The chosen people?!

Gideon Levy

I would like to meet the representatives of that absolute, deterministic, arrogant and patronizing majority resulting from the latest Haaretz poll and ask them: Do you really understand? How do you think of such a thing? Who are you talking about? Are you, the absolute majority, so sure that we (Jews) are - chosen, better, that we are the champions, head and shoulders above the body of all?

How did you come to this conclusion? I would like to ask you, dear majority: on what basis are you convinced that we are the chosen people, that we know everything better than other nations; that we deserve more than others; that what applies to them does not apply to us, because we are superior?

Here's how most Israelis responded in a dialogue poll published last week by Haaretz: We are a chosen people. A majority, 56 percent, are sure of this. The data rises to 79 percent, an absolute majority, among those who self-identify as right-wing. In a country where 76 percent of people believe in God or other supernatural powers, perhaps this is understandable. But while belief in God is a private matter, belief in being a chosen people reveals the contours of a politics that explains much about Israel's actions.

Let us move from theology to pathology. The Jews of Israel who feel that they belong to a chosen and chosen people have an obligation to themselves and to others. It is easy to declare that God exists or not. No one expects proof, but when the majority of a nation is convinced that it is superior to all other nations, some proof is necessary. In the case of Israel, it is easy to prove that we are dealing with a disconnection from reality, a dangerous delusion. In any event, a people who are convinced that they are chosen is a danger to themselves and those around them.

The Jews are indeed special, with a bloody and glorious history. The Jews of Israel also have something to be proud of. But when they say they are the chosen people, it reveals their psychosis. It is doubtful whether any nation thinks this of itself. Even the Jews of Israel have no reason to think themselves chosen. How are they chosen? What things are they best at? And what should a Swede, French, American, British or Arab think of this insufferable arrogance?

There is no need to elaborate too much on the moral questions of Israel as an occupier. Every Israeli with a shred of conscience knows that an occupying nation cannot be a chosen people. There is no harm in a little humility when it comes to some characteristics of the people in Israel before we crown ourselves a beacon among the nations. I recommend, for example, to read Dan Ben-David's comprehensive and terrifying analysis published in Haaretz on the education system in our country, which was not accompanied by the appropriate reaction. Half of the children in Israel receive an education like that in the Third World.

We also need some modesty for us as citizens of a country that ranks 87th in the 2018 Press Freedom Index, below Togo and Ivory Coast. Even the 32nd place in the Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International in 2017, is not something to celebrate. Health care is also an area where Israel's self-esteem needs to bend: the country ranks 28th in health care spending out of 36 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and 30th in the number of beds in hospitals.

The behavior of Israeli tourists does not always suit the demands of a chosen people. Perhaps Israel ranks first in an index for the purchase of German submarines, and perhaps this is the key to understanding the feeling of superiority.

The pampering of self-glorification has become a prominent feature of the Israeli national character. Just read the daily Israel Hayom or listen to the prime minister. How dear we are from morning to dinner!

The right spreads this lie for its own purposes. Flattering populism is not only flourishing in Israel, but only here is the disparity between dream and reality so great. A chosen people? If only it were at last like all other nations! /Source: Haaretz/Translation: ResPublica/