It's coming to you

When the Israeli commandos hijacked the Flotilla Fleet and attacked and killed some of its its pass-engers -they were essentially killing off their own bullies & land thieves. The same goes with their bombing of Gaza and Lebanon in 2006. No one can bully their way like that in this world and expect to stay in the neigh-borhood -let alone thrive and multiply . They will never rise again in anyone books. No matter how American officials support them. Peopl will refuse to back them and if ordinary Israelis are wise they will reclaim their government and state before they run the risk of losing it altogether..Dutch Dutch

Just this weekend i was listening to a passenger aboard the Flotilla fleet and her boat was the first to arrive at the israeli port and there were your Jewish fanatics cheering on the murderers in the Israeli Army who killed nine civilians and injured some 50 others with their bullets. Then I had to listen to your crazy leaders and apologists claiming the victims caused their own deaths. What a schizo sense of reality! I don't know about Bibi but i can't imagine how Michael Oren can lift his head after his shameful defense of the cammandos in the New York Times. Talk about supporting terrorists and their terrorist structure in Israel. It's all there--Jewish terrorism. So trust me I feel your outrage at the silence of your countrymen and women on this. Just where are their moral voices and sense of justice? As Martin Luther king, jr pointed out in his letter from a Birmingham jail in 1963 : "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice every-where ." So things have a way of working their way back and as you pointed out with the loss of their own civil liberties and the ushering in of a police like state. I can tell you up front Americans won't accept such a state and it seems to me in the best interests of Israelis to push for reforms now and avoid alien- ating other & possibly the losss of their state too.. Dutch

thats a man ! its the 3rd artikel by him i read. every time he spokes from my heard - but this time...man ! levy for PM !!!

Divided, we are dead. Combined, we will lose, by compromising some truth and justification for struggling on against the torrent, but we can then survive and do our best to change the Israeli public's perceptions of the Palestinian people's needs and rights as human beings and as our neighbors on this heated soil. It is no matter if we are pessimistic or optimistic regarding the results; the left must reconstitute itself into a effective political force. The whole of the left, all across the spectrum, must form an umbrella organization to organize and rationalize our strength, and to limit our weaknesses.

I have yet to hear Gideon write one positive word regarding Israel in the decades I have been reading him, so why does he stay in such a horrendous nation? Maybe it's not nearly as bad as he prevaricates.

The "left" leaves the country...for better pastures. The people who remain are either stuck here, and have to make due by compromising their conscience (by saying "it won't happen to me") OR they end up being beaten, put in jail, and live a horrible life. I bet many of those from the Sabra and Shatila protests are now living somewhere else by now.

Levy could be right and it is alarming! BUT The best way to avoid the development he predicts is for the leftists like him to stop backing systematically all the arch-enemies of Jews and Israel. By doing this as they are doing, they only make it impossible for good socio-democrats like me to join forces with them. The same "historical lesson" of the Weimar Republic happening again. Leftism is a real danger. in the world (leftists are at the forefront of antisemitism today with their allies the islamists) and in Israel too. Israeli university professors calling their foreign colleagues to boycott Israeli universities that is the very development that leads to a fascisation of our country. MKs taking an active part in the delitigimacy of our State , that is what precipitate people like me into supporting parties that we were previously condemning. So, I am afraid you may be right Mr Levy, but your kin is the primary source of the danger you denounce.

If someone is unwilling to defend himself, much less stand up for what he believes in, does he deserve to live? Any Conservative knows the answer. Anyone unwilling to stand up for himself, or what he believes in - EVERY Conservative KNOWS - deserves to be exterminated. And Conservatives will exterminate those who stand in their way. Liberals in the 1940s knew that Conservatives, like Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo had to be opposed, they had to be fought, they had to be destroyed. Liberals now just cower in fear in the face of Netanyahu, Bush and Osama Bin Laden. Conservatives are wining because liberals are cowards.

None.

A decade late, and far too late to save yourselves or your nation, you have discovered that determined to expunge you have taken control of what was once your nation. Enjoy your eventual expulsion or extermination. Anyone who is not a rabid right-wing religious lunatic is not a real Jew, or a real Israeli. The Fourth Reich of Netanyahu, Lieberman and the Haredi has arrived. There is no room in Greater Israel for Arabs, Liberals, Commies or Reform and Conservative Jews. Got it?

Gideon is a Righteous Jew. It is a pity they are so few.

A necessary warning, even when it falls on deaf ears. However the criticism of "Judaism before democracy" sounds misstated. Despots who hide behind Judaism would still be despots if they were hiding behind Christianity or Islam or Buddhism.

...with the general spirit of the article. However, I disagree with the author when it comes to Tibi and Zuabi. It is fine to be opposed to the siege of Gaza, but it is not acceptable for a legislator to directly act against his/her nation. Israel did what any other nation would.

In a democracy, the people is supposed to decide by referendum. The citizen vote and elect their representatives. What are those elected persons supposed to represent but the majority selfishness? Can that kind of democracy become a tyranny? Of course, it can. And it always does. Because to be able to represent selfish people, the representatives have to be selfish themselves. And once they get to the "Confisery Mont", the tepid quickly become as cold as ice. What is theocracy? Not the power to those who pretend to be religious by wearing a special disguise, speak and pray like educated parrots (watch their mecanical swing). The real theocracy is the kind of democracy that would lead the peace for all people. The real theocracy is a Temple without stairs, because the Temple is made of one floor. The Temple is made of those who can understand this. Those who don't understand God's teaching dont build the Temple, but pyramids which are graves for masters and servants. Real theocracy is a world where all human beings are working together, not to make more money, but to understand God's Wisdom and to save this world from the coming furnace where the individual materialist capitalism is leading us. Real theocracy isn't "Well organised charity starts by oneself" but "Well organised charity starts by those who need it most". Could the silent tepid majority of all countries raise to do this?

here in the US. I dread to think where all this will end.

gideon levy, maybe we should make you a prime minister if you promis to make akiva eldar FM to he can give away jerushalem and golan high and yossi sarid interior minister so he can ruin what left and make easy for evey body to leave israel and the meretz will be big party for you all leftist and god forbid what then.

Bert Brecht once wrote: When they came for the Communists, I remained silent; I wasn't a Communist. When they arrested the Social Democrats, I remained silent; I wasn't a Social Democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I remained silent; I wasn't a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left who could have protested.

It is obvious that the backlash against over left tendencies brings over extreme right reactions. Why doesn't the left moderate its claims. Forget right or wrong, the issue is to keep a decent democracy. Every time people hear the left claims saying terrorists have the right to do their actions, people move away from the left, and also away from all what the left represents. And it represents civic justice, education, equality and many other essential values. The claim that ideologists bury this country under their exterior political agenda, should be pointed to both extremists on the right and also on the left. As much as I support the right parties, I too am scared of what is going on, and I think only the left can be the first to moderate itself - suggestion: remove Hizballa flags from left demonstrations (again, even if its against left parties ideology). After all, the left always stands for going the extra mile toward thee opponents, isn't it so?

Zuabi is punished for performing a simple act of identification with her people. !!What a gentle way to put it,Mr Levy !! Zuabi is identifying herself with those who want to exterminates us.I'm sure you don't like this re framing.

It is definitely Judaisma with full democracy and the only democracy in the whole Middle East. What Gideon Levy does not say is the fact that no Parliament in the world would allow its members to behave so disgracefully against the state they reside in as the Israeli Arab MKs traitors.Fraternising and supporting with the enemies of the state such as Hamas Levy calss this democracy. He does not tick well, no doubt

Netanyahu has been riding astride a tiger for the last couple of years, and the tiger is getting hungry, to paraphrase Winston Churchill. Netanyahu gambled his name on the PMO's door with a modern forward Israel, Jewish yes, but not talibanised by religious fruitcakes. Worryngly the vast majority of Israelis seem quite happy to allow the fruitcakes to trample all over their rights.

so tell me, to which year do YOU think israel compares today? 1933 maybe? a little later perhaps? it certainly hasn't yet reach the point of kristallnacht...but that looms ever nearer. remember how i said it worked, cipora...by little increments in succession...each one dismissable in itself...but which cumulatively build towards a full scale nightmare which becomes inescapable by the time realization comes? so now the same analogy, without being specifically stated, is starting to be recognized by political commentors, intellectuals, diaspora jews, and even some israelis...and YOU are still in denial of what is taking place. you cipora, who are always ready to condemn the people who once fell under the same spell which now bewitches you. then what, cipora? when all the increments have coalesced, and the movement reaches full maturity and begins to implement its goals...will you join it for ideology? for survival? or will you quietly exist and hope it doesn't notice you...or worse. don't just open your eyes, cipora, open your mind so that they can see...because it's happening all around you - one increment here, two there, and gaining momentum with time.

Within Israel, Mr. Levy's viewpoint is irrelevant, considered delusional, almost suicidal if Israel is going to survive the 'existential threats' that will always keep pace with Israel's military might. Outside of Israel, each new 'defensive' action demonstrates Israel's military advantages but undermines Israel's view that it is the victim and not the aggressor. I fear we have darker days ahead.

Gideon is not a perfect person (but really, who is?) and his arguments sometimes need adjustment, but in this article in particular, he lives up to the fundamental standards of good journalism: courage. Like it or not, he is unapologetically delivering a hard truth. Many will label him as an "enemy", but one day people will look back on this man and think, "Why didn't we listen?" In the words of Einstein: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Continue on, Mr. Levy. Your country needs you, even if they don't know it yet.

or else all of ours will be drowned. as Israelis we have a responsibility to demonstrate the best of Judaism - especially that of tolerance and free thinking.

Hope that Israel is fragmented. Hope that one more rock-throwing binge, one more Qassam, might be just the thing needed to bring Israel to her knees, or into the sea. This hope is what is needed to keep the violence going forever. Great work, Gideon.

It's happening in Israel, here and in the U.S. RIghts are gradually withdrawn, fear takes the place of reason, dissent is called treason and democracy is just a shell. It's like the erosion of the coast. Day by day the sea creeps nearer, it's too much trouble to do anything about it, and finally, one day, your house falls into the sea.

I LOST MY FAITH IN ANY GOD, I LOST MY FAITH IN MAN,, BUT I HAVE FAITH IN GIDEON LEVY: THE COURAGEOUS, HONEST SERVER OF A TRUE JOURNALISM- THE MOST PRECIOUS GEM IN ISRAEL TODAY AND A REAL PATRIOT. HE IS THE CONCIENCE OF HUMANITY...

"Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" - US Constitution Israel has no constitution and crazy rightwingers can come up with all sorts of ideas which might endanger Israeli democracy and transform it into a McCarthyist state, or worse. The new anti-boycott law is directed against people who advocate, not only participate in, a boycott of Israeli institution. In the US, the law cannot stop the "advocacy", only the actual practice of boycott, because of Constitutional protection of free speech. But go and explain this fine difference to the right wing. The new Israeli law is actually aimed at speech. Israelis don't boycott Israel, they sometimes speak against policies of Israel and call for actions that would cause them to be changed, including boycott. It is fundamental that such speech be allowed to be heard. What is advocated may even be correct. Do Israelis want to hear about sanctions only when these finally take place?

Gideon Levy is angry, very angry. In his view, Israel is morphing into a totalitarian state (witch-hunts against Arab MKs, foreigners entering the country illegally for economic reasons , denouncing unconventional views, taking actions against those calling for boycotts against Israel, rising police violence, etc, etc.). But when he talks about the ‘tyranny of the majority and the crushing of the minority’ – this raises many questions. Does he mean a majority in the Knesset, or does he mean a majority of the population? For example, should the state not respond to those who call for boycotts against it and its institutions? Should Arab MKs who identify themselves with ‘their people’ not be responsible for their actions? How should a sovereign state protect itself and its citizens, protect personal liberties and safeguard national security? I think the political situation in Israel is extremely complex; calling those who do not agree with his opinions, Nationalists, racists and fans of militarism and fascism – this sort of terminology does not help his cause (is this also not a form of racism?).

This man is a decent journalist. He repeatedly demonstrates that.

There is an old song about the establishment were a line reads "He is dead, but he won't lie down". To me as an foreigner, only knowing Israel from media it is encouraging to read articles like this one. It tells me that there are people who believes that we can achieve the last line of this song "He is dead, and he is staying down"

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Mr. Levy is lifelong sufferer of the condition.

Levy's hysteria is downright pathetic. He admits to being terrified, and he's lonely in his terror, so he wants others to become hysterical as well. I remember when Bush was elected to his first term as president, virulently anti-Republican Democrats said similar things - and when Bush was elected to a second term, the same hysterical Dems were even more sure. But of course, the US did not become fascist, and neither will Israel. What Levy can't accept is that the majority of Israelis are sick and tired of concessions to sworn enemies, as well as MK's who openly act like sworn enemies, violating their own oath as MK's. As for police violence, that's his active imagination. I personally witnessed plenty against Oslo protestors in the 90's. Nothing's changed except for the growing impatience of the Israeli polity with reckless appeasement policies.

Israel's retrograde development into pure fascism is inevitable. The slippery slope may be steeper, but it has always been there. A society created as a corpus alienum in the ME, at odds with the local culture and with an exclusionist philosophy of racism and supremacy at its base would have to turn out like this. How could it have been otherwise? Propaganda and a cultural relationship with the West has cloaked Israel's nature for years, but it could not last forever. Your government, the massive public support for Cast Lead, the increasing racism and xenophobia are just moments of truth. Endgame.

Not the Arabs, nor self hating Jews nor the anti semite shall wreck it all. You are pretty much doing it for yourselves and are so blind you cannot see it.

It seems to me that on this one Levy is right on target. The silent majority is silent on the very issues that threaten Israel from within. To allow a disasterous government to bring Israel to the brink of moral destruction if not physical destruction while they enjoy the fruits of life in modern Israel is dangerous to its existence. The problem is that Levy's Op-eds are so often tainted with hatred instead of true love or caring for the benefit of the Jewish State. This one is somewhat of an exception and I agree with most of what he is saying except that some of us in the center do care, speak up and take action when injustice is done. I ask again, where is Israel's Labor Party??? Where where where are they?

I guess the left is finally getting a taste of its own medicine! When the media practices lopsided bias, why do they expect sympathy when they are treated with the same poison?

they all must shut up. now, who will decide who belongs among the false patriots, the brutes and the brainwashed? will it be you, will it be the natura karta, will it be the arabs? who will be the philosopher kings in your utopia? certainly not me since i self-identify as belonging to at least one of those despised groups--i know not which one, but surely to any one.

yes mr LEVY is right in his assesment .this has already happen in Pakistan.the society give free hand to religious leader to impose their agenda the lawenforcer agencies turn blind eyes to religious extremists who r now biting the same hands who once fed them.they want to create problems for india and afghanistan instead they themself facing peroblem of wipe off from the world map.equality democracy and tolerace are the basis of good societies.Thankyou mr Levy for wonderful work u r doing .

The rights of the minority should be protected. The Knesset should not "touch" its member Zuabi, despite of its dirty act. If she had violated the law the police should take care of her, not the knesset. At the same time, there is nothing wrong to demand loyalty to the jewish democratic character of the state. Why not? Some would say that the concepts "democratic and jewish" are contradictory. The same is for democracy and liberalism. To put these two terms together demands a tremendous theoretical effort. Ask the American founding fathers.

It's kind of ironic that the Mr. Levy invokes the concept of the "tyranny of the majority," given that it was originally the cornerstone of the political philosophy of those felt that the (U.S.) government had no right to prevent them from owning slaves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_c_calhoun#Concurrent_majority).

they had been herding others before.

Those who don't agree with views of Gidon Levy are "the false patriots, the brutes and the brainwashed". A fine example of liberal approach to the society... Here Gidon Levy demonstrates not only his personal intplerance, but even a kind of hatred towards everybody who doesn't support his extermist viewes. I wish him to live a while in a totalitarian regime (Irania, NKorean, Cuban, Venecuelian etc.), so that he will be ableto strengthen his view...

That nasty, right-wing ogres might 'not allow' her to read Levy's delusional clap-trap.

Amazing how gradually and collectively, a people recreates the same pre-environment that almost lead to its own annihilation only a few decennia ago. Whos said that in order to remove the tyrant next door, one has first to remove the tyrant in own heart?

to wallow in Gideon's tirades any longer... unless we have access to then 'underground'... no, I'm not laughing...

The more distressed I see Gideon, the more I know that Israel is doing what is best for Israel. That makes me happy! Am Yisorel Chai!

.... the other half, wrong! In fact, a lot of items (thought police, police violence, denouncing people, punishing people, etc, etc, ETC,) belong to Hamas! to Hezbollah! to Iran! Much, much more than to Israel. And, what is not mentioned as an Israel crime - KILLINGS - belongs greatly to Arab extremists, while our criminals are a very small group in comparison...

Israel looks like a slow motion train wreck, with people wringing their hands on the sidelines. This is the view from the United States. American Jews are quietly walking away from this bizarre situation called Israel.

thank you mr levy i love reading your articles. at this point iam reminded, gods chosen people or jesus reserecut the dead or mohamed flew to jerusalem on a horse from mecca. all is areminder that as shakespear said to thy own self be true etc etc

I am not alone who thinks the same way as Gideon! Thank you! This country is not completely hopeless...

...from his "heart." (And if he's right, he's well advised to do it now--before some of his detractors tear it out of his chest and stomp on it--all in the glorious name of "patriotism.")

The government routinely ignores supreme court rulings. This is a lawless nation one way or another it can't last as is...its obviously just a matter of time

Israel always had its share of right wingers, but previously the societal scales were somewhat balanced. Many Jewish Israelis saw the mass immigration from the former Soviet Union as a demographic blessing, but in some ways it has been a curse. Of course there are many good and decent citizens who immigrated, but on the flip side too many products of the perverse Soviet system, a system that distorted the individual and rewarded, bullying, brutality and sharp elbows. Combine that with a high birth rate amongst the ultra religious and the scales have tipped. Sad