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Netanyahu, Rabbi Hillel and a Jewish notion of self-respect
By Roi Ben-Yehuda
Tags: Roi Ben Yehuda 

During this recent campaign trail, Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have channeled the spirit of Aretha Franklin.

"I think that it is a matter of self-pride," says Netanyahu. "A people that respects itself doesn't divide its capital. A people that respects itself does not run away from terrorism. A people that respects itself believes in its right to its land.,

The logic of Netanyahu's position is crystal clear, as is his not-so-tacit message to voters: Since Livni or Barak (along with the international community) believe that dividing Jerusalem and returning land is a necessary condition for peace with the Palestinians and with Syria, they do not respect themselves or the Israeli people.
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Of course one can easily flip Netanyahu's logic and say that a people that respects itself does not value land over life. One can also point out that Netanyahu's positions are a broken mirror image of a radical and intransigent Palestinian constituency that refuses to compromise with Israel on land and recognition. It will leave no one incredulous if the words quoted above (with slight modifications) came from the mouth of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and not Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the telling problem in Netanyahu's logic is the overarching value he places on self-pride. Is respect for one's self the only game in town? What about respect for the rights of others? What about respect for Judaism's ethical heritage?

Over two thousand years ago, the great sage Hillel (the Jewish equivalent of Yoda) came to the realization that self-pride alone was an insufficient virtue. In his immortal word:

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?"

These are three profound questions that every significant political party in Israel must both ask and answer. The problem with Netanyahu (and Likud) is that he pays insufficient attention to the second of Hillel?s burning questions.

It is true that Netanyahu plans to throw some money in the direction of the Palestinians with the hopes of mollifying their national aspiration. However, as many have noted, Netanyahu's "economic peace" is doomed to fail; financially rewarding or punishing the Palestinians has never worked because the conflict is fundamentally political. No improved economic conditions (carrot) or blockade (stick) will lead Palestinians to abandon or significantly minimize their dream of self-determination.

Hillel's insightful queries remind us that to be fully human is to balance - in the here-and-now - respect for one's self and for others. Failure to do so, an overemphasis on either the self or the other, will leave us - as individuals and nations - a golem of sorts.

In addition, an inability to respect the needs of the people we are occupying and besieging will also leave us without the respect we wish our neighbors and the world to show us.

You might properly ask, "What does it mean to respect others?"

Allow me to borrow another gem from Hillel. When once asked to expound the essence of the Torah while standing on one foot (i.e. quickly) he famously said:

"What is hateful to you do not do unto others. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Now go and study."

This simple, yet un-utopian version of the Golden Rule (over a 100 years before a Jew by the name of Jesus articulated its positive manifestation), is the ethical key by which we can begin to unlock our conflict with the Palestinians.

Applying the golden rule on a macro level - what is hateful to your nation do not do unto another nation - is the way in which we can start showing genuine respect to our neighbors and create the conditions whereby they can respect us.

Benjamin Netanyahu thinks he can get Israelis real security without having to make the compromises that a thick peace calls for. That is not respect, that is plain old hubris. It is the same type of arrogance that caused him to blunder historic opportunities in the past, and by the sound of his rhetoric, nothing has changed. Given the dire and time-sensitive situation in the region, Israel and the world can ill-afford to take another chance on this man.

Roi Ben-Yehuda is an Israeli writer living in New York. Roi writes regularly for Haaretz and France 24. His blog can be read at Roiword.
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  1.   Shehechyanu-thank you Haaretz 21:09  |  Rubin 08/02/09
  2.   Thank you, Haaretz. A Moral Power drives destiny of nations 06:23  |  Ivar 09/02/09
  3.   Israeli self-respect 08:14  |  David 09/02/09
  4.   Ethical Humanism 09:18  |  Shtarka 09/02/09
  5.   It`s Roi who`s saying, "Sock it to me." 09:23  |  DJStahl 09/02/09
  6.   The Golden Rule and Hillel`s ko`an (and George Washington) 09:28  |  DJStahl 09/02/09
  7.   "real security" 09:31  |  DJStahl 09/02/09
  8.   Oddly enough, Ivar 09:36  |  DJStahl 09/02/09
  9.   Israeli self-respect is a contradictio in adjento 10:05  |  UlfT 09/02/09
  10.   Pride is not the answer 10:52  |  Tel Avivit 09/02/09
  11.   the world fears Arabs more than Jews! that`s why. 17:33  |  Dina 09/02/09
  12.   The only way to be "others" is to hold on to the land of Israel! 21:48  |  glenna 09/02/09
  13.   Respect for our Creator 11:25  |  Gary M. Cooperberg 10/02/09
  14.   ivar the blind beggar 14:42  |  Petra 10/02/09
  15.   # 13 Gary if we had true respect 14:46  |  Petra 10/02/09
  16.   You`d rather have self-respect 08:50  |  Noura 11/02/09
  17.   Appeals for decent behavior lost on Bibi 09:59  |  gladdie 16/02/09
  18.   Misapplication of Hillel`s Rules 17:55  |  Dean Blake 12/03/09
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