Ornan Yekutieli, the Jerusalem Councilman and resident anti-religious firebrand, continues to make a name for himself in the Meretz hierarchy through his vitriolic rampages against anything remotely resembling Judaism. His venom is fast approaching the quality and quantity of the former queen of the left-wing extremists in this country, Shulamit Aloni. One will recall that Aloni, in days of yore, firmly supported Prof. Moshe Zimmerman of Hebrew University when he labelled right-wing Jews “Nazis”. Well, yesterday, Yekutieli opined that the ultra-Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem should be treated as if they are a terrorist organization.
It seems that some ultra-Orthodox individuals have recently engaged in attacks of vandalism and assault directed against three Christian missionaries who were handing out literature to Orthodox youngsters in Meah Shearim. There was also an attack against a formerly ultra-Orthodox Jew, now secular, who has agitated against Orthodoxy from his home in a predominantly ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood. Frankly, if there is going to be a battle waged against the ultra-Orthodox people and traditions, and if it is going to be waged in ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, then those who start the battle should be prepared for the ultra-Orthodox to fight back.
But Yekutieli’s comments contain an interesting idea, and I support them completely. Treat the ultra-Orthodox the same as if they were a terrorist organization. Here are the details.
Let us, for one minute look at how Yekutieli and his extremist cohorts would treat the PLO. The PLO, remember, is the same organization, led by the same individuals, that hijacked and blew up planes for a living in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This is the same organization that was responsible for the death of wheel-chair bound Leon Klinghoffer aboard the Achille Lauro cruise liner in 1985. This is the same organization that has signed five recognition and peace agreements with Israel in the past five years, and which interprets those agreements to mean that it can kill even more innocent people than it did before there was “peace”. This is the same organization that maintained, and continues to maintain, training camps all over the middle east for terrorists from all over the world, including the IRA, the Japanese Red Army, the Baader Meinhoff Gang, the Basque Liberation Army, and many others. The PLO was, is, and will continue to be, the ultimate terrorist organization.
And how does Israel, and the world at large, treat the PLO? Israel withdraws from land, allowing the PLO to set up still more terrorist bases in the heart of Israel. Agreements are signed and witnessed that pave the way for granting the PLO statehood in the heart of the Holy Land. Israel permits and arms an oversized PLO army whose ultimate aim is to launch war against Israel. Israel finances the operation of the PLO in its pursuit of the next level of terrorism. Israel opens border points, airports, and seaports, enabling the PLO to import more advanced and larger weaponry for the coming war with Israel. Israel allows the PLO to continue operating, and to continue building, in Jerusalem, creating the circumstances for a Palestinian takeover of Judaism’s capital and their co-option of Jerusalem as the capital of the nascent Palestinian entity. And Israel turns a blind eye to the rising casualty numbers resulting from increased Palestinian terrorism directed at the Israeli population.
Whenever Israel attempts to do anything against this trend, Ornan Yekutieli and his henchmen are there protesting and complaining about the rights of these terrorists. There is NEVER any concern voiced for the Jewish victims, for the shrinking Jewish State, or for Jewish rights in what is left of our own homeland. There is never any mention of the Jewish history in Jerusalem, of the Jewish claim to Jerusalem (the only valid claim to the city that has ever existed), or of the stated aims of the PLO to annihilate Israel. Only the PLO has any rights in Israel, according to Yekutieli and Meretz.
If this is how Yekutieli would treat the PLO – the world’s number one terrorist organization – then one can only imagine how he would treat the ultra-Orthodox community were they to be labelled terrorists. Yekutieli would be present at the grand opening of every synagogue in Jerusalem – especially those located in bomb shelters and basements. He would advocate a ritual bath in every building in the city, and would ensure that the city council divert funds for such a purpose from the construction budget. All roads in the vicinity of ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods would be closed from one hour before Shabbat until one hour after Sunday, and Yekutieli would be present at the festive ceremony erecting the barriers on Bar Ilan street to begin this program. Yekutieli would demand that all ultra-Orthodox Jews be released from prison immediately. He would arrive at the Western Wall and proclaim loudly that only Orthodox Jews have the right to pray there, and that anyone else attempting to do so would be considered provocative and arrested by the increased police security at the site. Yekutieli would give up his seat on Jerusalem city council in favour of an ultra-Orthodox Rebbe, thus paving the way for the recognition of Jerusalem as an ultra-Orthodox state.
What Ornan Yekutieli has done, is to show the world that his position, which is, in effect, the position of Meretz, is an intellectually bankrupt one worthy of such derision as precedes this paragraph. If he is seriously interested in treating the ultra-Orthodox the same way he advocates that the PLO be treated, then perhaps there is some hope for the Jewish nation after all.
Copyright 1998. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
