perhaps what is most remarkable about Israeli politics’ swerve to the right is that it has no parallel, or precedent, in public sentiment. The vast majority of Israelis still support the two-state solution, progressive economic policies and freedom of religion.
At the same time, the lion’s share of American liberal Jews, who are sincerely concerned for Israel’s future, aren’t familiar with the story presented here. For years they have heard about the vast sums pumped by American conservative donors, Jewish and evangelical, into the settlements and right-wing media outlets. Israel Hayom, Netanyahu’s personal propaganda newspaper, is the easiest example to point to. Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson bleeds millions of dollars every year to have it handed out for free on every street corner. What liberal Jews do not know is that much of the troubling news they receive from Israel on a weekly basis — another discriminatory law, another assault against the judiciary, another incendiary attack on the Arab citizens of Israel — is the product of a political machine designed and paid for by fellow American Jews.
In 1987, the right-wing journalist Uri Orbach published an op-ed in the settler journal Nekudah. There, he laid out what would become, in the wake of 2005, a blueprint for a systematic settler takeover of the country’s levers of power. In his article, Orbach pleaded with the settler youth to divert their ideological fervor from grabbing land to grabbing the spotlight — in other words, to take over the Israeli media. “The People of Israel needs someone to be their voice,” wrote Orbach, who went on to explain that filling the ranks of the country’s media outlets with settler reporters who held “the right positions” would ensure a future where only “the right questions are asked” and certain issues — the price Israelis pay in blood and taxes for the settlements, for example — “never get on the air.”
This strategy, commonly referred to among the right wing as “settling the hearts” (as opposed to the land), proved a resounding success.
The Kohelet Policy Forum, named after the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, is perhaps the most important cog in the right-wing machine today. Its annual budget is estimated at over $8.5 million, an enormous sum in terms of the Israeli political system — nearly equal to the annual budget of the Israel Democracy Institute, the country’s leading nonpartisan think tank established some two decades prior to the forum.
In addition to the nation-state law, Kohelet has bigger, more dangerous legislation coming down the pike: It is pushing for “right to work” laws that would unseat union power; annexation legislation that would apply Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank; and, finally, a bypass law that would effectively strip the Supreme Court of its power of judicial review.
This is, of course, a legitimate move in the battle of ideas that takes place in any democratic society. And yet, one should call it for what it is: The right-wing, spearheaded by the Tikvah Fund, is attempting to replace Israel’s Declaration of Independence — the closest thing Israel has to a constitution, and a document that outlines a model for liberal Zionism, upholding equality for all citizens, Jewish or not — with the tea party’s manifesto.
To achieve that, it is employing the tried-and-true strategies of the Koch brothers, the Mercers, the Adelsons and other royal families of the American right. It is important to understand the involvement of U.S.-based foundations and thinkers in the war of ideas in Israel — not only since it proves how ridiculous the Israeli right’s incessant cries of “foreign interference” are, but primarily since it illustrates why Israeli progressives and their American partners keep swinging and missing: They avoid talking about the far-reaching differences between liberal and conservative strategies when it comes to investing money and efforts in Israel.
I had just assumed that Netty's voice in the wilderness for Trumpism was the a result of most of young israel being fed up with constanst security threats and military training, and wanted a right wing strong arm to make them feel safe.
Is it really the case that is is all a shallow layer of imported teaparty paint over the nation that gave us kibbutz?
