Wednesday, June 07, 2017
"You're a liar," just doesn't have the same punch
as the Hebrew "Atah shakran." The latter is like a dare, a
pointing finger, as opposed to the former, which is simply a statement of fact.
That's one reason the film by Reservists on Duty countering the
recorded testimony of Dean Issacharoff, spokesman of Breaking the Silence, was
a breakaway hit. It was just so punchy. One reservist after the other calling
Issacharoff a big fat liar to his face.
Nay! To the world.
Finally, someone was confronting those horrid Breaking the
Silence lies about the IDF. And these were people who knew the truth.
Take THAT, Breaking the Silence. Take THAT, Dean Issacharoff.
Yes. There was glee in watching that clip and even more so
in watching it go viral.
Breaking the Silence, you see, pretends to care about
injustice. But what it really aims to do is take down the State of Israel by
rendering its army powerless. They do that by getting people to lie about the
things they did while in the army. Most of those who "testify" do so
"anonymously," so there's no way to check the record to see if these
misdeeds actually occurred and since the details are spotty or the stories old,
there's no way for the army to investigate.
When Issacharoff went public, on the other hand, he must
have thought he could get away with it: that no one would challenge his bogus tale
of woe. Issacharoff came out testified at a protest rally. He said
his commanding officer made him tie up and beat an Arab prisoner while his
fellow soldiers looked on. “I grabbed him by the neck and started to knee him
in the face and chest until he was bleeding and unconscious,” said Issacharoff.
Happily for us, Issacharoff grossly underestimated the
patriotism of his peers and just how far they would be willing to go to expose
his lies. He probably thought he could just get away with making stuff up about
his army service.
And he's probably none too bright.
And a vile human being who hates his own people.
Imagine: his entire platoon, now all reservists, bothered
themselves to make a film in which every last one of them publicly decry him a
liar.
So good. So rich.
Now, one month later, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked
has approached Justice Avichai Mandelblit to request an investigation
into Issacharoff's claims. After all, we have his recorded testimony that the
guy beat up an Arab during his military service and that's a crime. "Breaking
the Silence spokesman stands up and says that he himself committed a crime
against a Palestinian and beat him up. If it really happened, he should be
investigated and punished. If the incident did not happen, then the state
should say officially that it did not happen," said Shaked in an interview
with Galei Tzahal.
It's a wonderful thing that we now have a name and a face to
investigate and it's amazing that Shaked had the gumption to do the right
thing. Now we have a way to show up Breaking the Silence for what it is: an
instrument for harming the State of Israel and its people. It's an incredible
development that cannot be undervalued in its ability to shore up the
reputation of the Israeli Defense Forces and the Democratic State of Israel. We
have nothing to apologize for in our treatment of the Arab people in our midst.
And now we can prove it.
Other voices, such as that of this author's husband,
disagree. He says that Shaked is making a mistake. That these liberal agitators
are dying to have a case go to court, because, as he says, "it sets a
precedent and legitimizes them," so they can keep on bringing cases to
court and making Israel look bad. He says this sort of lawfare will spread to
other countries that will then try to prosecute Israeli civilians who have formerly
served in the IDF, for instance.
It could be as he says, I suppose. But it seems like we have
this public admission and we absolutely MUST pursue the truth and do justice. As
the Torah says, "Tzedek, tzedek tirdof," Justice, justice, you shall
pursue.
It can only be good.
It should be said that it wasn't easy for Ayelet Shaked to
snag the role of Minister of Justice. But once she got it, many Israelis had
high hopes she'd make a difference in reforming the justice system. The Supreme
Court has too much power in Israel. Not only does it overreach, but the bench
is filled with liberal justices in a country that voted for a right-wing
government.
So clear is it that the court does not represent the will of
the Israeli people that Shaked's appointment was like a tall drink on a long,
hot day. It gave people hope. That's in spite of the knowledge that she's got
an uphill climb. The courts system is entrenched and it is powerful. It isn't
going to change quickly or with ease.
Just now, for instance, Shaked lost
a battle. Justice Miriam Naor, President of the Supreme Court, is retiring
and wanted Esther Hayut to be appointed in her stead. Shaked would have liked
to find a candidate who would balance the overwhelmingly liberal demographic of
the court, but no qualified judge dared to challenge Hayut's candidacy. There
simply wasn't anyone else.
In spite of this failure, Shaked continues to inspire, just
now with her initiation of this investigation into Dean Issacharoff's claims of brutality. Will
there be a happy ending here? Or will this current feeling of hope be as good
as it gets?
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