Yesterday, Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi Party held a festive celebration in support of its election campaign. Recently, a number of candidates on its Knesset list have made disparaging comments about gays, specifically denouncing gay marriage, which is still prohibited in Israel (where the Orthodox rabbinate largely controls matters related to marriage and divorce).
In response, Israel gay activists have begun shadowing Bennett and his Party events to raise awareness of both gay rights and Bayit Yehudi’s rejection of them. At last night’s rally, when activists began shouting slogans in favor of gay marriage and displayed a rainbow flag, Party thugs attacked them viciously. You can see part of the assault in the video. What you don’t see is Lilach Ben David being punched in the face and all over her body in an effort to muzzle her.
That wasn’t terribly surprising given the extraordinary level of violence in Israeli political discourse (including a number of assassinations over the decades). What was surprising was Bayit Yehudi’s response to the assault. Instead of acknowledging what happened and the role Party members played in the attack, it spun a tale of a leftist cabal conniving to assassinate Bennett. Though the protesters were entirely non-violent, the Party accused them of fomenting violence:
Habayit Hayehudi responded that it was the left that was responsible for the violence at the event. “We call on the leaders of the left to denounce the violence of their activists before it is too late and the violence of the left causes irreversible damage.”
The party said that its leader, Bennett, is currently the country’s only politician who is being advised by security officials not to attend events where left-wing activists are present. “The left has not learned a thing from the murder of [Yitzhak] Rabin and the incitement that it is carrying out at the moment will have harsh consequences while Bougie and Tzipi [Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni] are silent.”
The claim that “security officials” advised them of a leftist plot to assassinate him is beyond preposterous. Further, the idea that a right-wing extremist Party would school gay activists about the lessons of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is a schandeh. Even worse, Bayit Yehudi officials are claiming that the “incitement” of last night’s protest is what will spur a crazy leftist to murder Bennett himself.
If you read Hebrew, Bennett’s wife has taken to Facebook to warn the Israeli public of “well-financed Israeli leftist extremists” who are gunning for her husband. But let’s call a spade a spade: there is no history of leftist violence in Israel (with the possible exception of the murder of Jacob De Haan in the 1910s which was approved by Israel’s future first President, Yitzhak Ben Zvi). There have been no killings or even assaults by leftists on rightists. On the contrary, there have been many vicious assaults and assassinations of leftist politicians and activists by the far-right over the decades. I’ve documented many of them here. This is yet another way the violent, histrionic far-right engages in historical revisionism.
Let’s call this what it is: naked aggrandizement and hysteria. It’s meant to arouse the wrath of the Party faithful by making them believe there is a genuine leftist threat to Bennett. It’s yet another form of political warfare that currently reigns in Israeli politics. Bibi and Likud are bad enough. But Bennett is the wave of the future. He’s Meir Kahane in a suit and tie.
If any readers have phone numbers for either Party HQ or a Party press representative, let me know.
” assassinations of leftist politicians ”
Aside from PM Rabin (a leftist?), who’s been assassinated in Israel?
You make Israel sound like it’s a Central American banana republic.
@ Jack: How easily rightists forget Israeli history: Emil Grunzweig & Chaim Arlosoroff (& you conceded Rabin thankfully). I note you omitted the word “assault” from my original quotation. Is that because you know there are thousands of examples of right-on-left violence which you’d prefer to ignore?
Grunzweig’s death was clearly a political assassination, and his killer was sentenced to life.
No living being knows who killed Chaim Arlosoroff. The Supreme Court of the British Mandate overturned the conviction of Arlosoroff’s alleged killer, Abraham Stavsky . The lower, trial court acquitted the two other alleged defendants, Ahimeir and Rosenblatt, but convicted Stavsky by a 2-1 majority.
To wit, this was not a case of ‘rightist’ violence.
The Altelena affair was ‘leftist violence’. Ben-Gurion had consented to the landing of the ship, which was partially unloaded near Kfar Vitkin. A dispute broke out between the IDF and the Irgun, violence ensued and the ship moved on to Tel Aviv beach. Ben Gurion ordered Yitzkak Rabin to fire cannon at the ship. The ship hoisted a white flag, and the IDF cannon fire continued. Menachem Begin was a passenger on the ship.
What motivated Ben Gurion to kill Jews, is unknown.
@ Victor: Grunzweig’s killer didn’t serve “life.” He was freed from prison and indeed still upholds the righteousness of his act. He’s a brutal, scummy rightist killer thug.
Regarding your own statements on Arlosoroff. You say Stavsky was convicted. He was a Betar-Revisionist killer & it certainly was a case of rightist assassination of a leftist political leader. Unless you want to claim that Revisionists are leftists. That would introduce a whole new wrinkle to Zionist history.
The story of the Altalena is not quite as you describe. Begin wanted to create his own independent militia. Ben Gurion upheld the unitary power of the State and wanted no independent rightist militia. This was a political battle that turned into violence. But it was not an assassination. Both sides were armed. You’re comparing apples to oranges.
You are done in this thread. No further comments here.
What rule have I violated that you are shutting me down?
“Done in this thread” doesn’t you are “shut down.” It means you move on to another post or thread if you wish to continue commenting. Just not this one.
I’m not a bennet fan, but 2 more facts should have been shown:
1. the poster of nazi bennet:
http://elections.walla.co.il/item/2831107
2. gay activists plan to “destroy party event”:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11011582_902043849847014_8419441024128383315_n.jpg?oh=716c5c1c756285933155d8e0e3c66acb&oe=554ABF1A&__gda__=1435774355_6f1947eda8c96c5cccaced6232cca179
i support the activists’ opinion but not necessarily the way of protest.
@Richard “advised by security officials not to attend events where left-wing activists are present” – a whole article is written about an assault of a provocateur but when it comes to Bennett, you move directly into the NUCLEAR OPTION of assassination. Bennett never made the claim you claim he made.
I don’t know what Bennett himself said since he’s never quoted. But the Party spokesperson who spoke with Haaretz certainly used the reference to the Rabin assassination to say that there was a similar plot to assassinate Bennett. I’ve confirmed this in speaking myself to Itamar Fleischman, the Party press rep.
@ Gal: Though I would never deface an election poster in this fashion, the truth is that Bennett is yet another progression of Israeli extremist ultra-nationalism. I spent 10 minutes yesterday night being harangued by Itamar Fleishman, the Party’s pres rep. I can say without any hesitation this is a proto-fascist Party. It’s Kahanism in a suit and tie.
As for “destroying” a political event, heckling political events is a long & treasured democratic tradition. If the Party hadn’t taken positions hostile to Israeli gays there would be no heckling. As long as Bayit Yehudi is homophobic it should expect such heckling. Contrary to Fleischman, heckling isn’t illegal nor is it anti-democratic. American political parties have managed to find ways of dealing with such disruptions. Why should Israel have to resort to physical assaults to do so? Only in a non-democratic country would such things happen.
The disruption indicates to me the Party was surprised at the vehemence of the gay community’s response. Why should it have been? Why wasn’t it more prepared to deal with it? Why did it get caught flat-footed?
@RS
“There have been no killings or even assaults by leftists on rightists. ”
Except possibly, the burning of the Altelena off the beach in Tel Aviv, which claimed a dozen rightist lives.
@ Victor: I was talking about assassinations of individuals, not acts of war or combat. The Altalena was hardly an assassination. I’m certain Begin’s forces knew they were headed into an armed conflict by docking the boat. It’s not comparable to assassination at all.
[comment deleted: Bibilical homophobia arois!
Jacob Israel De Haan was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1924. I don’t know if it was the ‘right’ or ‘left’ that murdered him. It’s irrelevant. He was murdered by zionists.
Yes, and ironically – seeing the nature of the protest at Bennett’s meeting – Zionists spread the rumour that the murder had to do with De Haan’s sexual proclivities and had been committed by Arabs.