Annapolis is in the air, and the fact that the Arabs refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state has painted Israel’s anti-Jewish identity leaders into an uncomfortable corner. Outwardly, they demand that the Arabs recognize Israel as a Jewish state. It is an open secret, though, that since the State of Israel was established, its elites and official institutions have done all they could to erase Israel’s Jewish identity. The strongest of these elites is the “rule of law gang --” in the descriptive words of Chaim Ramon – and of course the “watchdogs of democracy –“as Israel’s media likes to present itself. There are other elites as well; academia, the cultural elite, public survey institutes, the defense establishment and more. They have all joined forces to reinvent Israel as a secular state of all its citizens.  

These elites retain control no matter what the results of the elections. Why, then, don’t they openly admit that their goal is to erase Israel’s Jewish identity and make it a state of all its citizens? Why do only Shulamit Aloni and the editorial staff of the “Ha’aretz” newspaper openly state their plans? What do the elites have to gain from the Jewish mask that it paints onto the face of the State of Israel? 

The Jewish Mask provides the elites with three important advantages that allow it to perpetuate their control:

1. The great majority of Israel’s public wants a Jewish state. It is good to give the masses a steady dose of Jewish opium.

2. The State of Israel justifies its existence by citing the persecution of Jews throughout the long years of exile, culminating in the Holocaust. This, of course, is a very dismal justification. It leaves Achmadinijad’s question “So why on my account? Let the Germans establish a state for you!” hanging in the air. Nevertheless, without our ties to Judaism, even Shulamit Aloni cannot explain why we insist on inserting ourselves under the fingernails of over a billion Moslems.

3. Money: A lot of money flows to Israel from Jews throughout the Diaspora. There are a lot of people in the “inner circle” who live well from these funds. They are in no hurry to dry up the cash flow that reinforces their power by negating the Jewish character of the State.

Thus, the Jewish Mask remains snugly on Israel’s face. Even the symbol of the State of Israel that proudly hangs in all government offices is the ritual menorah from the Holy Temple. But for decades, the powers that be have worked behind the mask to neuter Israel’s Jewish identity of all significance. 

If not for the Arabs, it may have worked. But the identity-less Israeli needs the Arab to allow him to forget that he is a Jew. For example, Israel’s Supreme Court performed amazing contortions to authorize Azmi Bashara’s candidacy for the Knesset. It didn’t help the Knesset lawmakers to argue that Bashara had broken Israeli law by holding traitorous meetings with Israel’s enemies. Despite his meetings and anti-Israel declarations, the judicial establishment worked frantically to find a solution that would allow him to be a Knesset member. Why? Because an Arab in the Knesset proves that you do not have to be a Jew to be an Israeli. An Arab can also share the dubious distinction. And if you do not have to be a Jew to be an Israeli, Israel is not a Jewish state. (By the way, although the Supreme Court authorized the candidacy of the traitorous Bashara, it disqualified my candidacy for the same reason; the fear that Israel may turn into a Jewish state). 

It took a long time for the Arabs to realize that their special status affords them immunity from prosecution. But today they understand it well: Currently, 20% of Israel’s residents are above the law. The resulting plague of Arab theft, robbery, arson, rape and rioting has become a chronic Israeli fact of life. Israel allowed Azmi Bashara to escape the country even though he had passed critical security information to the Hizbollah so that it would not have to put him on trial. Israel’s first Arab minister explained last week that the laws of Islam are more important to him than the laws of the State of Israel. That was an important lesson for all of us to hear. But the most important lesson is being provided to us today by the wall to wall Arab refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. They are so sure of their immunity that they fearlessly undermine the founding ethos of the State of Israel. Their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state forces the elites to defend its Jewish mask. What is their alternative? To forgo the Jewish mask perks that perpetuate their control? 

It is not clear what will come of Annapolis. But the Jewish state genie that has escaped from the bottle is very important. Now, it is not the Right or the Religious that defend Israel’s Jewish identity. It is Tzippy Livni.

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