The Yesh Atid and Meretz parties tried toppling the government on Monday. We can discuss the legitimacy of such an endeavor in the midst of a pandemic, but given that this is what opposition parties have always done, and that a general disposition of "no confidence" in the government is essentially the definition of opposition, it's hard to blame them.
This isn't where the problem lies. The problem is the cheap, false, manipulative and wicked demagoguery targeting members of the Derech Eretz party, aimed at forcing Zvika Hauser and Yoaz Hendel to defect, vote with the opposition, and thereby topple the government.
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This is what former Meretz leader Zahava Galon posted to her Facebook page: "We can replace the prime minister with a constructive no-confidence vote that Yesh Atid and Meretz will hold in the Knesset this Monday [October 12]. Hauser and Hendel, how low are you willing to take Israel just to avoid [sitting] with Arab MKs? You failed your previous test big time, now you have a do-over to make amends. This time you won't be able to say 'we didn't know.' You see the whole picture, it is sitting right in front of you. Now choose," demanded Galon, who then asked in Haaretz: "Hendel and Hauser, are you more elected officials, or more racist?"
Let's start from the end: Yoaz Hendel and Zvika Hauser are first and foremost elected officials. This was a really easy question, Zahava. The public that elected them doesn't want a government that relies on support from the Joint Arab List, and they are reflecting the will of the public. The truth is that they reflect the will of the overwhelming majority of the population. This will is a contradiction to your desires and beliefs, Galon, which is fine, and that's why your party is in the opposition. This is how the system works and there is logic to it predicated on each vote carrying equal weight – something you should be familiar with from somewhere.
I'd like to crystallize Galon's question though: Could it be that Hendel and Hauser are also public officials and also racist? Could it be that the public itself is racist? Perhaps all the answers are correct?
Members of the left have been strumming the chord of racism for decades now, comparing us, the ethical right, to white supremacists in the United States or even Nazis. How easy to label us fascists. How covenient to ignore the essential yet profoundly fundamental difference in the historical contexts. But the significance of this oversight is self-destruction, and we must distance ourselves from it if we want to survive here.
And this is the fundamental difference: From the dawn of Zionism, the Arabs have sought our demise. Sometimes their murderous intents are successful, sometimes less so, but this has been the general trend. Their representatives in the Knesset want to erase the State of Israel as a Jewish state. Hence, the resistance to cooperating with them is based on the will to live on one hand, and "no-confidence" in them or their motives – which they have rightfully earned after thousands of Jewish casualties – on the other hand. Is this racism? Did the Jews in Europe want to take it over and did they murder thousands of German women and children?
We need to bear this in mind every time the shallow, manipulative left conjures this tired, false equivalency. We want peace, we want equality, and we want these things to be based on trust and goodwill. The burden of proof is on the Arabs, and we're still not convinced. Hauser and Hendel are public officials. A public that yearns for life and is well-versed in bereavement. A smart public.
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