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The believers and the kingdom of evil By Shlomo Avineri Tags: settlers, David Ben-Gurion  When Herzl wrote in his diary, the day after the First Zionist Congress, "...in Basel I founded the Jewish state," it was clear to him that the state hadn't really been founded in those summer days of 1897. Rather, the infrastructure that provided a basis for a political framework for the Jewish people for the first time in 2000 years had been formed. Or as Herzl said, he gave people "the feeling that they were the national assembly." Until they met, the Jews lacked not only territory, but an institutional authority that could speak in the nation's name and demand a state. Advertisement That was the significance of convening the congress, holding elections, electing an executive committee, charging a voluntary tax (the shekel), creating financial instruments - which in later days would be called "the state in formation." I pondered over this Copernican revolution of Herzl's as I read two reports published in Haaretz on December 2. The first was about Arye Leib Teitelbaum, one of the Israelis killed in Mumbai, whose family asked not to cover his coffin with the state flag before flying it to Israel. Teitelbaum was a Satmar Hasid and his family are Neturei Karta people, who see the very establishment of the Israeli state as fundamental heresy and a refusal to accept the Kingdom of Heaven. The second was a short story about Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, whom the writer Nadav Shragai called "one of the heads of Chabad's Messianic faction." Since the disengagement from Gaza, Wolpe has regarded Israel and its government "as though it were British rule" and its leaders as "a king as harsh as Haman." Wolpe and his supporters call on religious soldiers to disobey orders and proclaim that "we are in exile." An overdose of messianic Zionism has led Wolpe and his men to see the tangible historic product of Zionism - the State of Israel - as the kingdom of evil. The fact that two opposite interpretations to religious tradition could lead to a radical delegitimization of Israel's existence should raise a number of thoughts. First, it appears that at least as far as the Jewish public is concerned, the deepest undermining of Zionism and Israel's legitimacy does not come from the extreme left wingers dubbed "post Zionists," but from religious groups with deep faith. It is possible to be both a believing Jew and a meticulous enemy of Israel. Traditonal religious Zionism of the Mizrahi school of thought, which sought the middle way between loyalty to tradition and avoiding the path to possible false messianism, is being eroded between the contradictory interpretations of Neturei Karta and Rabbi Wolpe. This moderate religious Zionism was one of Zionism and Israel's cornerstones and now, with the disappearance of the historic National Religious Party, one component has dropped out of the pluralistic Zionist building. Second, it was David Ben-Gurion who understood the deep meaning of establishing a state: the Jews in exile created a normative basis for their existence (the halakha) and developed institutions (rabbinate, community), which implemented and reflected these norms effectively. But the loss of the political basis meant that the Jews had no single authoritative legitimate institutional framework which could enforce its power domestically and speak for them to other nations. The Zionist movement of Herzl's school wanted to create this framework and has withstood difficult trials before and after achieving independence. Ben-Gurion's treatment of the Altalena and after that in dismantling the Palmach (the Hebrew acronym for Plugot Mahatz - Strike Companies) may be criticized for its uncompromising harshness. But those two moves, with all their differences, were based upon the understanding that establishing a state requires one agreed authority - even if occasionally one needs to take harsh measures to obtain and preserve it. The Palestinians' present failure to set up a national authority is an example of what could happen to a nation whose leadership fails to grasp, or is incapable of implementing, a national authority. Neturei Karta's position (even in the painful circumstances of the murderous attack in Mumbai) and Rabbi Wolpe's approach show that the process Herzl started and Ben Gurion continued has yet to be completed. From this point of view - not in the meaning Neturei Karta and Rabbi Wolpe attach to it - we are still at least partly in exile. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Back in the Mideast Carter may meet with Hezbollah officials during his visit in Lebanon. Bush's final days Olmert has a thing or two to learn from Bush about an exit strategy.   1.   wrong 10:07  |  observer 04/12/08   2.   Broadly correct 10:54  |  DJStahl 04/12/08   3.   when israels governments observe law and treaty 11:56  |  victor hardman 04/12/08   4.   Pretty much bang on the money 12:30  |  Clickfool 04/12/08   5.   Get real.! The people quoted are not representative. 12:51  |  PETER SM 04/12/08   6.   ABOUT THE PROBABILITY OF HER SURVIVAL 13:31  |  indrajaya 04/12/08   7.   The State has forgotten its own people and lost its path 14:24  |  Harvey 04/12/08   8.   AVINERI, BROTHER, NOW I`M`VE FINALLY RELIEVED MYSELF 16:17  |  indrajaya 04/12/08   9.   But Neturei Karta & Wolpe don`t control Bagaz & TV; Leftists DO! 17:21  |  Jo 04/12/08   10.   The Question Now, Mr. Avineri Is... 19:05  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/12/08   11.   Source of State 20:14  |  eli 04/12/08   12.   Just read Zechariah 20:50  |  paul 04/12/08   13.   Excellent article 21:02  |  ScotGuy 04/12/08   14.   Birth of a nation.....the Swiss manger 22:04  |  PL 04/12/08   15.   Indeed, you are 22:07  |  Edith 04/12/08   16.   goldberg/iceberg - it`s all the same 22:31  |  PL 04/12/08   17.   Fringe extremists do not threaten Israel by existing 22:50  |  Mark Lincoln 04/12/08   18.   Tietelbaum, Wolpe, and me 00:39  |  Colin Wright 05/12/08   19.   16~ There is only two kinds of lunatics Mr Lincoln 01:31  |  Akram Zekaria 05/12/08   20.   to Eli 02:24  |  Otto Rand 05/12/08   21.   To ScotGuy 02:32  |  Otto Rand 05/12/08   22.   NO RELEVANCE 03:02  |  daat y 05/12/08   23.   Israel is Still fighting for Independance 03:53  |  Baruch Gold 05/12/08   24.   Re: The believers and the kingdom of Evil 05:05  |  Chaim Twerski 05/12/08   25.   It is all about LAND 05:39  |  Boris 05/12/08   26.   What irony ... 05:54  |  Morris Valentine 05/12/08   27.   To Boris 06:10  |  Otto Rand 05/12/08   28.   To Otto Rand 08:08  |  ScotGuy 05/12/08   29.   Israel Isn`t The Kingdom Of Evil 08:57  |  Yosemite 05/12/08   30.   Here Is What Real Evil Looks Like 09:17  |  Yosemite 05/12/08   31.   For Morris Valentine # 23 09:46  |  Clickfool 05/12/08   32.   To poor indrajaya...be happy, Israel growing 10:02  |  The dumbite kid 05/12/08   33.   #27 That is all true, but ... 13:11  |  Edith 05/12/08   34.   Misleading Headline 14:47  |  FOX 05/12/08   35.   Arts and Sciences 15:14  |  hollingsworth 05/12/08   36.   #32 Arts and Sciences 17:50  |  Seymour 05/12/08   37.   To my friend Clickfool (#29) 18:32  |  Morris Valentine 05/12/08   38.   Hey FOX... 20:59  |  hollingsworth 05/12/08   39.   Hollinsworth 08:26  |  FOX 06/12/08   40.   Separation of Church and State 13:28  |  MarkC 06/12/08   41.   PL, has been watching too many movies #14f 23:07  |  FOX 06/12/08   42.   a liberal hand stretched out 05:41  |  hollingsworth 07/12/08   43.   To Hollingsworth (#42) 04:03  |  Morris Valentine 08/12/08   44.   The Arabs and Golda 00:50  |  hollingsworth 09/12/08   45.   yes they can,otto 00:09  |  hollingsworth 10/12/08   46.   To hollingsworth (#44) 07:16  |  Morris Valentine 10/12/08

Read & React Netanyahu: Obama told me he views Iran nukes as 'unacceptable' Responses: 69 Olmert: We won't just defend against Gaza terror, we'll attack Responses: 120 EU votes to upgrade Israel relations despite Arab lobbying Responses: 100 Mati Steinberg: The Arab world's stance on Israel has changed Responses: 76 More Headlines 02:12 Despite Netanyahu's fears, latest poll shows Likud gaining strength 02:19 Yossi Sarid / Feiglin, his cronies are fascists by any definition 03:06 Olmert refuses to rule out Gaza offensive ahead of key talk 02:36 Turkish foreign policymaker: Iran poses threat to Turkey 03:05 Feiglin's manifesto: Israel should quit UN, cut off water to Palestinians 05:56 New rabbi arrives at terror-ravaged Mumbai Chabad house 23:41 Rights group to Mazuz: Probe IDF targeted killings in West Bank 04:39 Indian-made electric car REVA to roll into Israel shortly 06:00 Athens riots give Israeli tourists reason for concern 03:40 Diplomats ordered to cut costs by flying coach class 05:18 Special police forces to tackle Netanya gangland slaying 06:37 Haaretz investigation: Holocaust restitution fund burns through budget 04:16 Likud's immigrant slot moves from Ethiopian to Russian oleh 06:21 IDF launches training program for immigrant physicians 06:56 Frustrated by impasse, New Green Movement will run for Knesset Previous Editions Select Day 09 dec 08 dec 07 dec 05 dec 04 dec 03 dec 02 dec 01 dec 30 nov 28 nov 27 nov 26 nov

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