The Nuances of Israeli Nationalism

...Much of the Leftwing criticism of Jerusalem at home and abroad is based on the belief that unless it shows more political flexibility it will suffer diplomatic isolation...

...To the charges of fascism leveled at the Israeli Right, Sprinzak responds that except for the quasi-fascism of Kahane's followers and a few people outside of Kach, the appellation is undeserved...

...His work is particularly illuminating as the Middle East peace process launched in Madrid this past October proceeds on its uncertain course amid threats from coalition extremists in Jerusalem to bolt the government if Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir's dominant Likud Party makes one serious concession, territorial or otherwise, to Israel's Arab neighbors...

...The ultrareligious nationalist settler group Gush Emunim, for example, is firmly committed to retaining every inch of Judea and Samaria...

...Although most extremists (religious and secular) credit their background to Revisionism, Jabotinsky's nationalism has been revived without his accompanying liberal-democratic leanings...

...The extremists are more prone to support or even encourage settler violence in response to Arab attacks...

...Sprinzak points out that the first Israeli minister to be received by Moscow in the perestroika era was none other than Ne'eman...

...Even Moledet leader Rechavam Ze'evi, an advocate of Arab "transfer," can legitimately claim that parts of the Labor movement at various times toyed with a similar idea...

...This is partly the reason why Menachem Begin, who had absorbed Jabotinsky's nationalist and liberal outlook, met strong resistance from the radicals over his agreement to the Camp David Accord...

...Its components not only espouse different political ideologies...

...Some aspects of this split are illustrated by tracing the experience of former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Raphael Eytan...

...Eytan has since antagonized several factions within the religious nationalist camp by urging the abolition of Army exemptions for students of the ultraOrthodox yeshivas...

...Together with the exemplary leadership of Gush Emunim, they appeal to those Israelis who are scornful of most of the nation's unprincipled politicians and who look for personal example and genuine concern...

...Ingenerai, however, Sprinzak finds that the key factor determining the relative moderation or extremism of the religious Right is less the goals pursued than whether an ideology demands their immediate or deferred realization...

...About two years ago, Porat addressed a closed-door meeting of residents in Efrat...

...They were pushed somewhat to the sidelines during the two national unity government periods (1984-1990...

...These groups became the most active opponents of the final withdrawal from the Sinai, and the strongest advocates of the settlement drive in the late 1970s and early '80s...

...Victory in the 1967 Six Day War again stirred messianic themes among members of the religious Right, who saw the War's outcome as divine deliverance from the mortal threat Israel faced immediately before the conflict...

...A further appeal of the radical Right mentioned by the author is its support of a powerful Israel—an issue that deserves greater attention, particularly from Israeli doves...

...minimalism was vigorously debated, but after statehood the advocates of maximalism became "historically irrelevant...

...Combining this with his belief in the total irreconcilability of Jewish and Arab aspirations, he reached his ruthless conclusion that the Arabs had to be expelled...

...While Israel's radical Right has come into popular view in the last 10 to 15 years, Sprinzak traces its origins back to the pre-1948 era of Zionism and state building...

...Nevertheless, the groups fundamentally support the integrity of the existing political structure and eschew armed conflict with other Jews...

...Rather than work from a "Kookist" foundation, Kahane cited biblical injunction as the basis for creating a state that conforms to halacha...

...For the real unknown at present is whether Shamir will try to repeat Begin's role as peacemaker (assuming that is possible), or struggle to uphold the status quo in the face of changing circumstances and potential opportunities...

...To be sure, the pre-state ideas carried forward by the radicals have been chosen selectively...

...they are especially divided along religious and secular lines...

...Certainly the protests the thousands of Jewish residents in the territories and their supporters elsewhere are capable of mounting today could dwarf the attempts to halt the withdrawal from the Sinai in the early '80s...

...Thus to a degree, Sprinzak argues, the growth of the extremists' influence has resulted from the failure of the wellestablished large parties to provide inspiring leadership...

...On both moral and tactical grounds, he firmly opposed all attempts at vigilantism against Arabs and suggested that such violence would simply result in a curfew being imposed on the town...

...The author analyzes in detail the history and theology of Gush Emunim, the late Meir Kahane's Kach Party and the "cultural radicals," who on a number of issues are more radical than Kach...

...By contrast, large divisions exist within the religious nationalist camp...

...This contributes to the extremists' popularity, as does their promotion of ideals that are profoundly significant to modern Israel, such as pioneering and self-sacrifice...

...The radical Right—especially "analytical" secular Rightists like physicist and former university president Yuval Ne' man—counters that goodwill and global morality count for little, and that only a strong Israel will attain a greater international stature...

...In the wake of the victory secular maximalists, too, saw an opportunity to fulfill long dormant dreams...

...Indeed, I think the one shortcoming of Sprinzak's penetrating and careful assessment of the radical Right is his failure to adequately treat the Prime Minister, who continues to hold the trust of a majority of radicals...

...at various times he has opposed the radicals' demands, actively endorsed them, or appeared to have simply capitulated to them...

...The vast majority of the radical Right maintains a qualified commitment to democracy, based on the premise that whenever the needs of the Zionist collective (and/or Jewish tradition) clash with abstract universal values, the immediate concerns of the state must prevail...

...Earlier, he broke away from the Techiya Party because he did not identify with the religiousmessianic ideas of many of its supporters...

...Since Labor and Likud are unlikely to change in the near future, the radical Right's capacity to appear a credible alternative should not be underestimated...

...An unwavering dedication to retaining the disputed territories with no concessions whatsoever, though, is what unites the radical Right's sociologically disparate elements...

...In the course of his research Sprinzak conducted scores of interviews and became personally familiar with the major figures on the far Right...

...The composite picture he presents is one of a leadership with high standards of honesty and dedication...

...They are seen as honest individuals who do what they say and say what they do, solid people who have sacrificed careers for the unstable political life of the extreme Right...

...Much of the far Right's behavior will probably hinge on the stance of one critical individual—Yitzchak Shamir...

...It remains to be seen whether political developments such as the peace process will result in the extremists being forced to the margins by a population eager for peace, even with substantial concessions, or whether the radical Right will be activated to oppose accommodations to the Palestinians and Israel's other Arab neighbors...

...Despite their not having identical platforms, says Sprinzak, the parties of the secular Right—Tzomet, Moledet, the extreme wing of Likud, and portions of Techiya—hold fairly consistent fundamental views...

...Gush Emunim is based upon the philosophy of Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Kook, who maintains that settlement of the entire Land of Israel is necessary for national and, ultimately, universal redemption...

...Sprinzak makes clear at the outset that the radical Right (which he defines as essentially any formation to the right of Likud) is not homogeneous...

...The author seems to view Shamir as aligned with the pragmatic or moderate Right, yet where his actual loyalties he is not at all clear...

...Under the current Likud-led coalition they have once again moved closer to center stage...

...The Moderates, represented by such individuals as Chanan Porat and Yoel Ben-Nun, emphasize respect for the law and seek to enlist the general population in their cause...

...And today, in the midst of Labor's disarray, many Israelis can be heard saying it was the stubbornness and "inflexibility" of Likud that brought the Arabs to the negotiation table on more favorable terms than previously thought possible...

...Reviewed by Ben Mollov Former editor, "Israel Economist" Ehud Sprinzak, one of Israel's leading political scientists, has put together a fascinating, detailed account of the pivotal people, groupings and political parties that make up the Jewish State's "radical Right...

...Yet within Gush Emunim there is a schism of sorts...

...The secular nationalists welcome Gush Emunim's settlement efforts, but they do not precisely share its motives and they oppose its goals of transforming the country into one run according to halacha, or Jewish law...

...Secular nationalism, he observes, grew out of both the Zionist Revisionist tradition of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and the "activist" segment of the Labor Party that, among other things, opposed the partition of Palestine accepted by David Ben-Gurion and the Labor "pragmatists...

...Examining this objective, Sprinzak explains that prior to 1948 the question of territorial maximalism vs...

...On the whole, Sprinzak writes, the heads of the radical Right "project the image of true believers, which is rare in Israeli politics...

...As a non-Gush Emunim resident of Efrat (a new town in the Etzion bloc just south of Bethlehem), I can attest to how deep the fissures within the organization run...

...Sprinzak's very good book would have been invaluable if he had given us a more explicit insight into the Prime Minister's mindset, and how this reflects itself in his political behavior...

...He is currently a member of the Tzomet Party, whose ideological roots lie in the secular activist tradition of the Labor Party...