Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer of the Israel Democracy Institute was interviewed Wednesday on journalist Yinon Magal's radio show and spoke about the nation-state law. Or more precisely, whined about it. Although he knows how to express himself, the whines themselves became his main argument. To sum it up, Kremnitzer thinks that the law is bad because "this isn't a country [he] would want to live in."
It is difficult to counter that argument. Not because it presents an intellectual challenge, but because it takes the debate to a place where confrontation is absent. Kremnitzer, a Meretz man who holds a left-wing worldview – sometimes a radical one – does not want to live in the country many Israeli citizens want to live in. It is a reality that a well-known part of the Israeli Left shares. This feeling creates discomfort; it's unpleasant to hear a person of his status crying – which is why Magal was embarrassed.
Naturally, political and diplomatic decisions make some people smile and others weep. The challenge that faces decision-makers is how to rise above sentimental arguments and exercise responsible, well-thought-out judgment.
Think for a moment about the trail of tears created by the policies that Kremnitzer has been promoting for decades: the suffering of the Gush Katif evacuees (the IDI was a leading proponent of the campaign to uproot them); the misery of the families of victims of terrorism as Kremnitzer, a member of the board of directors of B'Tselem, works to curtail the IDF's ability to neutralize terrorists and limit the reach of the law in fighting terrorism; the residents of south Tel Aviv, who are suffering from the violence and crime committed by the illegal migrants Kremnitzer wants to keep in Israel; and the family of Hebron shooter Elor Azaria, for whom Kremnitzer opposed clemency. And what about the many parents in Israel whose values are being undermined by the Kremnitzer revolution in civic studies in schools?
Anyone who lives in Israel can find many reasons to cry over the actions that Kremnitzer and his colleagues have promoted, often by exploiting weaknesses in the political echelon and defects in the democratic process.
The country in which Kremnitzer would like to live, the radical binational Progressiveland, isn't a country in which the overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens would like to live. But rather than venting their spleen on the radio, they went and voted.
But the Kremnitzerite tears reflect something deeper. In recent years, the Left has undergone a deep-seated process of derationalization and running toward feelings. This is a result of its ongoing frustration with the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some on the Left have lost any hope of influencing the people through rational, moderate, and considered discourse, and have veered in the direction of preaching, sentiment and violence.
Note the rhetoric of the protests. The natural gas framework deal isn't an erroneous calculation of tax brackets, but a "robbery"; the deportation of illegal migrants is a repeat of "Holocaust" practices; the debate about public broadcasting doesn't have to do with government funding of the media, but "hushing up" and "freedom of expression"; the status quo is "religification"; all debate about the authorities of the High Court of Justice and the role of the attorney general is "an attack on democracy" – not to mention matters pertaining to family and gender, where allegations of "homophobia" and "misogyny" have replaced common sense. And we haven't even touched on "fascism," "racism" and "evil days."
The more extreme the Left's positions and tactics grow, the more it is cut off from the general public – to the point where even left-wing Knesset members like Nachman Shai and Eitan Cabel (Zionist Union) realize that there is a problem. The evidence is that as the left-wing protests escalate, Israelis show up in index after index as one of the happiest groups of people in the world, proud of their country, who trust the government and are happy with their lot. So, let Motti Kremnitzer cry.
