Over the last two years, with the
war against Palestinian terrorism raging in the background, incidents
of ideological delinquency have reappeared in Israel. It began two
years ago with the letter of the dissenters, and beginning last summer
the phenomenon has accelerated. The pilots’ letter, the letter of the
General Staff Reconnaissance Force reservists have been incorporated
into the Palestinian propaganda campaign against the State of Israel.
At the same time, Ami Ayalon’s mass signature campaign and Yossi
Beilin’s Geneva document have also been incorporated.
All these exposed the
anti-democratic tendency extant today among the Israeli Left. This
tendency has deep roots in Israeli politics dating back to the
establishment of the state. The dissent phenomenon is connected to
what can be called Isra-communism. The IDF, from its inception, has
been afflicted by deep-rooted politicization. After the dissolution of
the Palmah and after the end of the War of Independence, Mapam
officers in the IDF organized themselves in underground cells. Mapam
then constituted a solid Stalinist bloc; which represented a dominant
segment of the Israeli public. Its members were, first and foremost,
loyal to the Soviet Union. Thoughts of seizing power in Israel by
means of a revolution existed, especially among officers affiliated
with Hashomer Hazair. These intentions manifested themselves in
assemblies of Mapam officers and party leaders, where they were
explicitly articulated. Ben-Gurion attacked Mapam in a series of
articles published in 1953, and charged that Mapam was on the verge of
treason. His basic question: If a socialist Arab country attacked
Israel – whose side would the Mapam members in the IDF take – the side
of the Jewish State or that of the revolution’s liberation forces? The
revolutionary fervor waned over the years; however it was
institutionalized by means of a body called the “officers’ circle”.
These officers continued to maintain ties with the Mapam for many
subsequent years. Outstanding members of the “officers’ circle”
included Yizhak Rabin, Haim Bar-Lev and David Elazar.
Then, the members of Mapam sought
positions of influence in the army. The political hacks among them
opposed the paratroopers under the command of Ariel Sharon, because of
the retaliatory actions, which they opposed. Apparently, the Palmah
alumni identified the General Staff Reconnaissance Force as an army
unit in which they could gain influence. According to the testimonies
of Dovik Tamari and Ehud Barak, the thought of continuity of the
Palmah spirit was the motivating factor behind the unit’s founder,
Avraham Ornan. These instances of politicization led, in times of
crisis, to the creation of organizations like “Yesh Gvul”, (the
name is a play on the Hebrew words meaning “There is a Border”, i.e.
“There is a Limit”) the Peace Now officers’ letter and many other
phenomena of ideological delinquency, which endanger Israeli
democracy.