Israel is one of the few countries that was founded on the basis of religion along with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. During the 63 years since its establishment, many crises have engulfed this country. These crises include a variety of political, economic, racial and religious crises. We had a conversation with Sadegh Hossein Jabari Ansari, the former ambassador of Iran in Libya and a researcher of Middle East issues, in order to get a general overview of the crises and divisions within Israel, including the Jewish-Jewish divide and the Muslim-Jewish divide .
In Israel, like any other country, there are many political and social divisions. What are these gaps? How do you present these gaps?
The basic formulation of political life and politics and government in any country is based on the major social divisions that exist in that society. Society, politics and government in Israel are naturally not exempt from this rule. In fact, political life and politics and government in Israel in its historical course in the past few decades have been formed based on these major social gaps and the current situation is the result of this historical course. If we want to pay attention to the main structure of Israel’s politics, government and society, it can be structured around 5 major social, political and intellectual divisions:
۱- Religious gap: which exists between Jews and non-Jews. Although the Israeli regime was founded on the central idea of Judaism and its emphasis was on making the Jewish people the so-called owners of the land and the state, but a part of the native non-Jewish Palestinians of this land who had been present in this land for centuries in the wave of forced migration and displacement, which are Zionist groups. They forced the Palestinians not to leave this country and they were able to remain in the historical land of their fathers and ancestors with their resistance. Over time and during the past few decades when Israel was established, they formed a large minority within Israel and within the occupied territories of 1948 – which is the official Israel from the point of view of many countries of the world. These Palestinians constitute about 1.5 million of the population and have Israeli citizenship. One of the important divisions within Israel is formed around this fact. The religious divide means that there is a majority of 5.5 million Jews and a minority of 1.5 million non-Jews, who are the native Palestinians who remained in their land; Palestinians, the majority of whom are Muslims and a small part of them are Christians.
۲- Racial divide: Jews themselves are divided into three groups around this divide: Two big bunches and one small bunch. There are two big groups of Jews of Eastern origin or Sephardi and Jews of Western origin or Ashkenazi. These are the Jews who migrated from outside Palestine during the changes of the last century and came to Palestine in the waves of Zionist immigration from all over the world and settled in this land. Based on the fact that their movement originated from the eastern regions of the world or the western and European regions, they created two large groups within the Jewish community and gave meaning to another gap in the Israeli society, that is, the racial gap between the Eastern Jews and the Western Jews. These constitute the majority of Jews in Israel. But there is a smaller part besides these two groups, and those are the native Jews of Palestine who lived in this land a century ago and the waves of Zionism. Until the developments that led to the establishment of Israel, they formed only about 5% of the Palestinian population, and even now they include a small part of the Jewish community in Israel, which they call “Haredi Jews”. These are the native Jews of Palestine who have lived here for generations and were not immigrants.
۳- Political divide: A political divide that has existed within the Jewish community since the founding of Israel, but has become more evident in the developments of more than two decades, is the political divide between war and peace. In the sense that in dealing with the details of the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli confrontation, we witnessed different political fronts within Israel and different versions in dealing with the consequences of the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli or Palestinian-Israeli confrontation. Interaction in details means that in general, the majority of the Israeli society, except for the Palestinians or the non-Jews who are the native owners of this land, the Jewish majority of the Israeli society agree on the general aspects, but they differ on the issue of peace and on the details of the interaction. . We will discuss this gap in more detail in the continuation of this discussion.
۴- Economic gap: which is based on the traditional concept of left and right. In the sense that a trend within Israel has socialist tendencies in economic and social issues (of course, socialism with its diverse spectrum from extreme socialism that tends to communist and Marxist versions to moderate versions of socialism in its European sense) and another spectrum has right-wing economic tendencies. And he had a desire for an economic policy based on capitalism and free market economy. The reality is that this gap has decreased a little in the course of time and due to the changes that have happened in the world. This is a development that has happened in many countries of the world in the last few decades, especially after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. This concept is mostly based on economic gaps, although it has also found philosophical, intellectual and cultural dimensions.
This gap within Israel has been repaired and modified to some extent, in the sense that an average has been created that tends more towards the versions common in the world, which is the capitalist economy. Although there are still labor movements represented by the Israeli labor union called “Hastdrot”, which is a very important and effective union, and they favor social and economic policies that favor the weaker sections of society and the working classes, but in general, the economic structure of Israel is more inclined to Capitalist versions have been found and therefore this gap is less effective today and has been modified and is not effective in its old sense.
۵- The next gap, which is a major ideological gap, is the religious-secular gap and the gap between Zionists and non-Zionists. The ordinary social classes and Israeli elites are divided into two groups around this religious-secular gap: One is the movement in favor of religion-oriented and Sharia/Jewish-oriented solutions, and the second one is the movement in favor of secularism. When we say religious, two concepts come to mind: There is a gap between the current of “political Zionism” and the current of “traditional Sharia-based religion” within Israel, which, if we want to approximate, is similar to this gap in some other societies. There are currents that pay attention to Zionism as a guiding school of action or to Judaism as a political school of guiding action, which includes even the secular Jewish currents. There are strong currents within the Israeli society that are not religious fanatics, but are extreme political Zionists, in the sense that they believe in Judaism and Jewish heritage not as a Sharia, religious and ritual heritage, but as a political heritage. In other words, they believe in political Judaism, and basically, the current that established Israel is the main part of this current.
But in contrast to this, there is a movement in Israel that looks at the discussion of Judaism as a religious and ritualistic matter. A group that has a Salafist approach to Jewish heritage and says that nothing should be done on Saturday, which is a holiday, is a clear example of this trend. They gather on the highways of Jerusalem on Saturday and block the roads or attack the shops that work on Saturday and beat their owners. This movement has a very religious and prejudiced aspect towards the Jewish heritage. Those who come and stand at the mourning wall with sweats and special hair make-up and cry and utter words mainly represent this Jewish religious movement.
To be honest, we have a gap between the secular and the religious, the first group is in favor of the separation of religion from politics, or more precisely, religion from the government and governmental structures, and the religious movement believes in the intertwining of these two concepts and believes that political structures are based on heritage. A Jew must be formed. Another gap is the gap between the political Zionists and the traditional religious Jews that the political Zionists look at the Jewish heritage from a political point of view and an important part of them are secular and not religious. On the other hand, religious people have a religious and ritualistic view of this issue and some of them are not Zionists and are basically against Zionism. In terms of historical roots, this religious movement is the same movement that opposed the formation of Israel when Israel was being formed.
But after the formation of Israel, instead of directly confronting the government that was formed, they tried to gain influence within the system and participate in the elections, take a seat in the Israeli Knesset or Parliament, and form parties and represent religious movements. This movement relies on the education sector in particular, and when it enters government coalitions, it usually considers the Ministry of Education as its special share.
Regarding the religious divide (the first case) and the ideological gap or religion-secular (the last case), the question that comes to mind is that (first) about 5.5 million Jews live in Israel. There are approximately 1.5 million Palestinians in Israel. Isn’t this minority of 1.5 million, many of whom are Muslims and some of whom are Christians, a threat to Israel’s religious and religious identity? It is said that until 2020 or 2030, population transformation may increase in favor of Palestinians and to the detriment of Israel. However, isn’t the Jewish state afraid of the threat to its Jewish identity? (Secondly) Israel is a state that was formed on the basis of the Jewish religion, but in its historical course it believed more in secularism. No other religion is seen in it? How do religious and Zionist currents view these issues? Did their views become more flexible over time or did they turn to extremism?
Angles of Israel’s social and political situation can be described around these two questions. I will start from the second question and reach the first. Is Israel a religious state? The reality is that the founders of Israel were mostly secular and the traditional Jewish religious movement basically did not show serious sympathy with the concept of political Zionism in the early days of its formation. Political Zionism was formed among the secular elites of the Jewish communities who lived in European countries and America and organized itself in these regions (Europe and America). If we look at the matter in this historical way, from Herzl as the founder of the Zionist movement to the formation of Israel in 1948, the majority of the Zionist movements and figures who cultivated the idea of Zionism and established the state of Israel were secular figures and movements.
Even the religious trend showed an intellectual and ideological obstacle against this idea, in the sense that the traditional religious trend of the Jews believed and still believes that the formation of the state of Israel is dependent and conditional on the appearance of the savior of the end times, which in Jewish literature is the Messiah; The savior Messiah who will appear as promised in the end times and will establish the state of Israel and will rule the Jews all over the world according to the traditional Jewish literature. This traditional trend basically believes that the establishment of the state of Israel by the trend of political Zionism is an interference in God’s will and against His will, and it is considered a non-religious but anti-religious thing. Because in this course of history that God has ordained, the Jews must be displaced all over the world by God’s will until the appearance of the savior. They believe that some people want to interfere in the course of history that God planned and willed, and this interference is against the will of God and against religious principles. Therefore, the movement that formed the state of Israel from the beginning of the wave of Jewish immigration from around the world to Palestine as the promised land was a movement based on secularism, which was also faced with serious opposition and opposition from the traditional religious movement.
Is this dispute still going on? And this could lead to a collapse or at least a deep crisis inside Israel that would question its existence? Isn’t this a contradiction in Israel’s existence? In other words, what is the view of Israeli trends towards this 1.5 million minority? Do they believe in rejecting them to form a pure Jewish state, or do they believe in absorbing, digesting, and solving them?
This gap continues in the inner social and intellectual layers of Israel and the Jewish communities outside of Israel. Of course, it is impossible to predict, but this Israeli identity that has been formed has a set of weaknesses and strengths. What has given and preserved Israel’s identity up to this moment is the maximum use of some of its strengths in the plan organized by political Zionism. But this idea contains a series of contradictions, one of which is the contradiction we mentioned. That is, a non-religious, sometimes anti-religious, secular trend that has made instrumental use of a religious and religious concept and heritage called the Promised Land and return to the Promised Land and has put it in the service of a purely political program.
This contradiction still exists in the inner layers of the Jewish communities and elites outside of Israel and inside the Israeli society. But a set of other factors managed to create a cover or outer layer on it. If we want to expand this idea a little, we see that the religious current that is against the formation of Israel (traditional Jewish religious current) comments on its work instructions and program with the formation of this regime. If before its formation, he was against the establishment of a state in the name of Israel and believed that this was interfering with God’s will and an anti-religious thing, but when the state is formed, he tries to put his stamp on that state. Now that an identity has been formed, it tries to have its own influencing identity in its directions.
Therefore, he presents a moderate version and enters the system that has been formed, and instead of directly opposing it, he tries to introduce his religious ideas into the system. Therefore, if we want to look at this society based on the party structure of Israel, there is an important trend within the Israeli society that represents the same traditional religious trend and uses the same heritage that focuses on education, religious issues, religious schools, special needs of religious communities and holidays. It is based on the Sabbath and issues like this, but it no longer relies on opposition to the formation of Israel in its political literature. This movement is currently represented in the two parties “Yehdut Hetorat” and “Shas”. Together, these two represent the traditional religious trend in Israel’s party structure.
The traditional religious people of eastern origin have gathered in the Shas party, and the traditional religious people of western origin have gathered in the party of Yehudut Hetorat [that is, Torah Judaism]. Its name can also represent the type of look. This is one of Israel’s divisions and among the internal weaknesses of this society, which can become more important in certain circumstances and create deeper disturbances and crises within the Israeli society. But currently, external layers and covers remove this gap from being major, serious and critical and give it a milder state. The religious and rabbinic movement that exists in America, and some of its members come to Iran from time to time, represents the original form of this traditional religious movement outside of Israel, which clearly believes that the formation of Israel is fundamentally against God’s will, and for this reason, it is a critical and anti-Israel policy. They have or at least express this policy in external symbols.
But the first question you raised; A significant minority of non-Jews and native Palestinians live inside Israel. In Zionist literature, this large minority is referred to as the fifth column. Communication and interaction with this large minority is one of the disputes and conflicts within Israel. From the beginning, a movement believed that just as several hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee from Palestine in the waves of forced migration under the atmosphere of war and conflict, terrorism and military operations of Zionist groups (and formed Palestinian refugees and basically created the concept of Palestinian refugees). We must adopt a set of policies that will force the remaining 1.5 million non-Jews to leave their homes and provide the basis for the formation of a pure Jewish Israel.
Three political-intellectual currents have been formed in Israel around the implementation of this goal: One current (far-right) says that these 1.5 million should be forced to leave Israel with terror, violence and terror, but another current (center-right and left) believes that a series of political, economic, diplomatic, and encouraging measures should be taken. And sometimes he used a punishment – of course, not with direct violence but with a set of these tools – and did something to encourage or force them to leave their homes and villages and go to other regions or Arab countries or to 1967 Barand areas, which is now the subject of the formation of the Palestinian state.
Although the third current (far left) is concerned with the first two currents about the effects of the existence of non-Jewish population on the future of Israel, but at the same time believes that these are a reality and cannot be excluded in the regional and international space. Rather, the presence of this 1.5 million should be accepted as a symbol of diversity in Israel’s society and should be used as a basis to prove that the state of Israel is a democratic state in which even non-Jews live and enjoy their rights in various aspects. .
However, how to deal with this large minority is one of Israel’s internal divisions, which is discussed by different spectrums. In response to this question, one side of the spectrum believes that they should be forced to leave the country even with terror, violence and killing, and the other side of the spectrum believes that they should be accepted as a reality and Israel does not need to be a pure Jewish state. . This minority can serve the prosperity of the idea of Israel and the success of the Israeli government.
You also mentioned the Christian minority. Christians believe that the Messiah appeared but was finally crucified. But the Jews believe in their promised Messiah, in the sense that the Messiah of the false Christians and the Messiah of the Jews is the savior of the end times. This is one of the fundamental differences between Christianity and Judaism. Naturally, Zionist Jews have serious differences with Islam. With this description, I want to know how Israeli Jews with 5-6 million people who do not believe in the Christian Messiah and consider him to be false, how have they been able to get along with the Christian world and get along with them? How did this contradiction lead to the continuation of a state in the name of Israel?
In the previous discussion, we discussed that the current of political Zionism is not a Jewish current in its religious, traditional and religious sense. Although in terms of historical record, this trend was discussed in Jewish elite circles for about 200 years, but in less than a century, it was able to turn the idea raised in its circles into a practical matter and from a subjective matter to an objective matter. . This happened by using different mechanisms and solutions, the central link of which – according to many analysts – was the definition of an overlap and mutual benefit with international political currents and powers. Although the western powers allied with Israel were governments that apparently represent Christian countries, but they themselves did not represent Christianity in their religious and religious views. Because in the western countries where the concept of the nation-state was formed in the last centuries, there have been developments towards a kind of secularism and the separation of religion from the government and political structure, and turning the religious matter into an individual and devotional matter related to personal relationship. People had a desire with their God.
Sunday was dedicated to the church and the affairs of society were settled by human reason. Therefore, when the Western powers were living in such an experience, they found a kind of overlap with the trend of political Zionism, which, although it used religious literature but in its own instrumental sense, actually represented the same trend of secularism within the Jewish communities and in fact followed Shaping the secular state was Jewish.
There may be some kind of contradiction in this concept: Jewish secular state. But it was really like that. They could not say that the state is not Jewish because they wanted to gather Jews from all over the world around a religious and racial axis called Jews and gather them in Palestine as the promised land. Therefore, they should have used religious literature. But the founders of Zionism and political Zionism were secular movements and secular elites of Jewish communities. They also wanted to establish a secular state, so the state that was formed in Israel is a secular state in its form, but in fact it wants to bring together the opposites, and while being secular, religion is used in the service of the formation of Israel and the religious sensitivities and emotions of the common classes of Jews throughout the world. The world should be used for two purposes: One is the creation of waves of immigration, which is not specific to the founding of Israel, but continues to this day, and second, because many Jews do not want to come to the promised land of Zionism, and of course, the political expediency of political Zionism and the Israeli government requires that Jewish communities in places to be present in different parts of the world as an influential group that holds the tools of power in different countries and helps the continuation of Israel’s life. Exploitation of religion can fuel Israel with the help of these Jewish minorities.
For both of these, the need to use the Jewish religion is a vital and practical matter. Therefore, the sum of this contradiction, on the one hand, the founders of Israel and the political Zionists were non-religious and sometimes anti-religious, but at the same time they wanted to use religion and religion, has created a unique combination in the political structure of Israel, which, although it is a secular state, is forced It should also consider some aspects of religious issues and give privileges to religious trends in order to keep this collection coherently together.
But let’s go back to your question, how did they do it? Because the international powers, which are the governments with Christian majority, do not represent the religious concept of Christianity. There are states whose societies are majority Christians, but most of the states in the Islamic world whose nations are Muslim are not Islamic states and basically do not represent a state with Islamic ideas. Western governments also represent governments where most of their people are Christians, but they do not necessarily represent Christian religious ideas.
Of course, the Vatican, which is the representative of the Western religious trend, had a fundamental contradiction with the Israeli government until the last few decades – because of the same historical legacy of the difference between Christ and the Jews – but in fact, in the light of the interests of the Western powers and the overlapping interests they found with Israel, this contradiction The review was modified and based on the request of the Western powers, the Vatican gradually softened its historical opposition and a trend was created within Christianity that represented a kind of transformation within the Vatican and basically canceled this historical legacy and declared that a disagreement We do not have with the Jews and in this way they covered a clear historical difference.
In any case, during these last few decades, we witnessed the adjustment of these historical differences, but again, in deeper layers, the reality is that Jews do not accept Christianity as a religion at all, but they accepted it as a “fact” and vice versa. But what has created this overlap between the apparently Christian West and the apparently Jewish Israel is the overlap between the interests of the Western powers and the Israeli government, which has played an essential role in the formation of Israel and its continued existence.
Another contradiction that exists in Israel is the contradiction of war and peace. All the currents in Israel have a common opinion on a number of general points, but they have differences of opinion on the details of the interaction with Palestine. Basically, both Palestinian and Israeli sides started to act by violating each other from the very beginning. Some believe that because Israel is in the midst of warring groups and countries, it cannot think about peace and that war is its only option. But there are others who believe that Israel, rather than being surrounded by hostile countries, has been a hostile and spiteful regime since the beginning of its formation, and its establishment was with war and blood. Can there be hope for peace in Israel? Is Israel willing to give some concessions to the Palestinian side in order to achieve peace? For example, return some areas to the Palestinians? Or, based on his war approach, does he consider any withdrawal as his destruction? What does peace mean in Israeli thought?
A major political divide in the past two decades in Israeli society has been around the concept of war and peace. If we look a little historically at the issue of war and peace, it will make our view more precise about this gap. Historically, the set of political currents that believe in political Zionism, including the Zionist left and right, founded Israel through war. Therefore, from this point of view, we are facing a one-handed society. Except for the currents that do not believe in political Zionism (and of course they also changed their interaction with this issue due to the necessity of the emerging realities), the rest of the Israeli currents that were formed around the concept of political Zionism, despite all the divisions and different categories among themselves, believe that Israel War and military confrontation has been established.
They also believe that they should continue the same conditions if necessary. That is, if it comes down to the existence of Israel, with any other issue, even at the cost of the most intense wars, they will undoubtedly be inclined towards war. From this point of view, all currents that believe in political Zionism, from the left to the right, within the Israeli society, a kind of relative consensus can be observed among them, but when we enter into the details of the interaction with the Palestinian issue or the Palestinian problem and the issue of the Arab-Israeli confrontation, it is natural that there are differences of opinion between Different spectrums of Israeli society are created
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