A moral stain that taints us all

When I was in the Israeli paratroopers there were restful periods when we had lessons.

The lessons were about strategy and the values of the IDF. I remember one lesson on how we should treat prisoners.
In my time the Palestinians did not exist, and Israel's enemies were the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. They were also existential enemies.

We were told to treat prisoners in a humane manner.
One of the reasons was: we were not the German army. As we were the first generation after the Holocaust, that was a good enough reason for us.
At that time we were expected to live up to the values of the Jewish state. The values of the prophets and the Declaration of Independence.
It was not about right-wing or left-wing. These were shared values, a clear moral compass.

Nowadays it is different.
Where was the Israeli government's clear and unequivocal condemnation of the settler rampage in Arab villages? They beat up random Arabs, torched cars and houses and ripped up Muslim holy books.

Yet the language of government disapproval was euphemistic. Two parties in the government were full of understanding for these actions. One minister even called the thugs, "sweet boys".

Corbyn could never condemn antisemitism without condemning all forms of racism. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu could not condemn the settler rampage without condemning Druze protests and civil disobedience against the government-proposed judicial overhaul.
Everybody must obey the law, he said.
Hedging his bets, not taking a clear, moral position. Comparing violent, pogrom type attacks to civil disobedience by his political enemies because they were both unlawful.

There were some positives. The heads of the army, Shin Bet and police did unequivocally condemn the rampages, that they called terrorism.
A government minister was so incensed with this condemnation, that she (initially) compared the non-political heads of security to the Wagner Group.

Netanyahu once again hedged his bets. He objected to the minister's criticism of the security heads.
However, he also added that he had ordered an investigation into “allegations of the use of excessive force by the security forces” against settlers in the West Bank.

Eventually there did come a clear moral message - from a settler rabbi.
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, the co-head of the prestigious Har Etzion religious seminary in the Alon Shvut settlement in the West Bank, issued a vehement condemnation of the settler attacks.

He called their actions “a moral stain that taints us all.”