Israelis often pride themselves as being the only democracy in the Middle East. Israelis compare their actions to those of their neighbors, often using the clause, “Well, Hamas did worse” as rationale for an Israeli action.
For Israel to take the high ground, the Jewish state must act like it by actually being more democratic, protecting human rights, respecting universal rights and actually being a “light unto the nations.”
On many of these fronts, Israel actually serves that role. For example, it’s been demonstrated that during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead raid on the Gaza Strip during, the military took extensive precautions to limit civilian casualties, even at the potential expense of Israeli soldiers. Similarly, while Jews very rarely throughout history have been treated as equal citizens, non-Jews in Israel often have the same citizenry rights as their Jewish peers, such as the ability to vote, hold seats in parliament, serve in the military, obtain social services and so on. That’s how it should be.
But, every once in a while, Israelis, albeit often the same subsection of Israelis, act in a deplorable fashion. In this case, that subsection is a group of ultra-religious individuals that disregarded Israel’s obligation to protect universal rights and act in a humane fashion.
A rabbinical court in Jerusalem sentenced a dog to death by stoning. The term dog is not a politically incorrect moniker for a criminal or terrorist, but rather is an actual mutt.
The rabbis, who were crossed by a secular lawyer two decades ago, contend that the spirit of that non-religious individual was transported into the body of the animal, thus condemning the poor mutt to a death sentence after one of the ultra-orthodox rabbis “suddenly recalled” the incident twenty years ago and realized that the dog was his nemesis reincarnate, who actually somehow managed to escape an early demise.
Along with the inherently evil actions approved by the rabbis, the community’s children were enlisted to carry out the death sentence, helping to bread another generation of Israelis that lack good moral convictions.
There are Israeli actions which, while equally wrong, are much more nuanced and can occasionally be argued as necessary. For example, Israeli police violence against protesters leaves open to doubt whether those protesters were actually innocent or instigated the police through, among other things, using weapons that could risk lives.
Even Hamas, which uses terrorism to explicitly target innocent civilians, has attempted to argue that its actions are legitimate because Israelis continue to support their government, and the terror has garnered some support for its position that dismisses the value of human life.
However, this action, the attempted stoning of a dog with no political or religious beliefs, cannot be parsed or interpreted or spun or explained in any fashion to make it legitimate. The simple descriptions of primitive, inhumane, immoral and un-Jewish fit nicely, though.
Unfortunately, extremists in the ultra-orthodox community in Israel, many of whom help run schools, have far too much influence over Israeli society and often use their power to force policies that hinder Israel’s ability to demonstrate its largely positive values.
For Israel to retain its title as a “light unto the nations,” the country must ensure that the values inherent in that claim are also embodied in the actions of its citizens. When certain citizens do not fulfill their obligations and violate those values, those individuals should be punished to demonstrate that, yes, Israel protects life unlike the atrocities committed by some of its neighbors.
If the Israeli government does not stand up to clearly immoral individuals in society, including those who believe in the stoning of dogs, then the country will eventually be no better than a state run by Hamas.
Israel is without a doubt a “light unto the nations,” but every citizen in the country should act like it, or be punished accordingly.
