Michal Aharoni – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com israelhayom english website Thu, 09 Mar 2023 10:32:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.israelhayom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cropped-G_rTskDu_400x400-32x32.jpg Michal Aharoni – www.israelhayom.com https://www.israelhayom.com 32 32 The Right should be careful what it wishes for https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-right-should-be-careful-what-it-wishes-for/ Thu, 09 Mar 2023 10:32:06 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=875623   I woke up this morning with a great feeling: Last night all the left-wing supporters left Israel, boarded a flight, and went to study at UC Berkeley, where there are enough antisemites who will be happy to welcome Israeli refugees. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram My friend Ami Ben Roda posted […]

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I woke up this morning with a great feeling:

Last night all the left-wing supporters left Israel, boarded a flight, and went to study at UC Berkeley, where there are enough antisemites who will be happy to welcome Israeli refugees.

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My friend Ami Ben Roda posted on his Twitter account a picture of Obama, the leader of the anarchist movement, greeting him at the airport.

In response, I wrote "stay there, you miserable thing" and other deep-state curses, but in the end, it turned out that it was not actually Obama – but rather an Uber driver from Trinidad.

I didn't delete anything I wrote.

Years of organized campaigns have come to an end. Years of hearing the phrases "go live in Gaza", "go back to Europe" and "the protesters are the descendants of the Gestapo" bear fruit.

They finally got the message, and they left.

We made the message super clear to them: whoever doesn't like the country, should leave. All those who are arrogant with inflated egos who think they are better than others because they bombed the reactor in Iraq and gave a lecture in front of a crowd, all the miserable people "protesting reserve duty", all of the "medical teams", all those working in high-tech – all the terrorists we succeeded in driving away from here.

That's it, the anarchy is over!

The moment that I saw it was truly happening, I called my wife and informed her: we are moving to Tel Aviv. That was our dream for years – to live in the center of the country, enjoy ourselves, go to plays, and movies, but without all the elitists around.

I told her, "Our opportunity has come, finally Tel Aviv is in our hands."

Immediately I scheduled an appointment with a realtor. I got extremely excited, I imagined us leaving the building, and sitting on Rothschild Bouleveard drinking coffee. I wave to Ricklin, and call out "Hey, what's up?" Even Linon Magal is sitting down for a beer with Eldad Yaniv.

The ride to Tel Aviv took 22 minutes. On the way, a Mercedes cut me off. I got annoyed, and at a red light I rolled down the window and screamed at him "You privileged anarchist, you Ashkenazi garbage".

But then I realized that the last one left yesterday and I hurt a person without privileges. I apologized, and I got a bitter taste in my mouth.

Five minutes later I suddenly remembered that on Friday it's my mother-in-law's birthday, I called to reserve a table at Haim Cohen's restaurant, I've been obsessed with him ever since he was on "Master Chef". "We are closed on Friday and on Shabbat, the law requiring businesses to close on weekends passed two months ago", said the young woman at the other end of the call. I'm so stupid, how could I have forgotten? After all, when it happened there was a small demonstration in front of the Knesset by some of the leftists who had not yet left. And my son, such a good kid, told me that there was a boy he was in class with, and he really liked him.

The next day my son's friend left, for Berlin.

The apartment realtor showed me three rooms in one project, "The ruins near HaBima Theater". "All the actors left, there are no more funds for government financing of culture so the theatre was removed. A tower is being built there instead." I looked at the prices and couldn't believe it: ridiculously expensive as if we didn't kick the billionaires out of here. "Hey buddy, there are sanctions. Do you know how much it costs now to import ceramics from Turkey? And no tax revenues. But thank G-d, a fully right-wing Jewish government".

I got in the car with a heavy heart, I thought that listening to music might help. I turned on the radio, and boom: Shlomo Artzi and Idan Amedi's song "Brothers" was playing. The words in the song as translated to English mean "For a soul in overnight parking in Eilat, Zohar Argov, Arik 'drive slowly'", immediately I turned off the radio. "Overnight parking", come on, he is singing about the privilege that Hanan Yovel displayed when he refused to perform in front of the Knesset. Suddenly the broadcast stopped: a terrorist attack. Dead, injured, I don't understand how it happened, after all, we fired the legal advisor a long time ago.

The national security minister arrived immediately at the scene of the crime. What a guy, I love his TikTok videos. But then something strange happened: The interviewer asked him who was responsible for the attack and he… got silent.

There is no longer a Supreme Court, there are no more leftists, and there is no one to blame anymore.

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Why Israelis should embrace gender segregation – and why they shouldn't https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/11/21/why-israelis-should-embrace-gender-segregation-and-why-they-shouldnt/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/11/21/why-israelis-should-embrace-gender-segregation-and-why-they-shouldnt/#respond Mon, 21 Nov 2022 11:14:19 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=855361   We must not let the dam burst // Michal Aharoni Many times I want to be only around women. There are times when the presence of a man causes me and my friends to behave differently. They undermine our balance, and place restrictions and limitations. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram We […]

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We must not let the dam burst // Michal Aharoni

Many times I want to be only around women. There are times when the presence of a man causes me and my friends to behave differently. They undermine our balance, and place restrictions and limitations.

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We have a women's only Facebook group, girls' nights out, and outings where we talk and act like we would never do around men. However, it is our choice to create this safe space, we decide when and how it will take place.

This is the routine that we set for ourselves at any given moment. It changes depending on the situation and how we feel. Because women, even though they "cannot contemplate complex ideas," know very well when they want to be alone and when they want to be together. You don't need a law for that, you can just ask them what they want.

When MK Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist Party, and Yitzhak Goldknopf, head of United Torah Judaism, come and demand that gender segregation not be considered discrimination, this is already problematic. How can two men, one from a party that does not even allow women to be a part of it, join together to lead such an initiative? How is it possible that these kinds of demands always come from men? How is it that no woman has ever raised the banner of this demand?

Segregationist Judaism

The answer is clear: These are two men who think that they know what's right and what's good for women. Goldknopf has also never had any women from his religious sector who want to have any influence from within the Knesset; as far as he is concerned there is not even one.

And Smotrich? He has engraved the concept of segregation on his political banner, the crux of his Judaism is distinct and differentiating. A Jew who is not prepared to have an Arab doctor touch her baby because he "desecrates" the moment of birth, the Judaism that pushes women to the back of the bus and forgets that "God created male and female" side by side. Not one behind the other.

So, yes, Knesset members and rabbis, and religious adjudicators always think that they know what is best and right for us. They have ownership over wisdom and morality and justice. They are here to do good for women, while, God forbid, never marring their status. It's just that all this good they are showering on us, such as not permitting women to enlist into the army, not to sing in front of men, not to attend mixed events, and a million and one other examples, always amount to what is forbidden for women to do. What men claim that they are doing in favor of women, always ends against them.

If ultra-Orthodox women come and demand segregated events, I'd be the last one to say no. But in the end, whenever decisions and rulings are made for and about women – for some reason, it's the men who are making the decisions.

And the moment that the law is enacted, the floodgates will open for a torrent of separated events. The hole in the dam, which we anyway stop with our little finger, just like the Dutch girl, will burst. Then women will not only be removed from positions of power and influence, their voices will not only be banned in public – they will not be heard at all.


What is permitted for the secular // Merav Sever

Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid had no free time to support the vital struggle of women in Iran; that is until yesterday. That is when Lapid came out with a populist and shallow statement, comparing the demand of the Religious Zionist Party and United Torah Judaism to change the law so that gender segregation in public events on religious grounds is not considered discrimination, to the atrocities taking place in the Islamic Republic.

The sad part of Lapid's outrageous statement is not the fact that he did not bother to read the article to the end, nor the clear reservation that this is an important amendment for ultra-Orthodox and religious women, who want to enjoy cultural events with gender segregation, in accordance with their faith and lifestyle. The sad part here is that Lapid knows the truth, yet chooses to create rifts, incite and lie, all in order to stir up the Israeli public, who are absolutely terrified of the government that is about to be formed, making them believe that the Revolutionary Guards of the Modesty Police will be present at Shlomo Artzi and Omer Adam's performances forcing the audience to sit separately.

This is especially infuriating when knowing that in recent years Lapid's wife, Lihi Lapid, has personally held several cultural events for women only. MK Merav Ben Ari, of the Yesh Atid party, also organized an event in the last elections for ultra-Orthodox women only, where she promised to answer their questions.

Under the Radar

Under the embarrassing and groveling title " The wisest of women – each one built her house" (Proverbs, 14:1), they were joined by Merav Michaeli, who set up an ultra-Orthodox section in the Labor Party and invited ultra-orthodox women to participate in a gender-separate conference that she organized.

In fact, in October, even the left-wing Meretz party held a conference at Beit Jann with gender segregation. The conference, organized by MK Ali Salalha, passed quietly under the radar because the Arabs are allowed to hold events according to the lifestyle they believe in. Michaeli and Ben Ari are also allowed to take the votes of ultra-Orthodox women, but, God forbid, they are not allowed to live according to their faith.

On the other hand, Motti Steinmetz's performance in Afula during the summer, as well as the concerts of Hanan Ben Ari, Of Simhas, and Kobi Aflalo in Bat Yam, were canceled in 2019 following a vexing petition by women's organizations.

The petition denied ultra-Orthodox and religious women the opportunity to enjoy a segregated performance, due to the rapacious attempt to impose a secular lifestyle on them. Not one enlightened woman from any secular women's organization thought to ask an ultra-Orthodox woman what she wants.

Lapid and the women's organizations want the ultra-Orthodox women to be obedient and submissive. But instead of obeying Jewish law, these women must obey how others think they must live. They should not dare to enjoy a separate event for women.

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Shocking Holocaust denial: Twitter debates whether Anne Frank had 'white privilege' https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/07/12/shocking-holocaust-denial-twitter-debates-whether-anne-frank-had-white-privilege/ https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/07/12/shocking-holocaust-denial-twitter-debates-whether-anne-frank-had-white-privilege/#respond Tue, 12 Jul 2022 08:56:23 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?p=824241   Anne Frank trended on Twitter over the weekend, but not because of her world-famous diary, writing talent, or death by the Nazis. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram No. Twitter debated whether Frank had "white privilege." Yes, the Jewish teenager, who hid from the Nazis with her family in an attic for […]

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Anne Frank trended on Twitter over the weekend, but not because of her world-famous diary, writing talent, or death by the Nazis.

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No. Twitter debated whether Frank had "white privilege." Yes, the Jewish teenager, who hid from the Nazis with her family in an attic for two years and eventually died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, was – according to some tweets – lucky to have been born the "right" color.

At first sight, the debate seems baffling, but the deeper one digs, the more one realizes that hatred against everything white can be just as strong as hatred against everything that is black.

It began with a minor change in wording, with most tweets saying Frank was "killed," rather than "murdered." Some users had heard about her, but most had no real idea about her story. For them, the mere fact that Frank was white was enough to form an opinion.

The next stage was Holocaust denial. One user recalled that while watching an item about concentration camps with her partner and father, the former declared that Jews made up the Holocaust.

For if the victim is a white girl whose father was a businessman, then she cannot possibly be oppressed. And if she later became famous, then surely she must have had connections that helped her pave the way to stardom.

All whites are protected by their skin color, another user claimed. Because Frank was white, she automatically received the kind of protection Blacks cannot.

The fact that Frank was born into a completely different world, culture, and time made no difference in the debate. In their opinion, war-time Germany, Holland, and the streets of Baltimore where Freddie Gray was killed are the same.

And that is scary. Not because someone dared touch the subject of Frank, who has become a symbol. Many such symbols are targeted daily.

It is scary because such a debate, in which hundreds of thousands participated, revealed the depth of ignorance, stupidity, and foolishness of many young people, in this case, Americans. They are so invested in their agenda that they are willing to sacrifice anything for it, including the memory of the extermination of six million people.

Everything is mixed: slavery, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and the thinking that my struggle allows me to trample on others' suffering and manipulate it in my interest. History is a tool to prove how right I am. I am most aware of my own needs but see no one besides myself.

Victimhood is a terrible trait. All the more so when it seeks validation at all times and adapts the facts to fit its agenda. If you die of hunger, cold, and sickness, you do not have privilege. Period. Not even if you experienced all of the above and survived.

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The end of the Blue and White era https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-end-of-the-blue-and-white-era/ Tue, 17 May 2022 08:23:31 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=803907   Blue and White leader Benny Gantz can smell elections in the air. Like many of his coalition partners, he, too, doesn't believe longevity is in the cards. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Next week, he plans to pose another challenge for the government when his faction will present an amendment to […]

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Blue and White leader Benny Gantz can smell elections in the air. Like many of his coalition partners, he, too, doesn't believe longevity is in the cards.

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Next week, he plans to pose another challenge for the government when his faction will present an amendment to the equality law. Gantz knows this could trigger another coalition crisis but right now, he doesn't care about the latter's integrity. All he cares about is surviving the next general elections.

Once he declared a bid for the premiership, Gantz has positioned himself as the leader of the Israeli Center-Left: not too much of a leftist or a rightist – as Rabin-esque as possible. He wanted to be the man with a repertoire for any occasion; the ultimate crowd-pleaser, who can make an appearance at a wedding hall one night and at a kibbutz dining hall the next.

This method worked, and Gantz led Blue and White to impressive achievements, including having the president task him with forming a government – which is when everything started going wrong.

At that point, Gantz turned from the main character to a supporting one in a show led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Somehow, letting his constituents down so grossly did not end his career and Blue and White won eight Knesset seats in the March 2021 elections. Many saw him as yet another victim of Netanyahu's – the good guy who tried to stop the prime minister from doing the wrong thing and eventually fell on his sword to save the country.

Then, in a political twist of fate, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett became the prime minister. Yes – the man who unseated Netanyahu was not a one-size-fits-all centrist figure but a bona fide right-wing politician from the national-religious camp, who never presumed to represent everyone.

Those who admired Gantz for his sacrifice in the bid to offset Netanyahu could only admire Bennett for his deliberate decision to not only forsake his base and sideline his own rhetoric but to do the courageous, unprecedented and unthinkable – join forces with the Islamist Ra'am party to form a coalition.

Come the next elections, Gantz will no longer be able to claim he sacrifices his ideology for the good of the country. That credit will go to Bennett, who would be able to rightfully argue that his concessions – at a hefty political and personal price – spared Israel from another short-lived Netanyahu term followed by what would have been a fourth election campaign in two years.

It seems that Bennett has inadvertently become the best representative for the Israeli center.

Gantz is not oblivious to this process. He knows he will be devoid of his previous credits in the next elections, nor will he be able to claim he was swindled or that he made noble concessions – not considering the ones Bennett had to make.

Without these, however, Gantz has no political legs on which to stand. He has no campaign and nothing with which to entice the public to vote for Blue and White.

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We aren't the only ones allowed to talk about the Holocaust https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/we-arent-the-only-ones-allowed-to-talk-about-the-holocaust/ Tue, 22 Mar 2022 06:27:06 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=779625   If Israel were a supermarket, the Holocaust would be our store brand. All Israelis have their views about it, and everyone uses it – and not only on certain days or at certain times. It is an all-season brand that many also carry with them when they go abroad. Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, […]

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If Israel were a supermarket, the Holocaust would be our store brand. All Israelis have their views about it, and everyone uses it – and not only on certain days or at certain times. It is an all-season brand that many also carry with them when they go abroad.

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The Holocaust is about the only thing that Israelis, who are known for being unusually generous, won't share with other nations. The opposite – when someone so much as tries to touch it, we are outraged. And it doesn't matter if he's a Jew named Zelenskyy whose people are currently being subjected to a terrible tragedy, a war that is sending them into exile and bringing them destruction and death. But who are they to touch our holiest of holies? Why is he making comparisons? There is nothing to compare. The Ukrainians are just being attacked and forced to flee for their lives – pregnant women are being killed when hospitals are bombed and families are murdered by snipers. The Russians only have a deep-seated hatred for the Ukrainians, and incite against them and against their leadership, while using dictatorial means to block reliable information – but it's not a racial supremacy issue.

Lest there be any doubt, there is nothing that is like the Holocaust – which was a precise genocide that entailed violence and brutality that neither the head nor the heart can comprehend. But it's a long jump from that to thinking that Zelenskyy's remarks made "light" of the Holocaust.

We are allowed to do anything we want with the Holocaust, and in its name, even make ugly and cynical use of it. Until not long ago, Israel had a prime minister who in order to prevent a new Iran nuclear deal from being signed brought Elie Wiesel to Congress and at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem said that, unlike the Holocaust, Israel had seen the danger of COVID in time. Every year, Israel holds a pageant for Holocaust survivors, which is a PR event for the nonprofit organization that runs it. On social media, right-wing extremists compare the costs of security Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's home in Raanana to the Nazi Party's Eagle's Nest, and of course we can compare the Iranians and the Nazis. But heaven forbid we compare the violent dictator Putin to Hitler.

At this very moment, the citizens of Ukraine are facing the destruction of their country in the name of expansion by a person who controls the biggest country in the world. And that same world is not taking physical action to stop that person, and Israel is opting to stay neutral. We're Switzerland – all we need to do is start making good watches and chocolate.

"I can only urge the leaders of the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past… Not to ignore aggression in the hopes of gaining an illusory peace," Benjamin Netanyahu told the US Congress in 2015. If Zelenskyy had wanted to make cynical use of the Holocaust, he wouldn't have needed to do much – just use our own words against us.

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The politically correct have lost their minds https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-politically-correct-have-lost-their-minds/ Mon, 03 Jan 2022 09:14:00 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=744259   It was selected by readers of The New York Times as the best book of the last 125 years. The play based on the book was a hit in theaters despite the coronavirus pandemic plaguing the world and theaters across the world and in New York in particular especially hard. It continues to be […]

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It was selected by readers of The New York Times as the best book of the last 125 years. The play based on the book was a hit in theaters despite the coronavirus pandemic plaguing the world and theaters across the world and in New York in particular especially hard. It continues to be one of the most successful shows on Broadway. Generations of children in the US grew up reading the book. Yet despite the powerful statement it makes, there are those calling to remove "To Kill a Mockingbird" from schools. Some have even said copies of the book should no longer be printed.

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The plot perfectly suits the atmosphere of the times: Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch, a father of two, represents him at trial. Finch admirably fights for Robinson while the racist justice system and residents of the town automatically assume he is guilty of the crime. While Finch looks for justice so that he can look his children in the eyes and see himself as someone worthy of the title of attorney, the entire system wants to see Robinson bleed.

The author of the book, Harper Lee, was born in Alabama. She was a descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The fact that she is a white woman and a scion of a racist family is enough to accuse her of racism. In 1961, she won the Pulitzer Prize for the book, and in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yet for America in 2022, that just simply isn't enough.

In today's America, the very fact that a white woman wrote about the life of a black man amounts to racism. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the story of a moral white man and white courage, not black justice, they argue.

Just like that, some would have us cancel a significant literary work because it doesn't tell the exact story they would like to hear. Why raise something for discussion in a classroom when it can be banned outright?

When the system behaves like this, there is an immediate counter-response: In eight US states, there is legislation dictating how schools should teach racist and gender discrimination. Teachers in states like Texas and Tennessee now find themselves scared to say anything about institutional racism in either the current or historical context. The censorship imposed by both sides of the political aisle ensures any debate or discussion is superficial at best.

An interesting class debate involves conflict. Academic debate involves emotions. We cannot constantly walk on eggshells and expect to expand people's horizons. Politics and politicians are slowly turning the US education system into a predictable bore.

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In COVID war, Bennett cannot shake Netanyahu's shadow https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/in-covid-war-bennett-cannot-shake-netanyahus-shadow/ Tue, 21 Dec 2021 09:32:52 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=738423   Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is concerned about a possible breakout of the Omicron coronavirus variant. He is concerned tourists will land in Israel who will infect an increasing number of Israelis, about the potential collapse of Israel's hospitals, and violations of coronavirus guidelines. He is really concerned by the unvaccinated, but he is most […]

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is concerned about a possible breakout of the Omicron coronavirus variant. He is concerned tourists will land in Israel who will infect an increasing number of Israelis, about the potential collapse of Israel's hospitals, and violations of coronavirus guidelines. He is really concerned by the unvaccinated, but he is most concerned by what his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu will have to say if any of those things do transpire.

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Bennett has performed pretty well to date: He passed a state budget, has maintained an impossible coalition, created a new set of priorities, and he has done all of those things without any unnecessary drama. Here and there, he has made the kind of mistake that could have been easily avoided. His embarrassing decision to fly overseas with his wife comes to mind. All in all, though, he has proved that you don't need hundreds of binders and drawings of bombs to run a state.

Bennett came to a realization: Israeli society needs quiet. There is no need to add more fuel to the fire.

The opposition has not given up and continues to try and inflame the situation. Time and again, Likud MK David Amsalem tries to stoke ethnic tensions, while his fellow Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan refers to the government as a "collection of losers." Unfortunately for them, Bennett and his fellow government members will not be dragged willingly into this mud bath. They aren't playing along. In response, opposition members are turning to increasingly more offensive speech, still to no avail.

Bennett does have one large weak spot: his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The virus built Netanyahu up and then brought about his downfall. The pandemic changed the world and the political world in particular. This is the area where Bennett references the former premier without the latter having to say a word.

Here, Bennett has failed not because there are too many confirmed cases but because he appears hysterical. His desire to prove he can skip over his predecessor's mistakes is making him appear helpless. He seems to be issuing statements and making decisions as if Netanyahu is right there waiting to excoriate him for any and every wrong move he makes.

It is in fact the long and threatening shadow of the opposition leader that is in practice now managing the Omicron crisis. Bennett may be authorizing the moves, but it is Netanyahu whose voice is hanging in the air – the voice of a man who, at the time, took ownership of the correct management of the first wave of the pandemic and the fact that Israel escaped from it relatively unharmed.

That is why every new confirmed case is perceived as a threat, and every vaccine opponent is an enemy of the state. Instead of finding his own voice, Bennett is being taken along for the ride. Netanyahu doesn't need to say anything to be heard. The man who wrote the book on how to defeat a pandemic is now behaving like someone who is looking for their place in the sun.

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All hot air and no ideology https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/all-hot-air-and-no-ideology/ Tue, 09 Nov 2021 07:31:36 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=715357   Yamina MK Amichai Chikli is the Israeli Right's new hero. Young, handsome charismatic, intelligent and to top all that – unyielding on his principles. He's a former combat officer with a winning smile and a background in education. The true salt of the earth.  Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter  Since being elected […]

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Yamina MK Amichai Chikli is the Israeli Right's new hero. Young, handsome charismatic, intelligent and to top all that – unyielding on his principles. He's a former combat officer with a winning smile and a background in education. The true salt of the earth.

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Since being elected to parliament in the last elections, Chikli has been trolling the coalition on a daily basis.

Wearing his cloak of values, he flies toward the next social media post and TV studios that are all too happy to host the brave, fearless rebel. He may vote with Yamina and the coalition, but his voice is the voice of the opposition. The bearer of the banner of public courage, integrity and courage, he personifies the values Yamina purports to champion and everyone else – including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, are merely a faded imitation.

But MK Chikli does not split from the coalition to form a one-man faction. Instead, he walks the Knesset halls as a member of Yamina, enjoying the benefits and privileges offers as part of being a member of the ruling party.

In his view, voting against the budget and routinely countering the coalition is perfectly legitimate. Like any superhero, he too has a cape that protects him and it makes no difference what insignia it bears as long as no can fly.

Holding on to one's opinions and principles is all well and good and exciting, but when you are not willing to pay a price for your principles and continue to act as if everything is allowed, it is opportunism.

Chikli claims that he has refused tempting offers from Bennett only to continue to adhere to his principles. What he neglects to say is that even if he actually musters the courage to serve as an independent MK, he will not be able to run in the next election as part of any existing faction and as a result, he has no chance of joining Likud.

That's what it's all about really. The fear of play both ends against the middle and losing. It is clear that of Chikli makes an independent bid for parliament he has absolutely no chance of crossing the four-seat electoral threshold. Thousands of "likes" on social media are nice for one's ego but translating them into actual ballots is hard work.

Many MKs took the plunge and formed a one-man faction, among them David Ben-Gurion, Yosef Paritzky, and most recently, Orly Levy-Abekasis, who can certainly teach a class on political opportunism. But none of them dared act as Chikli does.

No, Chikli continues to walk a dubious line that allows him to enjoy the image of a rebel with integrity without jeopardizing his political future. Chikli can yell that the emperor has no clothes all he wants, but maybe it's time someone around him reminds him that he, too, is in the buff.

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Paralympic gold medalist more than his Arab identity https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/paralympic-gold-medalist-more-than-his-arab-identity/ Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:29:11 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=682495   Iyad Shalabi became Israel's first Arab Paralympic medalist when he took gold in the 100-meter backstroke event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last week. It is thanks to him that the Israeli media reported on an Arab Israeli citizen in a context that had nothing to do with terrorism or crime. Follow Israel Hayom […]

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Iyad Shalabi became Israel's first Arab Paralympic medalist when he took gold in the 100-meter backstroke event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last week. It is thanks to him that the Israeli media reported on an Arab Israeli citizen in a context that had nothing to do with terrorism or crime.

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Israelis sat and watched Shalabi's father, the man who supported, embraced, and bathed his son, dedicating his life to Shalabi's success, kiss Shalabi as he emerged from the swimming pool. He speaks with an accent, and Hebrew is not his native tongue. Shalabi's beautiful mother gave birth to deaf-mute twins, one of whom, Iyad, would later become paralyzed after falling off a roof. We saw how her eyes sparkled when she was interviewed about her son's accomplishment on TV, and we, too, became emotional.

Shalabi's story is first and foremost one of overcoming immense adversity. It is one of a dedicated father and supportive mother. They are not Arabs first and everything else second. For a moment, the media did not treat them as a sector but as individuals, allowing us to witness an exciting story about people.

Shalabi joins a group of athletes united not by nationality but by tremendous willpower. He is judged not by his identity but rather by the objective criteria of distance and speed. He is an athlete with disabilities, and yes, he is an Arab. There are many more Arab, Bedouin, and Druze Israeli citizens with amazing personal stories, such as the late Ra'am MK Saeed Alkharumi, who will never be interviewed in any other context other than the fact that they are Arabs. Their profession will never be more important than their national identity.

In a majority of cases, Israeli media covers Arab Israeli citizens as Arabs period. Media coverage of Shalabi started in a similar vein, this was after all, what triggered the reporting. Slowly and surely, though, this became the secondary story. Shalabi did not take the podium as an Arab. His coach spoke of him solely as an athlete. He wasn't a political party or symbol but rather someone representing Israel.

This is the constant tension among minorities. On one hand, you need to exist and speak as a minority because that is what sets you apart. On the other hand, you want to become an integral part of society and assimilate. For that to happen, you must erase any minority symbols just to discover that no matter how much you erase, you will always be something you haven't erased enough of. In Shalabi's case, this dialogue of identity never existed in the first place. He simply got in the water and started to swim. And when that worked out for him, it was a moving event that made the media and ourselves relate not to an Arab swimmer with disabilities, but to Iyad the individual, and his achievements.

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Don't count on a civil war https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/when-netanyahu-goes-dont-count-on-a-civil-war/ Thu, 06 May 2021 09:19:08 +0000 https://www.israelhayom.com/?post_type=opinions&p=623185   It appears the moment Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer Israel's prime minister is closer than ever. There are those who are still waiting for the magician to pull some rabbit out of a hat and succeed in forming a government at the last minute. We've grown used to something unexpected happening, but this time, […]

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It appears the moment Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer Israel's prime minister is closer than ever. There are those who are still waiting for the magician to pull some rabbit out of a hat and succeed in forming a government at the last minute. We've grown used to something unexpected happening, but this time, nothing's working. Nothing. It suddenly turns out that the man who brought us coronavirus vaccines has no vaccine for the end of his reign.

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Many, many people are worried about the moment the words "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu" are no longer heard. What will be? How will his supporters react? What will they do? These concerns aren't coming out of a vacuum. For years, those who don't support Netanyahu have been subjected to attack, both online and in person. Netanyahu's greatest success was making the discussion not just emotional but personal. It's all about him, for him, and in his name.

Netanyahu is the master of the "you're either for us or against us" discourse.  With him, it's black and white, the children of light versus the children of darkness. What began with the remark that "the leftists have forgotten what it means to be Jewish" gained traction and become an ideology. Propagandists in the guise of journalists help him spread this separation theory. Lawmakers and ministers use it to garner ever more political power.

For a while now, there's been no point in even trying to give the appearance of false unity. As a small country of many peoples, there hasn't been anything to unite us for years. There are rifts that are too deep to heal. There is a sense of burning hatred, and clear lines delineate each camp.

Yet despite these warning signals and the writing on the wall, Israel will not erupt into a civil war the moment Netanyahu becomes our outgoing prime minister. They'll prepare us for riots, mass rallies, drama, pain, and violence, and yet none of that will happen.-

It's not because we don't like to fight or because our differences of opinion aren't significant, or the abyss between us isn't deep. It's simply because, in Israel, we are a majority, and the power is in our hands. Those in the majority can't really fume. The majority is comfortable. It's is safe and protected.

This security creates a sense of belonging, and the belonging is like glue, precisely because we move around as masters in this space. Language, culture, humor, associations, military, and mentality will defeat the hatred, the insult, and the anger.

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