Israel's patriotism police
The Israeli right has been busy turning every reasonable action by the Zionist left into yet another instance of treason against the homeland.
Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid decided to begin his party’s weekly faction meeting Dec. 14 with a focused attack on Israel's Haaretz newspaper. The paper had responded to a request by Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, to remove the Israeli flag from the stage when he addressed a conference it organized in New York City on “Peace, democracy and social justice.”
Lapid adopted a very strident tone, calling the paper’s acquiescence to the request “the ultimate loss of any sense of national pride whatsoever by the radical left. Imagine the commotion if an Israeli spokesperson had asked for the Palestinian flag to be removed.”
Lapid’s monologue, delivered as a statement to the press, joined a long series of condemnations in the best case, and real incitement in the worst case, against Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who also addressed the conference.
Finding himself forced to apologize yet again for taking steps perceived as favoring the left, Rivlin explained that his opinions have not changed. He still aligns himself with the right.
