Ready for Compromise Peace But Concluded Correctly It Wasn't Possible (Ovadia Yosef)
"The
evil that men do is remembered after their deaths, but the good is
often buried with them." -- William Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar"
******
It
is amazing how much Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (ZTL) has been slandered or
obviously misrepresented after he died at the age of 93 in Jerusalem a
few days ago. It is symbolic nowadays of the demeaning and libel of
Judaism by others—not just Zionism—but just Judaism, or of the media
misrepresentations due either to partisanship or ignorance among many
who know they will not be caught or corrected .
But it is also amazing about how many Jews, particularly outside Israel, try to use Ovadia Yosef in their suicidal naivete.
Born
in Baghdad in 1920 (how long ago and what a distant world that was!)
Rabbi Yosef was recognized as a genius from an early age. He was a
great teacher and jurisprudent. But he was far more than that.
I will summarize his achievements in five points.
First,
Yosef gave peace a chance. At a certain point he was really willing to
take a dovish stance politically. But then when it was clear that the
Palestinian Arabs didn’t peace, like the majority of others in
Israel—including Sephardic Jews me and many of my friends--he realized
it wasn’t going to work.
This
is the most interesting point and concluded by many Israelis--though
the Western media keep it a big secret so that there is not sympathy or
understanding for their position.
In 2003 Rabbi Yosef wrote:
"
I want to clarify my position with regard to Yesha [the West Bank
settlements). Not once have I thought that the Halachic [Jewish
religious law] ruling which I issued at the time regarding “territories
in exchange for peace” is not valid and does not apply to the current
situation. I had intended only a true peace, one in which Jerusalem and
it surrounding neighborhoods would rest secure, in peace and harmony.
But now we see that on the contrary handing over territory from our holy
land endangers lives. We never intended such a peace. Therefore the
Oslo agreement is null and void. For I am for peace and they are for war and we have no one to rely on but on our Father in Heaven...."
"With much love, and one who seeks you well being with all my heart and soul
"Ovadia Yosef"
Thats'
is the obvious experience experience that changed millions of Israelis
minds, making them sure that peace isn't going to happen. That handing
over territory will not bring peace, that Arab states will not accept
Israel (or really Iran or Turkey . It is not valid and does not apply to the current situation. Or at least it can and will be reversed by Islamists.
Second, he developed a Sephardic (or Mizrahi) Jewish (Middle East and) pride, identity and community and political institutions.
Third,
toward the nation as a whole, he did much to integrate Sephardim into a
successful national identity to produce a united people. In the 1980s
there was a really potentially explosive conflict between Jews of
Eastern and Western origins such that you cannot conceive of such a
thing today.
Fourth,
compared to Jews of European origin, he was very successful in
preventing a wall from developing between more and less pious Sephardic
Jews. It was a huge achievement that many take for granted.
A
European-origin Jew will be relatively either secular, Modern Orthodox,
or Haredi (“ultra-Orthodox,” which is a meaningless term). Sephardic
Jews are most probably far more open. My son compares them to a spectrum
like Conservative (Masorti, traditional) and “ConservOdox
(Conservative-Orthodox blend).
Fifth,
he integrated the Sephardim into the country rather than sitting in
isolation. Most of the Haredim try to avoid army service and paid jobs.
This is unthinkable for the Sephardim.
Now,
what are the negatives? The first was that the political party he
created, Shas, was very corrupt. Yousef trusted bad people to lead it.
The defense was that it was the Sephardim, the last historically to get
that chance, were just getting their fair share. The result was that
there was a lot of corruption.
The second was that in his late 80s, Rabbi Yosef became impatient and angrier. He made statements that were intemperate at times toward his Israeli opponents and the Arabs. I might point out without excusing those words that the Arabs deliberately murdered thousands of Jewish children, women, and men in terrorism ((with fewer than ten reciprocations?)
Israel was ready to agree to a two-state solution in 2000. Jewish terrorists, very few in numbers, were punished by law; Palestinian ones were never punished by their groups or their government or even delegitimized. On the contrary, they were held up as positive role models, as heroes.
The second was that in his late 80s, Rabbi Yosef became impatient and angrier. He made statements that were intemperate at times toward his Israeli opponents and the Arabs. I might point out without excusing those words that the Arabs deliberately murdered thousands of Jewish children, women, and men in terrorism ((with fewer than ten reciprocations?)
Israel was ready to agree to a two-state solution in 2000. Jewish terrorists, very few in numbers, were punished by law; Palestinian ones were never punished by their groups or their government or even delegitimized. On the contrary, they were held up as positive role models, as heroes.
Yosef
never endorsed violence or terrorism. And also as I said he was just as
verbally tough against his Jewish opponents at times.
Now, the punch-line. What characteristic did the Western and Israeli medias highlight after 93 years of a near-saintly life?
Of course, anti-Arab racism!
And
what does the mass media say about another. Shaykh Yosef Qaradawi, who
has praised Hitler, advocated terrorism, genocide, violence, and
revolution? A moderate.
And what does the left-wing parts of the Israeli media do?
It
pretend that Yosef never learned the lessons he voiced in his 2993
letter when he--and many other Israelis had learned that hey had wanted
"true peace"but that handing over land for peace didn't get it.
That, dear readers, is unfortunately why Israeli voters must act as they do. And that is why they are, unfortunately correct.
Israel
was ready for compromise peace but concluded correctly that it wasn't
possible because of the other side. It is the biggest secret in the
Middle East, the lie that the left tells; the Arabs reject; and the
well-intentioned doves cannot admit.
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