Israel's constituency of conscience

Israel's constituency of conscience has always been there. It surfaces in an authentic and forceful manner when Israeli’s government leaders seek to celebrate "democratic credentials." The evidence of this was clearly demonstrated when President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Nelson Mandela.

On Dec. 8 and 9 respectively, Gideon Levi and Amira Hass each wrote articles in Haaretz newspaper. One was titled “Mandela's mission is not yet complete” and the other “What does ‘Israeli Apartheid’ mean, anyway?”

Levi quotes Mandela as saying, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” Netanyahu, after Mandela’s death, said, “Nelson Mandela was among the greatest figures of our time … a man of vision and … a moral leader of the highest order.” Levi said that the picture in the background when Netanyahu delivered his statement had “an Israeli flag and the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. There he was, eulogizing the ‘moral leader’ against the background of the occupied city, whose Palestinian residents are oppressed and dispossessed. It’s a city where a separation regime prevails — an example of Israeli apartheid, even if it’s not the worst example.” Levi continued: “The sharp-eared must have noticed how false his flowery words sounded.”

Levi’s article continues: “President Shimon Peres also offered high praise for the ‘leader of immense stature,’ and his words were no less hypocritical. The man who was involved up to his neck in the disgraceful cooperation between Israel and apartheid South Africa, who was one of the ministers who hosted its prime ministers with pomp and circumstance while Mandela languished in prison, is suddenly admiring the man who symbolized the struggle with that regime.”