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IN EVERY language there are some words
that cannot be properly translated into any other. It seems that
they express something intimately connected with the speakers
of that language and rooted in their history, traditions and
reality. Such words become international expressions, appearing
in other languages in their original form.
For example, the German word
"Schadenfreude". Or the English word "gentleman"
and the American word 'business". Or the Russian word "pogrom"
(originally meaning devastation). Or the Japanese word "kamikaze"
(divine wind, the title given to suicide bombers). Or the Mexican
"manana" and the similar Arabic "bukra" (both
meaning tomorrow. The difference between them? The joke says:
Bukra is not so urgent.) And, lately, the Palestinian "intifada".
The most prominent Hebrew addition
to this international lexicon is "chutzpah", a word
that has no equivalent in any other language. Some English words
may come close (impertinence, cheek, insolence, impudence), but
none conveys the full meaning of this Hebrew-Yiddish expression.
It seems that it reflects something that is especially characteristic
of Jewish reality, which was transferred to the State of Israel,
which defines itself as a "Jewish State".
* *
*
THE PRESIDENT of Israel is
supposed to symbolize the common denominator of all our citizens.
Therefore it is proper for him to symbolize this trait, too.
And indeed, it is difficult
to imagine a more quintessential chutzpah than the behavior of
His Excellency, President Moshe Katzav. He is the supreme symbol
of Israeli chutzpah.
Katzav has been accused of
the sexual harassment of several women who worked for him in
the President's office, as well as in his earlier public offices.
At least three of them accused him of rape.
Such accusations are, of course,
far from a conviction. The investigation is still going on.
The President, like any other
citizen, must be presumed innocent until found guilty in court.
It is quite possible that in the end he will not even be indicted,
or--if this happens--that he will be acquitted, though perhaps
only for lack of proof.
But that is not the point.
The point is that the President of the state, like Caesar's wife,
must be above suspicion. It is sufficient that there be reasonable
grounds for suspecting the President--such as a criminal investigation--for
him to resign his office. If he is later acquitted, so much the
better.
Let it be clear: I have nothing
against Moshe Katzav personally. On the contrary, I have praised
him on TV for his readiness, in spite of belonging to the Likud,
to listen to Arab citizens. I once brought to him a delegation
of leaders from the West Bank, and he treated them with the utmost
courtesy.
But as a citizen of Israel
I am ashamed. The affair in which he is involved dishonors the
office and, indirectly, the entire state. "Citizen Number
1" has become the butt of jokes.
One thing can be said in his
favor: in his chutzpah, too, he symbolizes the state, or, at
least, the ruling elite.
THE KING of chutzpah, its very
personification, is the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert.
If he had a gram of shame, the minimum of decency, he would have
resigned the day after the cease-fire. There is no need for an
inquiry to decide the obvious: that he is guilty of a long line
of disasters that have caused the death of a thousand human beings,
including almost 200 Israelis--men, women, old people and children.
It can be debated of what exactly
to accuse Olmert: the starting of an unnecessary and hopeless
war (as I believe), or "only" the incompetent conduct
of the campaign from start to finish. But any one of these is
enough for a decent person to go home and wait there for the
results of the inquiries.
But Olmert does not even dream
of doing that. He continues as if nothing has happened. In the
US this is called "stonewalling". He stands there naked
like the emperor in the children's story. All the promises he
made only a few months ago, during the election campaign, have
dissipated like smoke in the wind. He has no political plan left.
He has not even the ability to carry out any plan, if he had
one. He has no time to think about anything, except his political
survival.
Winston Churchil once said
about a former British Prime Minister: "The right honorable
gentleman sometimes stumbles on the truth, but he always hurries
on as if nothing has happened." Olmert, similarly, hurries
on his way.
He objects to the investigation
of the war through the instruments prescribed by law. He tries
to set up a whitewash investigation by an unquestioningly loyal
group chosen by himself. He goes on using every opportunity to
make another of his banal, cliché-laden speeches, which
do not contain a single word of truth, or even of interest.
That is chutzpah. Not chutzpah
in the harmless, jocular sense often signified by this word,
but a dangerous, rude and aggressive chutzpah. In practice, the
state remains without leadership. It is unable to take bold decisions
in a situation which demands them. His personal survival overshadows
everything else, from the problem of the prisoner exchange to
the daily killing of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
It must be stated again and
again: the state is not private property. It is not some booty
that belongs to whoever has succeeded in laying his hands on
it, accidentally or not. It is a national treasure entrusted
by the citizens to a particular politician, which must be given
back by him if he is proven unable or incompetent to exercise
his duties. Any other attitude is chutzpah.
* *
*
NO NEED to waste words on the
chutzpah of Amir Peretz. It speaks for itself.
He bears personal responsibility for all the blunders of the
war, from the unthinking decision to start it, up to the last
military decision. From the boastful beginning to the bitter
end he showed a shocking inadequacy. A decent person would have
resigned the moment the guns fell silent. His refusal is chutzpah.
The chutzpah of Peretz is almost
bizarre. He achieved political power on the basis of his explicit
promise to carry out basic social reforms. Not only did he ignore
this promise, he did the very opposite. His effort to continue
now as if nothing has happened and even to present himself as
a social leader is pathetic.
* *
*
BUT EVEN these three champions--Katzav,
Olmert and Peretz--pale in comparison with Dan Halutz.
Together with likeminded people
I demonstrated opposite the Ministry of Defense when he was sworn
in as Chief-of-Staff. It was clear to us that such a person,
who had behaved as he did behave and who had said what he did
say was not fit to lead the Israeli army. But even we did not
foresee in our wildest imagination that in such a short time,
and in such an extreme manner, he would confirm our darkest forebodings.
From a purely military point
of view, Halutz is the greatest failure in the annals of the
Israeli army. From a human point of view, he justified the prophecy
that he has a brilliant future in the court of The Hague. From
a political point of view, his understanding equals that of a
primary school pupil (if the pupil community will excuse me.)
The boastfulness of the Air
force, the arrogance of an incompetent general, the brutality
of a person who is able to bring tragedy to hundreds of thousands
without batting an eyelid--all of these were exposed during the
war.
As has been published, he told
the government on the sixth day of the war that from that moment
on there was no possibility of achieving anything more. Said
so and did not demand to stop, said so and went on with the killing
and destroying, day after day, night after night. On the eve
of the cease-fire he sent his soldiers into a militarily senseless,
completely unnecessary offensive, in which the lives of 33 of
his soldiers were sacrificed.
But Dan Halutz does not resign. It doesn't even enter his mind.
This week, at a meeting of former generals, accusations and even
insults were slung at him, and he did not budge.
A decent person would have
resigned at once. It is clear that an officer who has failed
in this manner, who is so much distrusted by the army, cannot
carry out the general overhaul demanded now--the replacing of
the entire general Staff, and especially the replacing of all
the commanders who were in charge of the campaign. Can a person
who refuses to bear the responsibility for this entire bungled
campaign demand that his subordinates shoulder theirs?
When chutzpah is the norm in
the army--what chance is there for its rehabilitation?
* *
*
I KNOW, there are several arguments
for keeping the champions of chutzpah in office. There are no
obvious alternatives. The bad may be replaced by worse. Olmert's
resignation may lead to new elections, in which the more extreme
Right may win. His resignation may also lead to the inclusion
in the government of Avigdor Liberman, compared to whom the Frenchman
Le Pen and the Austrian Haider are bleeding-heart liberals. Who
can guess who and what might come after Halutz?
All these arguments are valid,
but they must give way to one simple demand: Chutzpah must not
be allowed to reign. The acceptance of personal responsibility
by the directors of the government and the army is an essential
feature of a healthy society. It is a simple moral imperative,
like the categorical imperative of Kant, an imperative that does
not allow for any compromise.
The Talmud warns against "chutzpah
towards heaven" (God). We must warn against chutzpah towards
civil society, the sovereign on earth.
Now
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Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
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