Resurrection time has arrived
I never thought that this would ever happen in our lifetime but miraculously it is unfolding before our very eyes.
Michael Kuttner
While Maimonides spoke about the physical resurrection of the dead at a time which will usher in redemption and reckoning what we are actually witnessing today are slightly different manifestations of this prophecy.
Instead of deceased individuals being restored to life the spectacle confronting us is the resurrection of political ghosts from the past accompanied by their baggage of failed policies. Rising from the political wilderness and getting ready to once more afflict us, these recycled failures most probably having learned nothing from previous disasters are about to take centre stage.
It is recycling on a scale never before seen. As Biden and Harris assume power we are witness to an unbelievable scenario whereby most of the discredited Obama-ites are re-appointed to positions of responsibility. If their previous incarnations had been a stunning success one could perhaps have looked forward with some degree of optimism to the dawn of a promised messianic age. The more than 75% of American Jews who are genetically programmed to vote Democratic no doubt welcome the return of officials who love to censure Israel and facilitate UN resolutions against the Jewish State.
“Progressive” Jewish groups have already made their allegiances with the left-wing of the Democratic Party clear and have wasted no time in hastening to advise how best to demonize Israel during the coming four years. In their frenzy to dismantle, destroy and demolish all vestiges of Trump and Pompeo’s realistic achievements concerning peace with Arab/Moslem countries and combating Ramallah and Gaza based terror regimes, the combination of progressive Democrats, Israel bashing Jewish progressives and resurrected State Department anti-Israel “experts” will all combine to give hope and sustenance to Israel haters.
It will be interesting to see who Biden taps as the next US Ambassador to Israel. Based on his current incoming Administration choices we can presumably see the revival of past diplomatic failures in the field of Middle East policies. One of the more spectacular disasters, namely John Kerry, has been recycled as a climate “expert” with a seat on the council dealing with security. If ever there was a recipe for failure here it is.
If one needs an indication of another deadly path about to be trodden one only needs to look at the appointment of Wendy Sherman as number two at the State Department. Her major “triumphs” under Bill Clinton and Barak Obama were the North Korea and Iran “deals.” Anyone who is not in cloud cuckoo land can see for themselves how successful these (non) agreements have been.
North Korea has cheated its way to increased lethal abilities in nuclear weapons and the missile technology to deliver them. This is what Ms Sherman had to say in June 2018 when asked to comment on North Korea: “trust between North Korea and the USA is not necessary for fruitful denuclearization negotiations.” Well, we can now see how fruitful this has turned out. Not that Trump’s delusory friendship with North Korea’s dictator was any better. The “deal” struck by Clinton and Sherman was never going to be fulfilled and is yet another example of failed diplomacy masquerading as a brilliant strategy.
Iran, of course, is a classic case of a genocidal disaster waiting to be concluded. Here again, Obama, Kerry and Sherman touted their “deal” as a Nobel winning achievement when in actual fact all it did was funnel billions of dollars to a regime bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. Lifting sanctions, flying planeloads of cash to Tehran, doing nothing to deter the export of terror, turning a blind eye to Iranian plans to annihilate Israel and abandoning Iranian citizens in the face of gross violations of human rights, are all legacies of the new second in command at the State Department and the new climate czar in Washington.
Can anyone not totally detached from reality really believe that these resurrected individuals and their policies are actually going to benefit Israel and further peace anywhere in the world? The fact that the Europeans, Iranians and the PA/PLO/Hamas/Hezbollah are salivating at the prospect of four years of an easy ride should tell us something.
Re-opening the PA/PLO office in Washington, restoring funding to UNRWA and the corrupt PA, dropping demands to eliminate hate education and incitement in the media and above all peddling the myths of 1967 “borders, “occupied Palestinian territories” including Jerusalem are part of the agenda we can look forward to.
If an entirely new team with a fresh and most importantly, realistic recognition of the situation had been appointed we could be optimistic. Unfortunately, we will be saddled with the same old failures. The only people cheering them on will be the boycotters, delegitimizers and champions of human rights who love to exclude Israelis and Jews. Will those Jews who believe Biden and Harris are the new messiahs think again when it all unravels? Not likely because they will be too busy detaching themselves from both the Zionist enterprise and anything that perpetuates, strengthens and preserves Judaism and the Jewish People.
Recycling washed up and failed politicians are also, unfortunately, a specialty of the Israeli political scene. Here, unlike in the USA where the choice is severely limited, the reincarnation of rejected candidates is made possible by the multiplicity of parties which mutate, disappear and then are reborn with astonishing rapidity. Most of the “reborn” ego trippers who believe that they alone are born to lead the Children of Israel to the Garden of Eden flash across the political firmament like a flaming meteor and then crash spectacularly.
A perfect example is one of our past Prime Ministers who having crashed previously and having been rejected by the voters, attempted a comeback only to be ignored at the ballot box. Now, in a sure sign of desperation on the part of the Labour Party he was begged to return and lead this virtually extinct once-powerful bastion of the left in the forthcoming elections. Sniffing the polls which give no comfort whatsoever, Ehud Barak this time around decided that resurrection was not going to be a viable option and sensibly declined the poisoned chalice.
The twelfth Principle of Judaism as expounded by Maimonides expresses our belief in the Messianic Age which will precede the resurrection of the deceased and usher in a time of justice and peace.
We hope that this will happen in our time. Unfortunately what we are witnessing these days is the resurrection of failed messiahs who are more likely to herald mayhem and appeasement rather than peace and justice.
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.
