How Long Will Israel Last

How long? Not long. I used to think one of its neighboring states would get enough of Israel’s bullying and invade with force significant to cause a down-fall. I no longer think that will happen, for two reasons.

One – any criticism, charge or attack on Israel brings the mighty America into play. The U.S. has demonstrated total and blind support for Israel for 70 years and there are no signs among our political leaders that any change is forthcoming.

But, there is a more logical reason that no power is going to invade Israel. It will be unnecessary. Israel is crumbling from inside in ways that even the U.S. cannot control.  There are at least eight factions grappling for power.[1]

Ashkenazi elites, mostly from Europe are on top, at least right now. Their power stems from the fact that they control the military. Israel has fought more than a dozen wars with its neighbors since 1948.  Most would not call the 2014 bombardment of  the mostly unarmed people of Gaza a “war.” It was more like a massacre.

As victories go, this was a dubious one. More than 2,100 Palestinians had been killed during seven weeks of fighting, and even Israeli officials admitted that a majority of them were civilians. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed, 25 per cent of the strip’s population was displaced, and basic infrastructure was shattered. Aid agencies estimated that it will take decades to repair the damage.[2]

Ashkenazis definitely oppose establishing a constitution which might impose limits on its power or insist on equal treatment for all.

Drueze, accounting for about 2% of Israel’s population,   are a unique religious and ethnic group incorporating elements of Islam, Hinduism and Greek philosophy. They fight in the Israeli army with respect and distinction.  But complain that as soon as they take off the uniform, they are treated as second class citizens again. And this was before Israel declared its democracy is for “Jews only.”

Settlers struggle with a different set of feelings. In spite of the Fourth Geneva Convention’s ban on moving civilians into occupied territories they live in the middle of another people’s home lands. Thus, they constantly assert their “right” to be there precisely because they know no such right exist. They cope with this feeling of guilt which hangs on just below the surface by constantly treating Palestinians as a sub-human race, not deserving basic human rights. Their record of strong handed violence is astonishing. Guilt finds mysterious ways to express itself.

Ultra Orthodox are frowned upon by the majority of Israelis who see them as backward, uneducated draft dodgers.  They contribute nothing while living on government stipends. All they do is study and interpret biblical text, proclaiming that working on the sabbath is the worst possible sin. When David Ben-Gurion granted them special exemption from military service, there were only about 400 claiming this privilege. Today, they make up about 12 percent of Israel’s 9 million citizens. Needless to say, there is little love lost between Benjamin Netanyahu and this small but troublesome minority in its midst.

Non-Jewish citizens  add to this mix. Most are angry over the discrimination experienced every day. Carlstrom writes:

Half a century after the occupation, there remains a vast disparity between east and west. Among East Jerusalem residents, 75 percent live below the poverty line, and one third of children do not complete a full twelve years of school…Basic services are scarce, from health care to sewage to post offices. One refugee camp had no running water for three months.[3]

How does Israel justify such abuse? By claiming that GOD wanted Jews to have this land, not them.

Add to this mix, about a million Russian immigrants with their special interest, 130,000 Falasha from Ethiopia and the entire Palestinian nation in the West Bank and Gaza, Israel is standing on very shaky ground. It survives by not having a constitution. All it can see now is that “might makes right”. But, for how long?  How long can Ashkenazi control all these factions by might (the army) alone?  How long? Not long.

Thomas Are

August 20, 2018

---

[1] - Most of this information I gleaned from a book, Gregg Carlstrom,  How Long Will Israel Survive, the Threat from Within. (Oxford University Press, 2017) Great book, only he takes 260 pages to make his case. I try to do it in one.

[2] Carlstrom,  page 59.

[3] Carlstrom, page 40.