The End of the Jewish State?

In attempting to justify his "Convergence Plan" (which calls for the expulsion of close to 100,000 Jews from their homes in the Land of Israel), the leader of the Kadima party and Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, argues that this plan is needed to secure the future of the State of Israel as a Jewish State. He expressed this most recently in remarks this past week that he made to the participants of the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth that will be held on Israel's 58th Independence Day:

...Sometimes reality is complicated and another people lives in parts of our Land. Therefore, we must decide whether to lose Israel's identity as a Jewish state or to give up part of the territory so that Israel will remain a Jewish state. The decisive majority of the people prefer to maintain the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and in order to preserve its Jewish character we must compromise over territories...

How strange is it then to discover that in the coalition guidelines formulated by the Kadima party, which contain the guiding principles that will unite all members of the future government of the State of Israel, the State of Israel is no longer referred to as a Jewish State!

Shas balks at language calling for settlement evacuations

Shas had hoped to finalize details on Thursday before signing a coalition agreement with Kadima... But Shas was reportedly surprised on Friday to receive from Kadima a draft including the statement: "The government shall work to shape the permanent borders of the state as a democratic state with a Jewish majority [...] Israel's territories, whose border will be determined by the government, will require reducing Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria."

It seems that if the incoming Kadima government, led by Ehud Olmert, has its way, the State of Israel will no longer be a Jewish State, rather, it will simply be a "democratic state with a Jewish majority".

Ehud Olmert’s desire to minimize the Jewish character of the State of Israel should come as no surprise - as I highlighted in a post 3 and a half months ago - that less then two weeks into his tenure as acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert had already fired the opening shots in his war against the Jewish State.

The implication of such efforts are profound. The Jewish People did not hope, dream, yearn, pray, fight and die over the 2,000 year long Exile in order to return to the Land of Israel merely to be "the only democracy in the Middle East". In spite of how uncomfortable the idea of a Jewish State might make the powers that be in the State of Israel, the foundation of the right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel is based on the Torah (both Written and Oral), and it is from there that the collective mission and destiny of the Jewish People are set forth. Any effort to undermine Israel as a Jewish State would be to undermine the very right of the Jewish People to a state in the Land of Israel altogether.

We must, as a nation, ask ourselves, "who we are?" and "why we are?". 1st, are we Jews or are we Israelis? 2nd, Should the State of Israel be a Jewish State - that places the mission and interests of the Jewish People above all else, or a state like all others - based on foreign values and culture?

As I mentioned in a recent post, we have before us two destinies and two peoples, only one of which that has a future in this land.

Difficult questions. Difficult answers. Difficult times.

Israel
Zionism
Judaism