The Hypocrisy of Israeli Hard Liners
This is the second article in a series looking at the Hypocrisy underlying the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Feel free to check out the first article on the Hypocrisy of Pro Palestinian protesters here.
Hypocrisy is loosely defined as: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
In other words, practice what you preach.
Hypocrisy implies that the individual is cognizant that what they are preaching does not align with what they practice. Hypocrites know what they say or do is wrong, yet do so anyhow.
In the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, there are some key instances of hypocrisy that I am seeing from far right Israelis that need to be pointed out and addressed.
The “No Innocent Palestinians” claim
This claim comes from certain far right elements in Israel. They use it as reasoning for prolonged military activity in Gaza, and the need for continuous Israeli presence in the West Bank.
These people find proof points to justify a belief that all Palestinians need to held accountable for the war crimes committed by Hamas. While it is true that UNWRA does teach Jew Hatred to children, it is not true that all Palestinians are guilty of the same crimes as Hamas. And yes, the Palestinian governing bodies have rejected peace every single time since 1947, but there is a difference between the governing bodies and the citizens.
These people know there are thousands of innocent civilians who have died in Gaza since the 7th of October. And yet, they insist on associating Hamas terrorist war crimes on the entire Palestinian population.
The Settler Fanatics
The West Bank settlements are untenable. Politically, economically, and morally.
In reality, the history of the West Bank is irrelevant because the fact is that Palestinians live there now and that is their home.
I have no idea how to solve the West Bank situation, but I do know that any push for increased Settler presence in the West Bank is bad all around for everybody.
There are far too many Israeli who continue to support the expansion of settlements in the West Bank (let alone the Gaza Strip).
These crazies are driven by blind ideology, even though they know that increased Settler activity endangers everybody. It destroys the lives of the Palestinians who live there, it is a massive economic sink-hole for Israel, it endangers the lives of young Israelis and young Palestinians who will continue to fight each other, and it is a political “Middle Finger” on the global stage.
And yet, they continue to put their egotistical interests ahead of the interests of the country, and the region, as a whole.
Downplaying far right politicians
Every time a far right fanatic Israeli politician opens his/her mouth, something callous, stupid, racist and impractical comes out.
Every tweet from these people is translated to every language and disseminated across the globe as another proof-point for the Anti-Israel (Anti-Jew) crowd.
Quotes from Israeli politicians like Itamar Ben Gvir and Nissim Vaturi were used by South Africa at the International Court of Justice to show Israel’s genocidal intent.
And yet, many Israelis continue to downplay the damage these people do on the global geopolitical stage, claiming they are “fringe” or “minority” perspectives.
And while that may be true, these people are members of parliament, and therefore representatives of the State of Israel. Too many Israelis prefer to put their heads in the sand rather than confront these far right fanatic elements of the Israeli government and vote them out.
There are many more examples of the hypocrisy of Israeli right-wing hard liners, but the important part to remember is that hypocrites know what they say or do is wrong, yet do so anyhow.
So why are people hypocritical? Why do people say or do something that they logically know is incorrect? Psychology points to three underlying factors that are relevant to this situation
- Moral Superiority as Deflection
Hypocritical behavior manifests itself as moral superiority, which masks our strong fear of humility. Meaning, people are hypocritical because we are scared of owning up to our own shortcomings. We know our faults and flaws, and where we are wrong, but owning up to them publicly is scary enough to cause people to be hypocritical.
In the context of the hard core Israel supporters, there is a strong tendency to continuously bolster Israel’s infallibility — where Israel can do no wrong. They are unable or unwilling to admit that Israel has done something wrong, and will therefore cling to narratives even though they themselves may privately agree.
2. Social Desirability
Humans crave validation, respect, and inclusion from others, and when challenged by social constructs that conflict with individual morals, humans tend to cave and take the easy path of maintaining inclusion.
To me, this is perfectly manifested in the government of Israel beginning with the Judicial Reform. Many right wing Israelis understood the damage Bibi and his cronies were causing to the country, but remained silent. Even so-called “Centrist” politicians like Nir Barkat refused to say anything publicly, for fear of rocking the Likud boat.
3. Ideology
Finally, hypocrisy can manifest when there is a deep-rooted ideological belief that outweighs any logic or understanding. For these types of hypocrites, it doesn’t matter how many times they are slapped with the truth, they will always find a way to justify their ideology.
The settler movement perfectly illustrates this point. Against all logic and reasoning, far right pro-settler Israelis continue to push an agenda that will have dire ramifications for everybody involved.
So how do we deal with these hypocrites?
They only way to deal with hypocrisy is to keep calling out and confronting it.
Israelis are actually very good at this, especially regarding far right pro-settler aspects of government. The average Israeli is very aware of the damage that can be caused by these types of people. The average Israeli has been protesting in the streets since January of 2023 about it.
For me personally, this means continuing to use my voice to call out the settler movement. Something I have been doing for over a decade.
The hope is that eventually logic and reason will overpower hypocritical ideology.
