JERUSALEM — The assault on the U.S. Capitol is being compared to the murders of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the string of riots from Black Lives Matter and other sources against police attacks on Blacks.
And this by Israeli media that have long noted that Donald Trump has done more for Israel than other US Presidents.
His administration is falling apart, with less than two weeks left. Cabinet Secretaries have resigned, and others have considered following the 25th amendment in order to remove Donald Trump from office.
Democrats in the House of Representatives are planning to institute procedures to impeach him.
Now he has indicated that he’ll turn over power on the 20th of January, although he won’t take part in the ceremony. He also called on his supporters to invade the Capitol, and has long claimed that the election was stolen from him.
What’ll happen in the week and a bit till he leaves? Will he employ the power to invade another country? If he presses the buttons or gives the orders, will senior military officers comply?
And for us, what about his dear friend and ally, Benjamin Netanyahu? Israelis are asking themselves if an occupation of the Knesset is imaginable. Some are saying yes. There are intense supporters of Bibi, just as there are Americans convinced that Trump actually won the election. Yet there isn’t the widespread availability of arms here, and it’s hard to find traces of rebellion in our history. Lots of people ignore what the government declares, to be sure. You can start with the ultra-Orthodox, whose leaders may mumble some kind of support for closing schools and synagogues in the midst of a pandemic. And go to the Arabs, who have secreted lots of weapons. Both the Haredim and the Arabs have caused problems for the police and other security services. Rabin was killed. But so far we haven’t had the magnitude of disorder that we’ve seen in the US.
On the positive side, close to two million Israelis have received vaccines against Coronavirus. More than 75 percent of those over 60 or with severe conditions have received their first shots. We’ve had our second shots. More supplies are arriving and Bibi predicts that we’ll all be inoculated by the end of March. Both Arabs and Haredim have had more infections, and are avoiding vaccination more than others.
Bibi has smoothed the path to Pfizer by providing details of Israelis to the firm. And the timing of the final delivery of the vaccine matches his date with the election. No doubt we’ll be bombarded by a campaign praising him as our savior. In response, the several parties opposing him from right and left ought to unite, or at least form an alliance and campaign together. So far there isn’t any sign of that unity.
And how are the vaccinations going elsewhere? Slowly, slowly.
We’re well situated. All are members of a Sick Fund. They and the hospitals are inoculating. Relatively few of us, except for the Arabs and Haredim, seem to be opposed.
It is said to help that the CEO of Pfizer is the son of Holocaust survivors from Saloniki, and the head of Moderna is an Israeli, but there are other reasons for Israel’s receipt of the vaccine. There’s good medical coverage, able to provide information to the sources of the vaccine about its various effects in a sizable population. Also, Israel is able to pay what the companies demand.
So while our best friend may be unravelling, and we’re locked down, or close to home, there are sources of optimism as well of pessimism.
The current closure is the fourth, but it’s called “three and a half” because the third–two weeks ago– was widely breached and little enforced. Now infections have gone beyond 8,000 daily. Schools have been closed, along with stores and shopping malls, except for those selling food or medicine. We’re supposed to remain within a kilometer of our homes, and not visit other homes. Lots of people have lost their jobs. Government aide is meagre.
Recent polls are indicating that Bibi can’t continue. But he’s crafty.
There’s some speculation that Bibi worked toward the total closure in order to facilitate his own judicial problem. The onset of his trial has been delayed because of the closure. At the least, it is said, he should have kept out of the decision about the closure, or gone ahead with the start of his trial.
Lots to worry about. As usual, no certainties about the future, near or distant. Optimists or pessimists are writing that Israel will become the second or third most crowded country in 20 years. Birth rates are high, especially among the ultra-Orthodox. How long can we continue supporting them, and educating them without the conventional subjects of science. language and other elements of the package provided to other students? Yiddish and sacred texts will not lead a growing minority to decent citizenship.
And what about the US? Will the clear signs of a madman at the top produce a change in the Republican Party? Or will the closeness of the election, plus all the Americans who believe the stories of fraud in the election, lead that party onward to anger tipping over to violence? Slim chance of limiting the availability of weapons. What remains a principal source of hope for the world has been brought to the edge of indecency, and maybe over it.
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Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D, is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com