Since Ben-Gurion's "State List" more than a thousand years ago, through the "Movement for State Renewal" led by Moshe Dayan, and three years after the "State National Movement" led by Moshe Bogi Ya'alon, the "State Camp" was formed under the leadership of former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Bnei Gantz, together with Gideon Sa'ar. This happened shortly after the founders of "The Zionist Spirit", Ayelet Shaked and Yoaz Handel, described themselves as a state right. These too are surely aware that the "state" organizations in the past have completely failed, yet they chose the image-bearing term the positive
The good news is that statehood is back in the conversation, and in a big way.
Prof. Danny Statman found in the press archives that in the second half of the 1960s the state appeared more than 800 times.
Since then the concept gradually faded, until at the end of the 90s it did not appear at all.
Now it can be said that never before have so many used the term so much.
I hope this will lead to clarifying the deeper meanings of the concept, and to start with that it is advisable to recall its original meaning.
The state camp party has launched - is it really state?, photo: Yossi Zeliger
The history of the states in the Land of Israel
As the leader of the Jewish settlement before the establishment of the state, Ben-Gurion was bothered by the fact that after a long exile and living in communities without sovereignty, the Jews do not have the state consciousness of an independent state.
Regimes and sovereign rule were also absent from literature and thought in exile.
In his view, the lack of an orderly concept of statehood endangered the vision of the establishment of the state and its ability to survive.
In the absence of a coherent concept for the concepts of citizenship in a sovereign state whose founders and owners are the Jews, Ben-Gurion invented "statehood".
It can only be understood in its opposition to "movementism", "sectorism" and "partisanship", and the essence that every official must perceive his position through the lens of the good of the state and society as a whole and not as a means to promote a sector, party or group.
His perception of the IDF as a state army left no room for a military organization with party affiliation, and therefore the Palmach was disbanded.
Statehood was also the justification for shooting at Altalana in the name of exercising sovereign authority.
Against this background, his opposition to the existence of religious groups and his struggle to establish a state education system as an alternative to educational currents of political movements are understandable.
It is true that Ben-Gurion did not always apply the principle of statehood consistently.
Various trends that he led bore the name of statehood, but were inherent in a distinct movement and party stamp.
But at least at the deep level of thought, statesmanship was a concept that sees every public role in the overall view of the good of the state and its advancement without narrow, sectoral, group and movement considerations.
It is clear that every official has to implement a defined ideology, but he must do so in the best interests of the country.
Thus, for example, a state appointment will be the one that places before his eyes not only the ideological dimension, but also the qualifications and experience of the candidates and their ability to fulfill the position.
This is in contrast to a political appointment centered on personal closeness, political loyalty, and the like.
Since the days of Ben-Gurion, various movements have carried the name of statehood, but they were embedded in a distinct movement and party stamp, photo: Photo: Paul Goldman
Let's go back to the present day, and the worse news to the days of the re-blooming of the statehood carried by many of the politicians.
In his review, Prof. Statman comments in relation to the concept of statehood that "due to its ambiguity, the suspicion arises that it is used mainly for the purposes of political polemics. It is not entirely clear what is involved in saying that any person or body is not a state, but it is quite clear that it involves a sharp criticism of them."
Indeed, today, when a politician and a party present themselves as state-owned, they imply, and sometimes say explicitly, that the others are less or not at all state-owned.
An attempt to get an explanation, even one word, regarding the meaning of statehood - will reveal that there is none: statehood, in the view of the "statesmen" in their own eyes, is in fact any position I hold and any policy I adopt, no matter how important their content is, compared to the statements and positions of the opponent who is not state.
State?!
Definately not
The one-year tenure of the government and the current transitional government, after many years in which its members claimed a lack of statehood in the national camp, is an important opportunity to examine the hollow statehood in the name of which they speak.
For the sake of brevity, we will not detail the variety of honors and positions that were distributed by Saar the "state" not only to the members of his faction, but also to those who did not enter.
Was it true that all the appointments were state in the deep meaning of the term?
The other knights of the quality of proper administration from Meretz did not put their hand in the plate in the appointment of associates, and Lapid seriously did not understand why the appointment of his sister-in-law was so problematic and unstately.
The GLA headquarters was appointed without a tender by the leader of the state camp as a temporary appointment that goes on and on, and in the meantime significant changes are being made at the station. This is very far from statehood.
The government of change: carrying the flag of statehood but acting contrary to its spirit // Photo: Mark Israel Salem,
One of the components of the original statehood is the rule of law and equality in public conduct.
It follows that each transitional government is allowed or forbidden to do things like any other transitional government.
Only this week it became clear the serious inequality in the conduct of the current transitional government with the approval of the ombudsman. When approval is given, or a ban is imposed, only according to the party that fills the positions, not only is this not statism but a severe manifestation of the exact opposite: movement, sectarianism and blatant partisanship.
Statesmanship is, as mentioned, seeing the good of the state over a narrow party view.
In the security conflict, this is evident in the opposition's support for the government.
Here is a "state" group from the "Guardian of the Walls" era: Merav Michaeli, in English, in the foreign media: "The problem with Netanyahu is that half of the people in Israel do not believe that what he is doing is for the benefit of the State of Israel."
"Netanyahu is the collaborator of Hamas," explained Avigdor Lieberman. "If we had a government," tweeted Yair Lapid, "no one would ask themselves why the fire always breaks out exactly when it is most convenient for the Prime Minister."
In the previous elimination of senior Islamic Jihad officials, Gantz claimed that it was an attempt by Netanyahu to postpone the elections, along the lines of the "House of Cards".
Anyone who claims the crown of political monarchy today is assuming the crown of statehood.
The more they use statehood in clear contradiction to their political behavior, the more they dilute the true meaning of statehood.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us