Recipes for chaos
Definition: “mixture of people and events that will lead to disorder, confusion and trouble.”
Michael Kuttner
This more than adequately sums up the situations which confront us now and in the immediate future.
Whether it is the dysfunctional coalition and Knesset or looming events overseas the potential for mayhem is the highest it has been for a long time.
When the current Government was established a year ago after a series of excruciating elections resulted in deadlock, commentators wished it a long life but everyone knew that the prognosis was one of “Baruch Dayan Emet” rather than “Ad Meir V’Esrim.”
With a coalition of eight political parties spanning the electoral spectrum from the almost post-Zionist delusional left to the nationalist right and for the first time an Arab party, some of whose members are ambivalent of being part of a “Zionist” coalition, this experiment was always designed to implode at some stage.
The amazing and almost miraculous reality is that it has lasted as long as it has and managed to achieve some noteworthy goals, namely the passing of a budget as well as other social and security aims. In the overall scheme of things, given the unwieldy and impossible composition of the coalition, reaching one year in office could be considered a considerable achievement.
Unfortunately, this sort of instability, where because of a vanished majority, any Member of Knesset can hold the whole country to ransom and extort to their heart’s content. This results in chaos and trouble.
So it has come to pass.
Throw in an opposition led by an ex-PM who believes that he alone is worthy of leading the country and partners who are adamantly thirsting to get their hands on the money pot again and want to permanently fossilize Judaism back to the Shtetl and you have a recipe for disorder and confusion.
If it could be guaranteed that a new election would produce a strong, stable government and that the majority of Knesset members were dedicated to the best interests of the country and all its citizens instead of their own narrow and partisan ambitions, then one could agree that this was the best course of action. It is no wonder that among the general public the level of respect for our politicians is at an all-time low. We need a general clean out and an entirely new crop of representatives with fewer parties.
Meanwhile back in the USA which for far too many Jews is still “The promised land” every day it seems heralds yet another gun massacre. The unbelievable simple ability for anyone to acquire lethal weapons via mail order or gun stores and the rising tsunami of violence, looting and crimes against persons and property, plus the insane movement to defund police and push woke policies, leaves most Israelis absolutely dazed.
One would think that given this rising tide of social and gender chaos, reminiscent many believe, of the last days of the Roman Empire, that the President and his colleagues might deem it advisable to stay close to Washington and try to deal with these mounting challenges.
Incredible as it may seem, President Biden and his Democratic cheerleaders prefer instead to visit Israel and make more chaos in an area where mayhem already abundantly exists. Instead of acknowledging the futility of appeasing and cozying up to those who peddle hate, incitement and intolerance, the American Administration is hell-bent on forcing Israel to commit itself to a path that leads to further terror. Promoting Abbas and his failed PA, lauding Abdullah and his mirages of guardianship of religious freedom and pandering to the illusory historical claims of Arab and Muslim sovereignty in
Jerusalem merely creates roadblocks on the road to genuine peace in the region.
Like battered spouses, Biden and Blinken refuse to believe that the insults and threats hurled at them by the PA and allies on a continuing basis constitute anything other than harmless rhetoric. Instead of consequences, the State Department wants to foster the illusion that the Palestinian Arabs have a claim to half of our Capital by establishing a consulate just for them on Israel sovereign territory.
Threats by Abbas to sever all cooperation with Israel and declarations by a senior Fatah official that “we must make the Americans quake in fear” incur neither condemnation nor punishment.
The UN Human Rights Council, which Biden rejoined, continues to target and blame Israel while excusing and sanitizing those who murder its citizens. As the US waffles and wobbles, Iran marches resolutely and without hindrance towards its aim of achieving nuclear capability and fulfilling its goal of ending the “Zionist virus.”
Despite all these clear intentions, President Biden still intends to visit and exert pressure so that the discredited and plainly lunatic agenda to create yet another failed terror-supporting country can be planted in the midst of our historic homeland.
The message from Jerusalem should be loud and clear: “don’t go, Joe. Stay home and deal with all the threats to the lives of your own citizens.”
The President of the EU Parliament meanwhile declared “Europe will always back Israel’s right to exist.” How reassuring, how patronizing and how demeaning these words sound as European countries do everything to ensure that their actions will result in an emasculated Jewish State unable to defend itself and with half its Capital torn asunder.
In a perfect example of how those who constitute the immoral majority at the UN and elsewhere are able to exert their power, the Chinese Ambassador to Israel vociferously objected to an interview with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister which was published in a recent issue of the Jerusalem Post. He of course is perfectly entitled to complain about views that he considers erroneous but demanding that the offending item be immediately struck from the paper and banned from being published anywhere is bizarre. Telling publishers what they can print and force-feeding only officially sanctioned news onto the general public may be standard fare in countries like China but it is an entirely alien concept in a democratic country. The fact that this prize piece of chutzpah did not raise more of a diplomatic or media storm merely illustrates the deplorable depths to which international morality has now sunk.
Most political disasters are a result of peddling half baked recipes.
It’s about time that the perpetrators are sent a clear message.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
