← Previous Post: | Next Post: →

 

‘There is already unhinged talk in Israel of a new form of two-state solution. A liberal Israel with its capital in Tel Aviv and the ethno-nationalist state centered around Jerusalem and the settlements in the West Bank. Neither state would be viable but the despair of many Israelis at the extreme policies of the government and its supporters make many wish they could just cut themselves off from the impending theocracy. Many are starting to feel that it’s either that or migration.’

Things are beyond bad.

***********************

Harold Meyerson, American Prospect:

I do not believe the Israeli nation can endure half modern-democratic and half theocratic-primitivist; a house divided against itself cannot stand. Unlike Lincoln, neither do I believe that it will become all one thing or all the other. Someone there should start thinking about how to break it up.

**********************

The idea of dividing Israel into cantons, which for years has been received with mockery due to the country’s small size and security challenges, has been gaining more and more traction over the past few months, and liberals are angrily calling to separate “Israel” from “Judea.” For some, Judea means the occupied territories. For others, Judea represents all ultra-Orthodox and messianic Jews, whether they live in Bnei Brak (in Israel proper) or Hebron (in the West Bank).

Gitit Ginat, Foreign Policy

Margaret Soltan, July 22, 2023 4:46PM
Posted in: forms of religious experience

Trackback URL for this post:
https://www.margaretsoltan.com/wp-trackback.php?p=73641

4 Responses to “‘There is already unhinged talk in Israel of a new form of two-state solution. A liberal Israel with its capital in Tel Aviv and the ethno-nationalist state centered around Jerusalem and the settlements in the West Bank. Neither state would be viable but the despair of many Israelis at the extreme policies of the government and its supporters make many wish they could just cut themselves off from the impending theocracy. Many are starting to feel that it’s either that or migration.’”

  1. Dmitry Says:
    July 24th, 2023 at 10:22AM

    A theocracy in the Middle East? You don’t say so.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:
    July 24th, 2023 at 11:19AM

    Dmitry: Well, for awhile there it looked at though Israel might dodge that bullet. But no.

  3. Dmitry Says:
    July 24th, 2023 at 4:07PM

    Hard to tell them apart except for slight differences in kit.

  4. University Diaries » At a protest yesterday in Jerusalem. Says:
    July 26th, 2023 at 4:48PM

    […] keep thinking of a phrase Harold Meyerson used to describe the people about to take over Israel: “theocratic-primitivist.” Yeah, […]

Comment on this Entry

Latest UD posts at IHE

Archives

Categories