Many Israelis are thinking more than ever about their future in the Middle East. They are becoming more and more alienated from the space in which they live, closed off within the boundaries of their class and adopting defensive attitudes, and some speak of destruction.
Aharon Barak's poison beads and Ehud Barak's floating bodies will probably be etched in the collective memory, but they are not alone. The use of death rhetoric has become widespread in the leading stratum of the liberal camp. It is intended to intensify the sense of end and hopelessness, and to lead the entire camp on a path that ends with two options: destruction or separation.
The idea of separation has been nesting in the consciousness of liberal intellectuals on the left for decades. They write about it, imagine it, create series and works of art about it. But in recent months, separation has become a real possibility, including operative plans. For example, the separation movement (which, after reducing the reasonableness, increased support from 1,000 people to about 30,<>) presents a five-stage plan for full separation within eight years. The first stage is already being realized: central authorities sign a binding treaty with shared values through the Alliance of Liberal Cities. In the next stage, a representative body will be established for these authorities, which will later receive recognition from the Knesset as an "official legislative body (parliament)", like the Scottish Parliament in Britain.
Preparing the ground for separation as a plan of action is done behind the scenes, as the left likes. It starts small, creating community associations, expanding the powers of local authorities and supporting liberal representatives. The authorities are already declaring the need to preserve their independence. Some of them have only recently revolted against the Ministry of Finance's intention to change the way property taxes are distributed. In the final stages of the plan, Israel will become a federation with autonomous provinces, until it will eventually be divided into two states in separate territories, with different laws and even two armies.
What will the new Israel look like? Those who strive for separation in order to preserve their cultural character understand that they strive to preserve homogeneity. In other words, power will be retained in secular, liberal and Ashkenazi hands – the new Israel will remain the good old Israel. Will the fate of a right-wing Mizrahi in the new Israel be different from his life today? Wouldn't a Middle Eastern façade and/or political position block him from enjoying the equality, freedom and opportunities offered by the state? Who will be the "other" in that Israel?
In the practical program of the separation movement, the liberal authorities are ostensibly separate on ideological grounds. Therefore, support for liberal positions should give me a place in the new Israel, regardless of my identity. Is it? In a recent Zoom interview with one of the movement's leaders, he did not address the values, but noted that the admission requirements for the "new Israel" would be wealth, education, marital status and no criminal record. Who will fill the prisons? Or will they only be in Judea?
The growing preoccupation with separation reflects the moral crisis in which the left-wing camp finds itself. Years in opposition without a proper vision, and public and social activity is reduced. It is also a generational crisis, perhaps personal, of people who have accumulated unreasonable wealth and status and find it difficult to think about diminishing their power, losing control over the country's priorities, and giving up some of their own privileges and those of their descendants in the coming decades.
The separation movement illustrates the tendency of the liberal left to escape responsibility. Using the wealth accumulated from the unequal allocation of resources over the years, he brings the problems of the "Jewish state" to the doorstep of Judea. Palestinians in the West Bank? that they would wrestle with them on the ground; Palestinians in Gaza? The army of Judah will take care of; Bedouins in the Negev? A problem of the government of Judea. The idea of separation from the Palestinians, which was held by the left, is now being transported to the internal Jewish sphere. The discourse of the Zionist left changes accordingly. It is now feeding the social rift in a way that will lead to the seemingly inevitable conclusion that there is no solution other than separation.
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