Thirty hours ago, Israel's Prime Minister was assassinated in Tel Aviv after addressing a rally. The rally's attendants were primarily supporters of Meretz/Peace Now and Labour. The rally was the brainchild of former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat, never one to appear too far from either group. The idea was to have a Rabin love-in to counteract the growing public disenchantment with Rabin's policies. Indeed, that is how it appeared until the assassination.
Within an hour of the assassination, every political group in Israel, and in the Jewish community of the Diaspora, condemned the attack. Dreams of generations even came true, as no less than five Arab leaders went on record condemning the assassination of an Israeli Prime Minister. While several of the Jewish leaders immediately sought to lay blame with the Israeli right for just about everything conceivable, at least they condemned the attack. Such blame laying was the root of the disunity which led to the attack, but at least the horrible results were condemned.
Two groups were conspicuous by their lack of condemnation. Meretz/Peace Now, and Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad members were seen singing and dancing in the streets of Gaza and Jericho, havens given to them by the man who now lay dead. This is not surprising. It only shows the true colours of Islamic Jihad and its followers.
But Meretz's silence is deafening. Shulamit Aloni and Yossi Sarid, given their careers to them on a silver platter by Rabin, said nothing. These two, cabinet ministers of rank, often point officers in the fight against Zionist Israel, remained aloof, drinking up the horror on the faces of Israel with silent glee. Members of four other Israeli political parties were interviewed on CNN that night, but none from the largest partner of Rabin's coalition. Representatives of various religious communities were quoted on Israeli Radio and TV stations condemning the assassination, but Meretz was nowhere to be found. In the United States and Canada, representatives of most major Jewish organizations were interviewed. Peace Now was nowhere among them.
So what gives here? One would think that Meretz would be among the loudest and most angered of the offended parties. Every opportunity is there for the taking. Meretz could have launched into anti-religious tirades -- a favourite pastime of theirs. They could have used the opportunity to push their platform of withdrawal from central Israel and rapid acceleration of the Oslo disaster. Instead, they remain on the sidelines, showing once and for all their true colours. And these are they.
Meretz stood to lose tremendous ground in the next election. Yitzchak Rabin's constant effort to limit the losses of Oslo was seen by many Israelis as strength and courage in the face of tremendous pressure. Indeed, Meretz was seen as the antithesis of Zionist aspirations in Israel. Their inciting rhetoric only gave further credence to the public's perception of them as racist lunatics. But Rabin's strong leadership of the left gave Meretz little hope for advancement in the coming elections. Opinion polls had Meretz receiving only one percent of public support -- not enough for even one seat in the Knesset.
Now that Rabin is dead, however, Shimon Peres takes over as Prime Minister. Peres's support in polls is not much higher than that of Meretz. He has always been seen as a weak leader, which was the primary cause of his defeat in the 1992 Labor primaries. Under his leadership, the left is in danger of fragmenting. A vacuum opens up on the left, of which Meretz plans to take full advantage.
But this motivation seems too petty even for Meretz. It is not sufficient to explain Meretz's apparent apathy in light of such unprecedented horror. We must therefore look deeper into the philosophy of Meretz to find an answer.
Meretz has spent the entire duration of its existence championing the cause of Palestinian nationalism, particularly when such cause has been demonstrably against Israel's national interest. When Arabs kill Israelis, never once does Meretz condemn the act. When Arabs are expelled from places like Libya, Meretz is the only group clamouring for Israel to admit them, despite their criminal and terrorist records, and despite the incitement with which they were brought up in their former homes. When the agreements reached with the PLO in the Oslo negotiations do not go far enough toward Palestinian aspirations, Meretz is the first to complain. When Hamas and Islamic Jihad are repressed, when their leaders are arrested or killed, Meretz is the only Israeli group to complain. And when Israeli professors such as Moshe Zimmerman comment that "Settlers are Nazis, and religious children are worse than Hitler Youth", Meretz applauds loudly, often echoing the remarks later on.
Meretz is the most racist, most anti-Semitic, most hateful group of malcontents ever to sit in Israeli political fora. This is far beyond mere anti-religion. This is pure treason. For those who take umbrage at the use of that term, look it up in the dictionary. Meretz fits the definition to a tee.
It is this racist treason that has led Meretz in the past to such activities as those outlined above. It is the very same racist treason that causes no grief among their leaders now, in the wake of the assassination. Of course, political assassination is the ultimate form of treason. How natural then for other such traitors to support it. This they do by their deafening silence.
Copyright 1995. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
