My
Thoughts on Israel
By Naim Dangoor
For
nearly 2,000 years we have been praying and hoping for the
return to Zion. Our generation has been privileged to witness
the rebirth of Israel. I therefore often ask myself, what
are we doing here? Why are we not back in Israel? The answer
lies in the difference between religious Zionism and political
Zionism.
From
the early days of the Galuth, Babylonian Rabbis came to
the conclusion that Israel needs a Mashiyah to make a radical
change in its structure. It was no use reviving Israel with
the old diseases that killed it on two previous occasions.
Ezra’s reforms made the Galuth under the Torah self-sufficient
and deferred ‘sine die’ the need for a Mashiyah.
Jesus opposed the Pharisees and Mohammed, claiming that
he came to revive the pure religion of Abraham, arose as
a direct reaction to the spread of the Talmud. Jewish circles
not within the Babylonian orbit widely opposed the Talmud
and accepted Mohammed as a Gentile Mashiyah, such as the
Jews of Arabia and the Jewish exiles in Afghanistan and
Kashmir (the Pathans).
It
is said that history repeats itself. In fact, like a good
teacher, history only repeats itself when the lesson is
not learned. So what are the problems that a Mashiyah has
to solve? And where did we go wrong? Firstly, that
Eretz Yisrael by itself is too small as a viable homeland
for the Jewish people. While Israel is our national home,
the whole Middle East is our regional home. For a long time
the Jews did occupy Hejaz and parts of the Yemen. The Hebrews
came from Arabia in the fourth wave of Amorite migration
around the peninsula through Kuwait and Iraq and thence
to Canaan. All this shows our historic connections with
all parts of the region. Israel should aim for a kind of
confederation, based on the communal autonomy that was applied
by the Ottoman Empire. In a sense Israel’s strategic
frontiers are on the borders of Iran and Turkey.
Secondly,
that Israel must not be caught in superpower politics. The
defeats of 586 BCE and 70 BCE were the outcome of involvement
in the struggle between Egypt and Babylon and between Rome
and Persia. Today, Israel’s dependence on American
Jewry which, in every way, is the modern counterpart of
the Babylonian Diaspora could embroil the Jewish State in
America’s problems.
Thirdly,
economics. It is said that Israel is a nation of rich people
in a poor country. The rich are the moneylenders and those
who are fortunate to own land and property. Have the prophets
not denounced again and again the economic system whereby
the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? As we see today,
this is particularly dangerous in a country such as Israel.
But
the Torah forbade usury, i.e. interest on money. Moslem
banking is an artificial way to get around usury. The correct
way is an interest-free monetary system, whereby money is
issued in the name of the borrower and not in the name of
the lender.
Likewise,
the Torah forbade freehold titles in land – "And
land must not be sold in perpetuity" – and commanded
the Jubilee system which means in modern terms, index-linked
leasehold tenure with rent reviews every fifty years. It
would ensure that the land of Israel remains forever in
Jewish hands.
Fourthly,
relations with the Arabs. Why did we weep then and why are
we concerned today? Perhaps the next three words of the
psalm can give the answer - Al Arabim Betokha (because of
the Arabs who were there). What is the sense of offering
full employment to Arabs in Israel or who come to Israel,
while neighbouring Arabs countries import labour from India
and Far East and while many Israeli Jews are forced to emigrate?
Perhaps to their detriment, Jews never tried to drive out
natives from Israel. It was the Arabs who applied such a
policy so that by massacres, conversions and forced emigration
they made Arabia 100% free of Jews until now.
The
Arabs accuse Israel of being expansionist but it is the
Arabs themselves who have been expanding since the rise
of Islam.
Fifthly,
Aliyah.
At the inauguration of the Commonwealth Jewish Council last
year, Francis Pym who was Foreign Minister remarked in his
speech that it was no longer true to say that the sun never
sets on the British Empire. But that it is true to say that
the sun never sets on the Jewish Diaspora. The Diaspora
can be looked upon as Israel’s Empire. There is no
need for Israel to swallow up the communities of the Diaspora
one after another. In the absence of a Mashiyah, Diaspora
Jews want by and large to stay put. The Diaspora has no
desire to liquidate itself. However, under proper conditions
many more Jews would want to immigrate to Israel. In the
meantime there is a case for encouraging half-Aliyah whereby
Diaspora Jews can establish permanent second homes in the
Holy Land.
Israel
needs millions more people. But these can be produced from
within and would cost Israel less than immigrants. The national
dividend can be tailored to encourage large families.
Sixthly,
a Mashiyah will give us a moral uplift and may also develop
our religion to realise the vision of Jeremiah and Deutero-Isaiah
when the whole world accepts and submits to God’s rule.
We
must realise that the new Israel is part of a changed Middle
East.
But
even in the absence of a Mashiyah we should do our utmost
to facilitate his job.
Two
thousand years ago, only the Jews worshipped the One True
God. Now three-quarters of humanity submit to the God of
Israel. Single-handed, Mohammed created a new monotheistic
religion on the lines of the Revelations to Abraham and
Moses, having today two billion followers all over the world.
Islam does not conflict with Judaism but confirms it. We
should have no difficulty in acknowledging that there is
no God but Allah and that Mohammed was his missionary. The
conflict started when Mohammed tried to convert the Jews,
and the Jews rightly refused because they already acknowledge
God. Just as Christian-Jewish enmity started not because
of the baseless accusation of "deicide", but because
Jews refused to convert to a paganised Christianity.
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