Israeli society has a history of denying and condemning collective traumas, as it did with Holocaust Survivors, Yom Kippur War soldiers, and continues to do with Mizrahi Jews.
The Mizrahi trauma comes from the decades-long government policy of blatant inequality, exclusion, and discrimination towards Israelis of Middle Eastern and North African origin. The Mizrahi Jew has been viewed as inferior, a mere "simpleton."
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If we do not acknowledge and address the Mizrahi trauma on all levels - educational, social, economic, legal, and psychological - it will continue to pass from generation to generation and undermine the chances of Mizrahi Jews for change and progress.
What happens to a child who senses that he is treated as mentally and culturally inferior? He will adopt this attitude in his studies, relationships, aspiration, dreams, and choices. He will succumb to the common perception that the Ashkenazi Jew is the "true Israeli." He will carry anger and resentment for being made inferior.
The leaders Shas, a political party that represents Mizrahi Jews, spoke of restoring the Mizrahi Jewish culture to its former glory but continued to send their children to Haredi Yiddish-speaking institutions that are arrogant, contemptuous and do not accept "simple" Mizrahis.
Perhaps without even realizing it, these leaders strengthened the faulty perception by signaling that Ashkenazi institutions are superior to Mizrahi ones.
As long as Ashkenazi Jews are glorified, Mizrahi Jews are automatically inferior. And inferiority is always accompanied by anger and resentment.
I think that a similar phenomenon can be observed in relation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is a representative of the arrogant Ashkenazi elite. He is glorified, admired, and crowned "king."
In their "coronation," Mizrahi Israelis raise Netanyahu to the highest ranks and find themselves on the lowest ones. And Netanyahu takes advantage of this for his political and legal agendas: the admiration is directed at him, while all the hatred is directed at Ashkenazi Jews.
If we do not recognize the effects of the Mizrahi trauma, we cannot aspire for change and equality. Unless we step out of this "identity trap," there will never be a Mizrahi prime minister. He will forever be deemed unworthy by both the Left and Right.
