Israeli left needs to wake up before it's too late

It has been a long since I have agreed with every word Gideon Levy wrote but in this case I agree fully. It is a disgrace that these hooligans have been aquitted of the crimes they committed and it truly shows how the wind blows in our country these days. I am not really surprised as the majority of Knesset members are not interested in trying to make peace and as to our prime minister, I don't really know what he wants, except to be prime minister, because if he truly wanted to work for the good of the country as he claims, how could he appoint Lieberman as foreign minister and Allon his deputy, 2 people who have no knowledge of diplomacy whatsoever. As to Barak he only wants to be prime minister even if he looses his party. What I cannot understand is why Begin and Meridor haven't resigned yet. It looks as if you are right Mr. Levy it is far too late, our country is going the same way as all right winged countries do, no free speech no freedom to demonstrate next dictatorship

Wendy how do you propose peace? How does a country make peace with its neighbors who are bent on destruction and death? If you really believe that peace can come through land or negotiations with known haters and non recognizers of Israel than you should see if the "left" really have any brains "Left". Why dont you go live in PA and fight for peace for the PA's! Do it i dare you!. Why dont you? because no matter how left you may think you are, somewhere deep down inside you know that you will be considered an enemy of the Pals and your life would be in danger!!! Its safe to preach peace from your arm chair! I will be going to Israel (in a few months, please G-d) to fight for Israelis and our Jewish right to live in a home free of fear and violence by those that are hell bent on our destruction. Your so called peace will be the reason there will be no Israel in twenty years, because there will be no Israel left to fight with!

Gideon, this is the saddest article I've read by you. There MUST be some way for the left to rise again. Yes, I know they are orphans but even orphans can choose to band together and do the right thing. I'm not in Israel now but I would come to join those who will fight for peace, peace with the Palestinians most of all. If not, Israel will not exist, not in ten or twenty years. Please do not give up. Find all the like-minded in Tel Aviv mostly and make it a point to ask we on the left around the world to come and work with you, whatever the price.

I do not understand your secular and leftist mentality. It is not too late the Moslems and PA and Hamas et.al still want to kill you and destroy Israel. They are still on track and do not consider their hate and aim too late. When are you going to wake up and be a PROUD ZIONIST JEW ??? Did you go to shul today and read the 10 Commandments that G-D gave to us Jews. When are we going to unite and stand up for ISRAEL first and stop worrying about the PA.

Howard Zinn has always been a champion for the peoples' cause both as a scholar of history and author and as a civil rights activist.(He died last week.) I had the pleasure of attending many of his lectures and rallies over the years. His message was alway simple it seemed never the status quo and always question & challenge the message, especially from the government. He has written many books and his most recent was A Peoples' History of the United States, which was a big hit! Indeed , he was just on the radio a few weeks ago telling people not to accept the escalation of the war in Afghanistan and endless war and not to allow the Banks to foreclose and evict people from their homes. What timely advice! Anyway, enjoy this other timely piece by him against discouragement...Dutch http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/howard-zinn-why-we-must-not-be.html (His bio is also available on Neflex Films... Someone said it is fantastic! ) http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Howard_Zinn.php

"all Israeli journalists should unite to free the ordinary Palestinians from the grip of the barbaric hamas and fatah leaders ... " (IsraelOnRightTrack) ... and then convince them it is in the best of their interest to stay forever our silent and obedient subjects. Until the day comes and they are a majority between the sea and the river.

Enjoy the following especially Ted Kennedy's scholarly book below The liberal legacy.... http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0222-05.htm Washington's Lord of Creation .. Thomas Frank http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174963/ thomas_frank_washington_s_lords_of_creation Note this scholarly book by Ted Kennedy America Back on Track (He didn't say it but I am after the Bush nightmare ) Listen to the audio http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5353270

Americans are going to fight the Supreme Court ruling on campaign financing tooth and nail. Otherwise we will be forced to kiss everything we stand for goodbye. Even a 100 yr old woman join the protest last week and advised peo- ple to get their sneakers and signs ready and be ready for the long haul! Can you believe her determination at this point in her life when she could thrown herself into a rocking chair and stay there? Of course, Ted Kennedy had that same determin-ation too. He never slepted in bed a day until his dying day! No wonder he was so fit too...

...before they find they won't have any rights left or indeed before they lose their state to the rabid Right. They have alienated the world with their hard-line and if they don't turn things around soon--you will all be wandering Jews again. Only this time no doors will open to you as people will accuse you of being silent and not stopping the rabid Rights' assault. Dutch P.S. When Bush threw Muslims in Jail as "enemy combatants" and denied them due process it was the American Left who put in their time & money to stop Bush and even got testimopy obtained under duress kicked out of court. Now that was no small matter and you should have heard how the right went around proclaiming "We don't tor-ture...." What abloody lie given half a chance they would have thrown America's legal system back to the stone age esp the "enemy combatants" by refus- ing to let them challenge the charges against them in court. Evil must be fought not allowed to fester! P.P.S. Believe or not the fight still goes on to get them to have their cases heard in civil court than before a military tribunal. What nut houses the neoconservatives were . They were a nightmare and so are Israel' hardliners It's all that colonial superior stufff float- ing around to impose their will on others....

"The government of Israel needs to learn that the reason for their existence is to serve and protect the people." (Josiah J. Ben David) Being the last of democratic countries to rule over a foreign and stateless population is the least effective way "to serve and protect the people." Time is long past when subjugation of one people by another could lead to peace. What other nations, much more powerful we can ever be, have learned long ago, we, supposedly a clever people, have yet to understand. "Time is against us. Demographically, it works for the Palestinians, and politically, in favor of Hamas and the settlers." Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet, in Dec 22, 2001. www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/former-israeli-shin- bet-head-speaks-up-for-peace In 2001, very few Israelis took Ayalon's warning seriously. Today, Hamas, whose name, up to the first Intifada, no one had heard, is in full control of the Palestinian parliament and of the Gaza Strip - now an islamist enclave we cannot live with nor defeat.

Who do you think you can fool with a dummy analogy? 1- When James Cook claimed New South Wales for Great Britain in 1770, there was no Security Council and no International Law. 2 - the Australian Aboriginal people is not and has never been a demographic threat to the United Kingdom population. 3 - 63 years ago, the Australian aboriginal people became Australian citizens. Do tell us: When do you think will an Israeli government annex the West Bank and grant Israeli citizenship to the two million and a half West-Bankers? And also: Do you believe ignoring history of your own country wins arguments?

If you say so. I'd say some are and some aren't. "It was reasonable people who stole the USA, it was reasonable people who brought Christianity and torture to South America, it was reasoanble people who conquered half the World in the name of Allah, it was reasobale people who bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Vietnam, it is reasonable people who murder and rape in Somalia, Sri Lanka, Siera Leone,Yemen,Pakistan,Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran." If you say so... ??? " Land theft is nothing new" Illegal now. " You are not innocent.." Uh huh. Tell me all about myself. Meanwhile look at the types you put Israel amongst...bravo!! Many wrongs make a right, right?

Do you kid yourself it was terra nullis? Have you paid the tribe whose ancestral land you live on? or are you holier than thou at somebody elses expense? At least Israelis purchased land from Arab landowners. Who did have purchase from? Do you believe abusing Israelis wins arguments

It is true!! The israeli public shme does not exit. So, israeli leaders dictatorship will continue its pathway in creating chaos and destruction in the middle east.

"It was reasonable people who stole the USA, it was reasonable people who brought Christianity and torture to South America, it was reasoanble people who conquered half the World in the name of Allah.." A) If you say so..I haven't. B)Which is why there are now laws forbidding the acqiisition of territory by war. " it was reasobale people who bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Vietnam, it is reasonable people who murder and rape in Somalia, Sri Lanka, Siera Leone,Yemen,Pakistan,Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. Land theft is nothing new." Makes Israel's illegal actions right, right? "You are not innocent, so give us a break about, "reasonable People" Humanity is as guilty as sin" A) Prove any guilt on my part ... B) Not all humanity m'dear, just some ....

polls reflect "public opinion", NOT necessarily the opinion of those in power, or religious leaders, or those who make the most noise. so did morris base his "conclusions" on random sampling of the population, or on subjective analysis of those in power. should i judge all israelis based on lieberman or netanyahu? and the conclusion that you make from polls reflecting palestinian and israeli views of a two state solution is also based in stereotype. you suggest that the poll was misleading because militants continued their crap? what of the settler response to two states? was the israeli poll in error also. do we judge all israelis on the views and actions of the settlers? stereotyping my friend, it's a villainous human tendency that lies behind all forms of hate, bias, and bigotry, and is frequently utilized by those who perpetuate and promote them.

What an excellent article. It will be too late. Israel continues to do as it pleases, with the support of the bankrupt US. One can only predict the future of Israel as it dig their own grave. Did the holocaust teach them any thing.

Wow i see Mr. Gideon Levy that your country is out of control. Well that's also what i heard and what i can see. I saw the documentary "Welcome to Hebron" and i can say that peace is certainly far from Israel.

polls reflect "public opinion", NOT necessarily the opinion of those in power, or religious leaders, or those who make the most noise. so did morris base his "conclusions" on random sampling of the population, or on subjective analysis of those in power. should i judge all israelis based on lieberman or netanyahu? and the conclusion that you make from polls reflecting palestinian and israeli views of a two state solution is also based in stereotype. you suggest that the poll was misleading because militants continued their crap? what of the settler response to two states? was the israeli poll in error also. do we judge all israelis on the views and actions of the settlers? stereotyping my friend, it's a villainous human tendency that lies behind all forms of hate, bias, and bigotry, and is frequently utilized by those who perpetuate and promote them.

(a) Strange that the Knesset decides about not prosecuting people. This is in violation of the trias politica. (b) As far as the left is concerned left in Israel is almost non existent. Only 40% of the jews would need to vote "left" to get a arab/left majority. In practice even the parties you call left like labor do not really care about what happens to Palestinians as long as they leave Israel. The real left as in cares for Palestinians and the rule of law is probably extremely small. (c) For me next to your article is a commercial for "the ultimate mission to israel". Among others information about "Targeted killing units" Gideon sometimes you have to vote with your feet and leave Israel.

"The government of Israel needs to learn that the reason for their existence is to serve and protect the people." (Josiah J. Ben David) Being the last of democratic countries to rule over a foreign and stateless population is the least effective way "to serve and protect the people." Time is long past when subjugation of one people by another could lead to peace. What other nations, much more powerful we can ever be, have learned long ago, we, supposedly a clever people, have yet to understand. "Time is against us. Demographically, it works for the Palestinians, and politically, in favor of Hamas and the settlers." Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet, in Dec 22, 2001. www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/former-israeli-shin- bet-head-speaks-up-for-peace In 2001, very few Israelis took Ayalon's warning seriously. Today, Hamas, whose name, up to the first Intifada, no one had heard, is in full control of the Palestinian parliament and of the Gaza Strip - now an islamist enclave we cannot live with nor defeat.

on the issue of "moral Brains"",I am 85 yrs.old now, and I have yet to see one good idea for humanity that people on the "right" have promulgated. please name one...thank you.

of the Kadima party who were predominantly right Likudniks, took a left-leaning conciliatory approach to the political process with the Palestinians and they were led by Ariel Sharon (beginner of the settlement movement) who made a monumental shift (especially from the past) and did a pragmatic move. BTW Kadima formulated because of Netanyahu and other hardliners. However the Disengagement was not the proper thing to do as they did not negotiate with the Palestinians and then we had the aftermath. So in effect, Sharon moved left from the right, and ended up being a centrist or moderate politician - smart man!

Many Israelis have dual nationality and if the country continues as it is we will just have to wait and see who is left and what Israel will mean to world jewry. My guess is that it will eventually become an enclave for the ultra-religious and most everyone else will have found its policies so unpalatable that they will have upped sticks and left. Israel is destroying the Jewish dream of a homeland which would be a light unto nation without help from anyone else. Am I right. Time will tell.

...as they won't have a state at the rate the Right is going. They are a disaster and have alienated the world with their policies of aggresssion and brutaity towards the Palestinian people and as you have shown those who uphold their rights. Israel is a morally corrupt country now thanks to the Right and the settlers and It won't last--that's for sure. Dutch

The ideological remnants of what was once "The Left" have had their conclusions proven both wrong and based on presumptions fatally tainted by delusions. Simply, "The Left" has always presumed, in a rather condescendingly racist manner, that since everyone is equal and alike, that thus the Arabs must have the same thoughts as they do. The Leftists persist i8n this delusion, despite the Arab world both proclaiming and acting otherwise. Simply, everything is NOT based on the classic, shallow economic theories and so, Leftism offers NO reasonable explanation for the irrationality of the Arab-Israeli conflicts and offers only farce.

"Ever wondered why they might attack someone who has usurped their territory for 62 years?" Thing is, CJ, old cock, they attacked Jews well before establishment of the State of Israel, before any could claim they were "usurping". Jews bought worthless swamp or desert land at formidable prices from the Ottomans and stubbornly worked it until it was fruitful. The Pals attacked then, the Pals attack now. They never seem to learn. Neither do you.

Because reasonable people had not yet created laws to outlaw their unreasonable behaviour. Israel,s unreasonable behaviour has all suceeded those laws.And Israel continues to break them. Glad to note you admit Land theft is going on but then you spoil your statement by trying to justify it.

the U.S. & Israel...2 sides of the same coin, but at least you have a paper that will publish an opinion like this...you rarely read anything like this in the mainstream American print- media...as Martin Luther King so famously put it" we will either learn to live together as civilized human-beings, or we will surely die together as fools"...we are all connected, so it's only a question of time... LOVE & PEACE!

... in order to survive or regenerate...which is entirely lacking in Israel... ... this may be circumstantial... or it may be in-our-genes...

The Arabs have 22 states with a land-mass the size of the continental United States. Why does the Israeli "left" insist on giving away Israel to become the 23rd Arab state, rather than the Homeland of the Jews? Israel giving away ancestral Jewish homeland so Arabs (Palestinians) can have another country?

e peace . lets giv'em weapons and lands . but wait ! haven't we done that since infamous Oslo Accords ? . Could be !!! But it doesn't seem to be enough . so lets use a policy of goodwill gestures and concessions and boost such appeasement policy by denying and delegitimising our rights to the land . heh !? Lets add a breath of fresh air in the pollution that inundates media about Israel, Lets employ the dogma and rhetoric which characterizes the disproportionately biased Israeli media . We used only one bataillon to liberate Judea and Samaria in 67 and just one bataillon to rule Gaza . We now need 4 bataillons to fight back terror .

It was reasonable people who stole the USA, it was reasonable people who brought Christianity and torture to South America, it was reasoanble people who conquered half the World in the name of Allah, it was reasobale people who bombed Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Vietnam, it is reasonable people who murder and rape in Somalia, Sri Lanka, Siera Leone,Yemen,Pakistan,Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. Land theft is nothing new. We Brits are past Masters and like yourself I partake in the spoils we stole from the Colonies, in the pain and suffering we inflicted on others for our own personal gain. You are not innocent, so give us a break about, "reasonable People" Humanity is as guilty as sin.

illl put min against yours anyday sam !1

During the last ten years, I've read a lot of Israeli leftists comments on the danger of letting settlers unchecked. Even Sharon knew how dangerous the game became. Unfortunately, a majority of israeli voters ended up deciding to give settlers the upper hand, efectively putting the country's destiny in their hands. So please, let's be very clear about all this, Israel had a lot of time to decide between settlers and democracy, and chose the settlers. As a result, Israel no longer has a choice, it simply needs to shut dissent no matter the cost. You'll get used to it.

The left is awake Gideon, but it lacks popular support both among Israelis and Arabs. As to PeterSM -unless you are an aborigine I don't trust your ability to judge as a "matter of illigalyy acquiering territory". So all Australins live on legaly acquered territory for 200 and odd years

walter, I love you. robert

It's sad to read how Israeli politicians ignore Rule of Law in their own country, while accusing other countries for the same political comportment. this is not only ambiguity, it's plain bigotery.

First time commenting in Haaretz, so I don't know the regulars in the comments section. Gideon, while a nice passionate article, the thing that kept this article from greatness is a lack of offering/suggesting solutions. Without offering ideas for the left, you have become no better than the apathetic liberals you shout at. So please Gideon, you can be a better advocate/journalist if you had offering solutions to fight back.

As the world closes in on the Jewish people, the Left will realize two things. One is that their power is unidirectional in that they have the ability to incur damage to the Jewish people but do not have the ability to strengthen ( I challenge anyone to list times in history when the left has built something in Israel). The second thing that the left will realize is that they have helped split the Jewish people for a long, long time, and if they don't realize this on their own, they will feel this on the street.

...into this fight. They must challenge their government's policies of force and aggression as a means of imposing its ugly will on their civil liberties and the Palestinian people daily. However, having said this I shouldn't worry if I were you about the right getting the upper hand as they have lost the hearts and minds of the people all around the world -especially after Gaza and their downfall is emminent. ( trust me on this..) Americans swear at Israel daily and the American left find your right wingers ghastly (way too punitive and I imagine with abnormal levels of testosterone ) and of course, young Americans will have nothing to do with them and rate them "rough "on opinion surveys , plus the new wave of American immigrants won't care if Israel is on or off the map Thus their only hope is to cut a deal with Obama and get out before they lose it all. So things will eventually work to your advantage but whether that will be in Israel or Palestine remains to be seen..

The two state solution is dead. Welcome your OLD neighbours, Israelis. Those who lived there before you arrived. Forget the negotiations. It's all one GREATER ISRAEL/PALESTINE now.

But its perverting dhimmedias propaganda are disproportionally alive and refuse to perform funeral prayer for the dead ultra left wing. (die hard). So like sore loosers they seek foreign help to keep undermining the Jewish State of Israel territorial sovereignty , independence , values, national jewish character , leaders , society..

It is to late for the Left. Anyone that thinks Judea can be ceded for an Arab handshake is plain crazy. Not without civil war in Israel. The Arabs are naming streets for terrorist. Does this sound like peace to you? If Jews can be expelled for "the sake of peace" then Arabs can be expelled if there is no peace. Build Israel!

were all released . Not only they didn't receive police permit to demonstrate , But these EU funded demonstrators riots and subversion endangering public order and security and police are portrayed by the Court as legal .

The Left is dead because the Israeli electorate has repudiated their thinking and actions. The Oslo agreements are dead, simply because the Left bought into land for peace, only to be met by Intifadas, terror, bus and disco bombings, etc.. The final straw was the Gaza disengagement. If the Israeli Left was intellectually and morally honest, they'd take a long look in the mirror and admit the colossal mistake. 10,000 Israeli citizens had their lives uprooted, FOR WHAT ?? So Hamas can exhibit their terror closer to Israeli borders. Indeed, many on the Left have since made tearful apologies for their folly, admitting they were dead wrong. In any event, Yossi Beilin and his liberal crew have been removed from the scene. The voters have stated, appeasement doesn't work, it is counter-productive. Only the steadfast strength from the RIGHT, will bring true peace. This is why Abbas doesn't want talks, the baby won't get what he wants. The Right will stand up to his ridiculous demands.

Leftists are responsible for 1000 Jews murdered & 10,000 wounded in Oslo War since Sept.2000. With USSR commies' end & a million of victims of bolshevism in Israel, leftist rattlesnake will never lift it's vicious head again!!!

In Israel, anybody to the left of Kach, apparently. (Of course Kach doesn't officially exist anymore, which doesn't mean that the motives that it championed don't exist anymore. Unfortunately for everyone - most especially, Israel.)

With the Barak Party in bed with Likud, one need ask the question of what Israeli left is there left? Israel is on the same sort of lunatic right-wing binge that America pursued in the last decade. It will not end until the right has discredited itself by disaster.

In as much as you have bought and paid for most of the US Congress, you have no worries. The US invaded Iraq mostly at your bidding. It will no doubt veto the coming UN resolution re: Gaza. And will give you cover when you bomb Iran and drag the US into a really big war. If you stay in the West Bank, which you think has been given to you by "god," you will have your wish: perpetual war.

...it fails to stand up to extremists and "pogromists." Martin Niemöller had it exactly right.

Pot, meet kettle. Or is hypocrisy now so firmly entrenched in the Israeli reich-wing "settler" colonization movement that it goes without saying? No matter how horrible an evil that was done to a people in the past, they do not have the right to visit evil upon others. That is a fundamental concept of civilization - outside Israel.

I will comment on one issue specifically. And that is if you check the votes of right nad left parties, you will discover that since the time of Menachem Begin when he took the Sephardi/Mizrahi votes with him. The right in Israel have alway got the majority vote irrespective of how the parties were made up. The centre right votes have always been significantly more than the centre left. Also I am not sure where you get Kadima to be a left pary when it is mostly made up of ex likudniks. What did Sharon suddenly turn into a lefty?

We the Right are too busy building with Hashems help not the Knesset - also we have no time for conducting violence we are far too busy planning the New Yishuv. Sorry we are upsetting you Lefties.

"ISRAELI left needs to undestand attacking just gets backs up.." Ever wondered why they might attack someone who has usurped their territory for 62 years? "Reasonable people respond to reasonable argument not demonising delegitimising "new" revisionist historians and hatred" Uh huh. Guess who continually misses one important element in the whole fiasco, namely, 62 years of illegally acquiring Palestinian territory.

The problem is one of language. It would be far better calling a spade a spade. Those who support settlement and occupation on land which is populated by others should be defined as "Jewish imperialists or colonialists "instead of "right wingers" . Those who are widely defined as "left wingers" should be categorised simply as "anti-settler" . Using clearly defined language, encourages those who do not subcribe to a roll call of "left wing" ideas to support a particular idea, which generally makes sense.

Good old stereotypes !! Get some education !

it's very sad that this is now the situation in Israel and one wonders what will be the future for Israeli society I don't know if trying to make stronger links with left movements in the rest of the world is even possible because most of them seem to be extreme anti Zionist

Benny Morris notes that over the last forty years the actual treatment of Arab women in the territories and inside Israel has deteriorated, not improved, as Palestinian Arab society has moved toward greater religiosity (One State, Two States, Yale University Press, 2009, p. 186). As for Palestinian public opinion, keep in mind that at a time when polls showed majority support by both Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution, a majority of Palestinians also "supported the continued bombing attacks against civilians inside Israel" (Wasserstein, Israelis and Palestinians, Yale University Press, 2003, p. 73), so Palestinian public opinion is not without paradox.

Like for any goverment which claims to be a souvereign State, the right side needs to let a apparence of right side, otherwise that State would too openly show its unfair caracter to other nations. And the people is still ruled like the donkey : with the carrot which are the promesses of a better futur and all kind of confectioneries - har magadan = montain of confisery or arum gadan = the door (deleth) in the garden (gan) of ruse (arum). If the donkey doesn't want to go forth with the carrot, the stick is used to punish and threat.

People vote against the left-e.g. Sharon was voted in to counter disengagement, after Barak's disengagement from Lebanon got us war, and Sharon flipped and wanted to disengage to get lenient treatment from the media because of his corruption investigation. He promised to call a referendum, then changed that to a referendum in his party, then disregarded that when it went against him, and went ahead anyway. People consistently vote right and get left, so the only thing they can do is protest the results. It is only fair they should be pardoned-the politicians get off the hook too for advancing the left's agenda, don't they?

The Israeli left might fit in Gideon's kitchen, but the Israeli disenfranchised, apathetic, complacent and misinformed could fill countless football stadiums. I think that's who he's yelling at. Keep yelling Gideon - someone needs to.

usually i don't respond to your off the wall comments victor, but i can't help myself with this little shot from left field you decided to throw at me, because you seem so much to thrive on your generalizations. so please read this link if you dare: http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/mar08/WPO_Women_Mar08_rpt.pdf don't just scan the graphs victor, lest you misunderstand their gist... read the study...or type 'palestinian' in the "find" window of the document; then read what's said about palestinian views on the different questions regarding womens rights. do have a good time, vhardman. i surely did.

The 'left needs to get rid of Gideon Levi. He is a bad spokesman for their cause. Every time he talks or writes they lose more votes. But it's typical, the left never understand when it lost. They always think that THEY are the only ones with the 'moral brains.

And why do you think there are so many sabras and children of such who left Israel? just read #9, we are at real danger!

Reasonable people respond to reasonable argument not demonising delegitimising "new" revisionist historians and hatred.

you write, Gideon. Like leftists everywhere, your reaction to losing elections is to blame the stupid electorate. I notice that nowhere in the article (or in anything you've written in the past 12 months) do you tackle the reasons for the left having disappeared. What exactly is this 'waking up' you speak of, and how would it make people vote for the left?

I agree with Levy - the left needs to wake up and change its ways. The state of the left today in Israeli politics is a direct result of their own actions. Meretz is just about dead - agreed. Labor is dying - agreed. Kadima is non-existent - maybe but I never considered Kadima left wing. The situation is a direct result of the left always criticizing Israel and Israel alone without doing two things: 1. Criticizing the Palestinians for the same violations that the left accuses Israel of doing. In other words, complete imbalance. 2. Not putting forth any solutions or alternative courses of action. The Israeli public got tired of it. So Meretz is dead and Labor is dying. They have only themselves to blame.

Excellent writing Gideon. The saddest thing for me in all of this is the responses from people, couched in a frightening right-wing nationalist fantasia that thinks that Israel can get away with such behaviour without the world noticing (including Diaspora Jews). The sloganeering is straight out of the 50s, as if the cold war never ended, that 'leftists' and 'Marxists' are around the corner. That's got little to do with it--it's about political realism and the time bomb fuse that Israel unfortunately inflicts on itself all the time by never having made a true separation between religious metaphysics and the reality of coming to terms with your neighbours (and your backer's patience). But just as tragic is the burnout of progressives in Israel and the apparent abandonment of calling a spade a spade.

when discussing the mythical palestinians so many posters forget that muslim women have no rights ? why would that be eric ?/

....Left left.And those Media-Leftists left, are trying the ugly the "under the belt news" in order to destroy the Right,being fully aware that they can not rebuild an ideological Left.

You're arguments confirm our suspicions that Israel is now an anarchy. No longer a democracy built on - and respect for - the Law.

All sides must be considered when determining Israels future and it must be by democratic means. The lack of clarity and consinstency of Israel policies is the main problem. If Israel wants to be 'officially' hawkish and still want to steal land then so be it, then the rest of the world can officially deal with a country with such attitudes. If Israel officially consistently wanted peace then the ROTW would be better prepared and more organised in its approach to helping Israel want peace. So all sides - please get your heads together and sort it out!

"if you call defending one`s home violence then more power to them"~jjbdavid and "the people have a right to dismantle it as this government is dismantling people`s homes"~jjbdavid because if not, you see, then you exemplify exactly what it is that gideon levy highlights in this article.

Levy ignores the fact that the disengagement was widely viewed as stemming from illegitimate motives on the part of Sharon. The head of the army at the time, Moshe Yaalon, broadly hinted (and afterwards said so blatantly in his book) that Sharon's motive was to stop the criminal investigation against him. The publisher of Haaretz later publicly stated that he deliberately buried discussion of Sharon's bribery in order to allow the disengagement to go through. Moreover, Sharon reneged on his campaign promises regarding Gaza, and then ignored the vote of Likud party members regarding the disengagement even though he had called for such a vote. Lastly, in hindsight, after the wars in Lebanon and Gaza, it is quite clear that disengagement opponents were correct in arguing that the retreat from Gaza was imprudent -- it empowered Hamas and allowed for the creation of a terrorist state on Israel's border.

what is your definition of the "left."

The right must learn that there is a law which is for all. The settlers believe that they are above the law and can attack Arabs at will. The Labour Party is led by the rightist of all.

Every single Gideon Levy article is the same. Why does he even still bother writing them? Every single one is how evil and awful Israel is, with little to no mention of what the insane Palestinian extremists want. Every Levy article is Israel needs to wake up, Israel is bad, etc. Every anti-semite and Israel-hater loves his articles, while normal people notice that all Levy does is tear Israel apart in every single editorial, no matter what the topic.

The momentum is for war as irans policy and the palestinian demand for right of return are impossible for the sane left to flourish. Population explosion has crowded out peace for both peoples in this ten thousand square mile area of land mostly desert and rock.

I'm sure you wanted to say "The israeli left needs not to wake up it's never to late to do so!".You are a clever man therefore you know that the Israeli left is like the left in every country,bites the hand that feeds it.

Is it constitutionaly possible to give orders to the justice system? If this is the case we have become realy the LIGHT TO ALL NATIONS. For us to be proud of

Ever since the creation of the state of Israel as a non secular state, no coalition could be created without the participation of religious parties; and this was only a matter of price; real money in most cases, ideological submission on others. It does not mean that religious jews have all of right or left ideology, but the fact that a non elected old rabbi dictates the votes to representatives of these people, opens the door to all the aberations we have seen the last 62 years. As for these old rabis the only few things that counts are material benefits for their movement's establishments and a not so clear messianic dreams, we are thus, unfortunately, doomed.

and in fact, the Knesset seats in the last elections gave a substantial number of seats to Kadima. Unfortunately, the centre and left parties are not as united about policies regarding the very issues Gideon Levy speaks about. True, there is a feeling that the old Israeli (socialist & intellectual) political establishment has changed and the supporters are not there in the numbers or in the vitality that the country had demonstrated in years past. They are all aging (or passed away like my father two months ago) as are the Holocaust survivors and there's this void that Israel is experiencing. However, the external international pressures coming from various EU countries and the U.S. won't permit gross transgressions from the expectation that two independent states side by side, Israel and Palestine, will be bypassed based on the Road Map for another few years. We already paid the huge cost in lost of lives because of the failure to do so decades ago.

then more power to them. The government of Israel needs to learn that the reason for their existence is to serve and protect the people . Any government that fails in this capacity , the people have a right to dismantle it as this government is dismantling people's homes. Israeli leaders have forgotten that their allegiance is to the people and not to Obama and what that arrogant ,elitist Marxist demands !

yashar l'inyan. right on point. nice to hope it is not too late, but likely in long range, it truly is.

A subtle error that israelis seem blind to. The writer says "only the settlers and their fans are still fighting here for matters that are not personal and do not involve money" --In fact, the settlers are fighting for wealth in the form of real estate. Israelis generally have such a low level of sophistication when it comes to looking critically at their close neighbors beliefs, that it flies under their radar. America has the same problem, with evangelical Christians. An evangelical can say literally anything and find tens of thousands of followers if he adds the words "according to the bible".

I fear for America if it will not stop the support of such a country. Israelis should listen to Levy before it is too late.

according Gene Sharp, and intellectual thinker, an advocate of violence free social policies, the Palestinian leadership has got one faith, a faith in violence. all Israeli journalists should unite to free the ordinary Palestinians from the grip of the barbaric hamas and fatah leaders.

It is already too late. Abbas should resign, dissolve PA, and start a civil disobedience movement demanding full Israeli citizenship for his people. On that, they have my support.

The Israeli "left" could meet in your kitchen without crowding. Or, do you mean the left side of the Israeli right?

If everything he wrote up until now is not some sort of the derangement.