Abandoned principles, and fascism as democracy

by Lurker

Today, Defense Minister Ehud Barak made good on his threat to punish R. Eliezer Melemed, head of the Har Bracha Hesder Yeshiva. R. Melamed had previously expressed support for soldiers who dared to protest against the use of the army to evict Jews and destroy their homes. After Barak threatened to retaliate by revoking the status of R. Melamed's institution as a Hesder Yeshiva, R. Melamed flip-flopped, and signed a statement along with all the other heads of Hesder yeshivot, condemning such protests by soldiers.

Apparently, however, that statement didn't make much of an impression on Barak. In a speech today in Petah Tikva, Barak ignored the statement, and announced that he was ending the Hesder status of Yeshivat Har Bracha.

A few reflections:

• Barak's actions here should not come as a surprise to anyone.
  
  
• R. Melamed deserves this. He abandoned his principles by signing a statement in which he obviously doesn't believe -- something that is almost always a misguided course of action, ethically -- and often practically, as well.
  
  R. Melamed tried to save the status of his yeshiva by sacrificing his integrity. As a result, he now has neither.
  
  He still has a small chance to salvage the former, and a few shreds of the latter, if he resigns.
  
  
• It is simply incredible to read Barak's description of what he calls "the foundations of a democratic state":
  
  
  • "a monopoly on the use of force"
    
  • "the state's authority over the citizens" [yes, really]
  
  It can hardly be gainsaid that these two points are actually the foundations of a fascist state. In fact, the second point -- the state's authority over the citizens -- is the very core essence of fascism.
  
  Old-fashioned, naive people such as myself once believed that democracy was the citizens' authority over the state. But apparently, we had it all backwards.
  
  
• Best of all is Barak's amazing description of what he calls "the true basis of democracy":
  
  "When a state reaches the place in which it needs to enforce the law on citizens, it has no choice but to use its army. This instruction must also be carried out and obeyed, this is the true basis of democracy."
  
  There you have it: The use of the army against a state's own citizens, and the resulting imperative to obey orders, constitute -- according to Ehud Barak -- "the true basis of democracy".
  
  Taken as a whole, Barak's points describe fascism to a tee:
  
  
  1. The supremacy of the state over the individual
     
  2. The usage of the military against the state's own citizens
     
  3. The absolute imperative to obey the state's orders, even at the expense of obeying one's conscience
  
  Barak has not only outlined the core principles of fascism as his model for how our state should be run -- he also has the shameless, unmitigated gall to label it "democracy".

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