Israeli Jews believe that the world judges them unfairly and expects from them standards of behaviour that are not required from other nations. Such is their view of reactions to the ongoing occupation in general, and to every violent encounter initiated by Israel or carried out in retaliation in which it reacts with full force, killing civilians, including women and children, and causing damage to buildings and property. This happened in 2006, as part of the second Lebanon war when Israel bombed civilians in Lebanon; in 2014, during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, when many hundreds of civilians were killed by Israel; and at present, during the Gaza war, in which over 40,000 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed and about 91,000 injured as of August 15. In percentage terms, that’s 1.74 percent of the population of about 2.3 million people. For comparison, 1.73 percent of Israel’s population is some 156,000 people. With the addition of the wounded, it is an unbelievable number that indicates that the war is one of the bloodiest in the 21st century. In addition, Gaza has been flattened, and there are over 1.5 million refugees out of over 2 million Gaza residents who are starving. Some of these events began with human losses and even atrocities against Israeli victims, as in the case of the Hamas attack on October 7. But the disproportionate response provoked widespread criticism of the Israeli military action. Thus, the question is why this criticism appears.
Assuming that this is a valid question, I will try to examine what the basis for these kinds of expectations is. In other words, do other nations have a legitimate basis to expect Israel to act in moderation, without violating international law and human rights, as it appears to observers in the world at large. When government policy, actions of the Israeli security organizations (including the army), Supreme Court rulings, and the rampage of settlers are condemned by other governments, official international institutions, civil society organizations, and also citizens for disproportionate harm, violations of human rights, and violations of international law in actions against the Palestinians, the great majority of Israelis see these condemnations as expressions of anti-Semitism. This happens with the encouragement of both coalition and opposition members as well as the majority of the media, regardless of their political orientation. Apart from a small minority in Israel, the Israeli leadership and the large majority of Israeli Jews see any criticism of Israeli behaviour toward Palestinians as unjustified, reflecting double standards, expressing hostility and enmity, or at best, reflecting a lack of understanding of Israeli needs, especially the demand for security as a result of the special experiences Jews lived through for hundreds of years, which culminated in the Holocaust.
In addition, Israeli Jews feel that Israel is discriminated against in the international response when compared with the brutal violence, the violations of human rights, the atrocities, and the unforgivable wars that have been and are being waged today around the world, for example, in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria or Bosnia, Armenia, Congo or Sudan. Israeli Jews think that the accusations in all these cases were not as severe and persistent as those against Israel.
In this article, I will try to clarify the reasons underlying the opinions of those who expect Israeli Jews to behave morally towards Palestinians, and to respect their human rights and international law. The list of these reasons constitutes general claims as they have been expressed over the years.
Western Europe as an Example
Most Israeli Jews want to be part of Europe and, in general, would prefer to judge their behaviour by European standards. They would like to be associated with the European Union and receive the benefits it provides in various fields, such as academia, culture, and sports. They like to travel to Europe where they feel comfortable and respect the European codes of conduct they know. But Europe also sets clear moral and democratic standards for itself. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union1 lists the requirements demanded of its members, and the values2 on which the EU was founded as: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights.
The desire to be part of Europe also has consequences. By aspiring to be part of Europe, Israel unintentionally sets itself up to be judged by European standards in its behaviour towards 'the other,' especially the Palestinians. The EU member states do not wage wars or engage in violent conflicts. They also do not occupy the territories of others. Thus, the fact that Israel acts as an occupier of the Palestinians, mistreats them, and violates their human rights is often condemned by the EU.
Questionable Democracy
Israel claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East, and in fact, none of the other countries in the Middle East are democratic. All are authoritarian to one degree or another, and some are even completely totalitarian. While Israel’s claim indicates a desire to be democratic, it is actually well integrated in the region in this regard because it pursues undemocratic policies and practices towards the Palestinians. More and more organizations and individuals see the regime in the occupied territories as apartheid and accuse Israel of using organized violence to establish the supremacy of the Jews over the Palestinians. Apartheid is considered a crime against humanity according to the Rome Statute of 2002, which Israel signed but never ratified.
Jews as a Chosen People
Although throughout history, various groups have seen themselves as God’s chosen people, the Jewish people are perhaps best known for identifying themselves as such. This belief has been consistently preserved by Jews for centuries. Even today, many Jews, especially the Orthodox, see themselves as the people of the Book, chosen by God to fulfill the mission of proclaiming his truth among all the nations of the world. It is the basis of God’s truth that the Jews should be a light unto the gentiles. Therefore, they are expected to serve as an example of moral and just behavior toward other nations.
Many Israeli Jews believe that Judaism provided the universal moral foundation for Western civilization. The Bible, which contains the Ten Commandments, and the books of the prophets, the psalms, and the proverbs all detail some of the most important principles of human and moral behaviour. Statements such as “You shall not oppress your neighbour and you shall not rob him... You shall not do injustice in judgment” (Leviticus 19:13-18), and “the foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus, 19:33-34), are seen as guidelines for the treatment of others. Of great importance are the words of Isaiah about morality: “Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless” (Isaiah 1:15-23). Also often quoted is his prophesy about violence and war: “God shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). Finally, it is worth noting the key principle of Jewish treatment of others, in accord with the Jewish moral codex as expressed by Hillel the Elder, who lived in the first century BCE and coined the “golden rule”: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah….”
We learn from these and many other quotations from the Scriptures, that Judaism marked the beginning of a revolutionary idea that laid the groundwork for social reform: Jews have the ability, and therefore, the responsibility to behave morally in order to stop injustices in their life settings. The implications of this demand are that all human beings can behave morally and thus have the duty to act accordingly. Jews wrote principles of moral behavior that should serve as a light unto other nations. Therefore, as “noblesse oblige”; the Jews are first of all expected to follow the directives of their own commands. They should be judged as to whether they obey what they wrote for themselves.
Jews as Pillars of Western Civilization
Jews are proud of every Jew who has made a contribution to the world. Indeed, although Jews comprise only about 0.2% of the world population, they have continually contributed disproportionally to the development of Western civilization. On a more concrete level, Jews are noted for their impact on the general development of science. The number of Nobel prizes Jews have won are evidence of their distinguished standing: Among the over 900 individuals who have been awarded this prize, since its beginning in 1901, about 20% have been Jews. This is unique for a people who numbered less than 16 million in 1933, and today number about 16 million. Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, and Sigmund Freud are only three of the notable Jews who have changed the thinking, knowledge, culture, and science of Western civilization. Looking more deeply, we can find many more Jewish notable writers, poets, musicians, artists, reformists, thinkers, intellectuals, social activists, journalists, revolutionaries, and inventors.
Many Jews have contributed to the institutionalization of moral thought in the world. Two examples are Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer who is best known for coining the term “genocide” and for initiating the Genocide Convention, and René Cassin, who was among those who coauthored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and said in 1974: “Human rights are an integral part of the faith and tradition of Judaism. The beliefs that man was created in the divine image, that the human family is one, and that every person is obliged to deal justly with every other person are basic sources of the Jewish commitment to human rights.”
It thus should not be too much to ask that Israeli Jews, who revere the Jewish contribution to the ideas, values, beliefs, perspectives, and approaches that have advanced humanity, morality, justice, and goodness toward human beings should follow these principles. In fact, the Israeli Declaration of Independence of 1948, made promises based on the Human Rights Declaration which had appeared that same year:
“The State of Israel will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice, and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed, or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education, and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
This is the compass often cited by Israeli Jews to guide Israeli policies and actions. All these facts serve as a foundation for the expectation that Israeli Jews should behave in line with the promises of their people.
The Most Moral Army in the World
The Israeli Army is viewed by Israeli Jews as the army of the people. Except for the small minority of ultra-Orthodox, the majority of Israeli Jews do their mandatory service, and men continue to do reserve duty afterward. In addition, the Israeli army has male and female professional soldiers. Thus, the Israeli army is very much integrated into the nation and represents its values. It is not surprising that most political leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid, and top military commanders present the army as “the most moral army in the world.”
In addition, the Israeli army has propagated a central value of “purity of arms” as part of its doctrine of ethics. “The Spirit of the IDF.” which lays out the army’s code of ethics, says: “The soldier shall make use of his weaponry and power only for the fulfillment of the mission and solely to the extent required; he will maintain his humanity even in combat. The soldier shall not employ his weaponry and power in order to harm non-combatants or prisoners of war and shall do all he can to avoid harming their lives, body, honor and property.”
These principles enjoy a fair degree of consensus among Jews, both religious and secular. Thus, it is expected that the Israeli army will behave morally and humanly in line with universal codes and laws. Investigations conducted into the army’s behavior by the International Criminal Court suggest that its conduct has veered disturbingly far from these expectations.
Jews as Eternal Victims
The Jewish collective memory presents Jews as eternal victims. From ancient times, with the destruction of the Second Temple, through the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and the Industrial Revolution up to the present, Jews almost everywhere have consistently and continuously met with hatred which we would today call massive anti-Semitism.
The fact is that 6 million Jews perished while the world was indifferent to the national Jewish tragedy. This indifference did not begin with the industrial extermination of Jews in Auschwitz between 1942 and 1945. The indifference was already revealed in 1933, with the ascendance to power of Nazism with its anti-Semitic ideology. Some members of the Jewish community, about 520,200, sensed the danger and therefore decided to leave Germany to neighboring countries. In fact, until October 1933, the German authorities even encouraged Jewish emigration, but the Jews faced the obstacle of receiving permits to settle in other states. All countries limited the entrance of Jews, and therefore about 150,000 of them remained in Germany.
A symbol of the Jewish fate is the drama of the cruise liner the SS St Louis. On May 13, 1939, more than 900 Jews boarded the ship to flee from Germany, hoping to reach Cuba and then travel to the U.S., but about a third of them were turned away in Havana and then in other states (including Canada and the U.S.) and ultimately were forced to return to Europe, where they eventually ended up in death camps and were killed.
In the hell of the Holocaust, there were non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis for altruistic reasons. The State of Israel decided to honor these individuals with a special award called 'Righteous Among the Nations'. About 28,000 people have received this award after a thorough investigation to see that they deserved it.
Intuitively, one would expect that a nation that went through the horrible experience of near extermination, but also experienced humane acts by a few who revealed courage and altruism would be sensitive, support human rights, and oppose violence, discrimination, and oppression of the “other.” In this case, we would expect that the Jewish nation would behave morally and at least act according to international laws and conventions. It would be reasonable to expect that Israeli Jews, who commemorate those who perished and honor the few 'Righteous Among the Nations', would be champion defenders of humanity.
Conclusion
In sum, most of the nations do not have the pretensions that Israeli Jews have about being a light unto the nations and the cradle of universal morality. There are, indeed, Jews who have taken it upon themselves to repair and improve the world (tikun olam) in the tradition of Jewish prescriptions from the Mishna, a book written in the third century CE to transfer oral tradition into established documentation. In many places in the world, Jews have struggled against immoral, repressive, discriminatory, and antidemocratic regimes and policies. But in Israel, only a small minority voice their objection to the violations of international law and human rights. Today there are only two states in the world that do not give civil rights to the occupied nations: Israel and Morocco. Instead, they carry out an occupation that is brutal by its nature and evokes cycles of violence that thousands of civilians pay with their lives, including children and women. Palestinians have been oppressed by Israelis for over 57 years. The great majority of them accept this situation with denial, repression, rationalization and apathy.
It thus should not surprise Israeli Jews that the world expects them to treat Palestinians according to the moral standards that they have set for themselves and other nations. And if they do not follow these rules, they should accept the voices that say: “We accuse.”
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1 European Union Gateway, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT
2 European Union Gateway, Aims and Values, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countrieshistory/principles-and-values/aims-and-values_en