremist views? After all, Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of her party Yisrael Beitenu and the minister for strategic threats, is already notorious for questioning the loyalty and determining conditions for citizenship of the non-Jewish citizens of Israel.

Yet Tartman - even without considering her involvement in recent scandals - succeeds in raising the bar of radicalism even higher. Her remarks concerning now-minister Raleb Majadele (Labor), to the effect that appointing an Arab minister amounts to "assimilation" and is a "lethal blow to Zionism," made even Lieberman look like a symbol of political correctness.

Lieberman and Tartman cultivate a purist ideology, which encourages making Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible, not as large as possible, and increasing the percentage of Jews among the overall Israeli population, even if this results in loss of territory. Unlike the "traditional" extreme right-wing parties in Israel, most notably the National Union, that attempt to push the border as far to the east of the Green Line as possible, Yisrael Beitenu in some cases promotes instead the drawing of the borderline west of the '67 border as part of its effort to denaturalize Arab Israelis. While Yisrael Beitenu's hawkish sentiments make it still reject territorial compromises with the Palestinians, this opposition is not its raison d'etre, as it recognizes, if only half-heartedly, what most Israelis have already acknowledged: that a two-state solution is essential for maintaining a Jewish majority in a democratic Jewish state. Moreover, the focus on demographic purity rather than land size enables Yisrael Beitenu to collaborate effectively in a government that does not disapprove peace negotiations, yet is not actively seeking them.

The ideology of Yisrael Beitenu is not innovative and its electoral success is hardly surprising; rather these elements correspond well with the emergence of xenophobic right-wing parties that have gained public support and visibility in almost every European country, and which regard ethnic minorities as threats to the dominant majority. This actually indicates how normal Israel has become: We too have our own European-like extreme right-wing party. But if Israel loses its claim to moral superiority, it loses its claim to protest when extremists gain victory in other countries.

Should Jean-Marie Le Pen make it again in April to the second round of the presidential election in France, Israeli leaders will face difficulties in expressing their concern over the rise of the xenophobic right in Europe. If right-wing extremists are called to form coalitions in a European country, how can Israel summon its ambassador to Jerusalem in protest, as it did when J?rg Haider's Freedom Party joined the coalition in Austria in 2000?

The rise of a European-like extreme right-wing in Israel becomes a political burden for Jewish leaders in America and Europe, too. It might even compromise their ability to represent Jewish interests. What will David Harris, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee, do when the new tourism minister makes her first official visit to America to promote Israeli tourist interests? If he and his colleagues meet with her, how can they decline meeting any senior right-wing extremists from Europe?

Israel is yet to develop European-like consensus politics to confront the rise of our extremists. In the French example, when Jean-Marie Le Pen made it to the second round in 2002, the left in France stood by the rightist candidate Jacque Chirac to prove that besides the legitimate right-wing, there is extremism whose claim to power should not be tolerated. Nobody waited for Le Pen to show whether his political platform was mere lip service to charm his electorate or whether he was serious in executing it. His views were enough to push him out of the consensus.

In recent years the concept of Greater Israel has lost its appeal, since almost all key political players now accept the principle of a two-state solution and the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state. Consequently, the traditional left-right divide in Israel has considerably blurred, and Kadima emerged as a strange mixture of former politicians from the Labor and the Likud parties.

With the new right in Israel now after the Purest Israel rather than the Greater Israel, we need to make a new distinction between the country's left and right: a left that encourages the integration of the non-Jewish population in the life of Israel, with its Jewish majority; and a right that looks for ways to limit non-Jewish participation in society and politics. Moreover, Yisrael Beitenu makes it clear that the importance of the leftist Zionist parties may lie in convincing the public that Zionist and Jewish values exclude purity and racism, and favor a political integration of the country's minorities.

Yoav Sivan is the LGBT coordinator of Young Meretz and the International Union of Socialist Youth (www.yoavsivan.org).