Yossi Ahimeir
Chairman of the Board of the Jabotinsky Institute
Media person. He served as Yitzhak Shamir's assistant, political advisor and bureau director. Member of Knesset for the Likud in the 13th Knesset and darling of the city of Ramat Gan. Will participate in a panel marking the 100th anniversary of Beitar, at the 30th Storytelling Festival on Chol Hamoed
Yossi Ahimeir, this year we will mark the 100th anniversary of the Betar movement. Before we talk about the Betar movement and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, I wanted to start on a more personal note: You recently celebrated your 80th birthday and received greetings from President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"First I received a moving letter from the president of the country, and about two months later I received a phone call from the prime minister. He couldn't believe I was already 80 years old. Our childhood memories passed quickly."
Yoni and Bibi, when you were still children, came to stay at the Ahimeir family home in Ramat Gan during the summer vacation.
"That's right. In the 50s, when Prof. Benzion Netanyahu and his wife traveled to Spain for research, Benzion called my mother and asked her if it would be possible to keep Yoni and Bibi, who were then about 7 and 10 years old. I remember that it was about ten days of 'God's riot,' in a positive sense, as you would expect from children. In our conversation, Bibi remembered this visit, and remembered the plaza where we played soccer, which still exists."
Yossi Ahimeir, Chairman of the Jabotinsky Institute Board, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
You were a teenager yourself, but how did you get your impression of the Netanyahu brothers?
"It's hard to say. In the end, these are playful and energetic children, like all children. My mother had to get the riots under control. It was impossible to predict, of course, where they would end up in the future. I do remember that Yoni was more introverted. He came to us a little before Bibi, sat down at the entrance to the house and waited. My mother noticed a child sitting at the entrance waiting, and realized it was June."
To return to the Betar movement, as part of the 30th Storytelling Festival on Chol Hamoed Sukkot (27.9), a special panel will be held on the movement and its leader, Ze'ev Jabotinsky. You told me that every time you read one of the 7,000 or so epistles he wrote, you learn something new about him. What have you learned about him lately?
"Jabotinsky was a polymath, a Renaissance man who in less than 60 years of his life left an enormous legacy, largely relevant to our times. He thought that in the test of justice, our justice surpasses the justice of the Arabs with regard to the Land of Israel. He died eight years before the establishment of the state, but he aspired to have democracy, a free economy, an exemplary society that would eradicate poverty, alongside developed science and medicine. The Jabotinsky Institute worked on the publication of 15 volumes of epistles written by Jabotinsky, some of which were never translated into Hebrew. Everywhere I read his writings, as you mentioned, I learn something new. There are personal letters in which he expresses his longing for his wife and son, and his doubts are very prominent as well."
On the one hand he was a political person, and on the other hand a very literary person. He was torn between the poles.
"Precise. He wrote two excellent novels – "The Five," steeped in his longing for Odessa, and "Samson," which describes the new Jew to whom he aspired. He planned to write more novels, but it wasn't enough because the nation called on him. He fought to save the people of Israel from the Diaspora. He died in 1940, before the Holocaust, but in his lifetime he warned of destruction threatening the Jewish people."
Demonstration against the legal reform, photo: Gideon Markowitz
He also had a thorough modesty.
"In one of his letters, he states that he does not want to be celebrated, and stresses that he does not want to be called a leader."
Why?
"He wrote that he didn't like that word, and apparently thought it didn't accurately describe reality. But in the eyes of the people of Beitar he was an undisputed leader, they waited for his mouth to come out. When he stayed in hotels on his travels, there were always young Beitars at the door of the room who stood as bodyguards. However, it is important to note that he did take pride in his title as head of Beitar. To this day, no one dares to say about himself that he is the head of Beitar, because there was only one person in that position."
You recently reexposed his treatment of homosexuals, a reference that is actually ahead of its time and expresses a liberal attitude. Were you surprised?
"Partly. His liberality didn't surprise me. On the other hand, his preoccupation with sexual orientation did surprise me. Already at the beginning of the last century he wrote an article on suspicions of homosexuality. This article appears in the 13th volume of his newly published ideological writings: Liberal Nationalism II. He emphasizes that the private affairs of adults who do not have a relationship of authority should remain private, and emphasizes that true democracy will not interfere with them."
His reference, of course, did not come without context.
"At that time, there was an attempt to introduce the issue of homosexuality in order to harm the leaders, and Jabotinsky apparently bothered him. He said, what a person does in his home, the way he lives and behaves, is his private business. A person should be judged by his functioning, thoughts, ideas, and not by his private life. It is a groundbreaking article that was ahead of its time in its liberal ideas. His preaching of freedom of expression, freedom of privacy, remains significant and topical even 100 years after it was written."
Were you surprised by other things published in his volumes?
"In 1906, the Helsingfors Conference was held in Helsinki, which dealt with, among other things, national rights. He wrote articles on the fact that even in a large country there are small nationalities that need to be expressed culturally, socially and linguistically, and should be treated with respect. Of course, he was talking about Russia and the Jews. One might wonder and ask, 'What, he didn't want the Jews to immigrate to Israel?' but he didn't see this as a contradiction. Those who want to immigrate will immigrate. Those who want to live there have national rights in every respect, which will be realized in the Land of Israel.
"By the way, he spoke out strongly against Herzl's Uganda idea, and believed that Uganda is not a substitute for the Land of Israel. Herzl saw Uganda as a temporary refuge, but Jabotinsky and many others believed that there was no place for such an intermediate station, and that only one should act in one direction – the Land of Israel."
Netanyahu. How will we look at his future tenure?, Photo: Chaim Goldberg / Flash90
A force of nature at the ballot box
In the past, you wrote that Beitar's values must be instilled in Israeli society. Is there a place in our public today for an ideological movement like Beitar?
"The truth is that today's Betar movement has also blurred its ideology. Beitar embodied the idea of renewed Jewish militarism. Look, Beitri is a person who enlists in every mission required for the good of the country. There is no refusal. It is important to instill here the values of tradition and adherence to our right to the Land of Israel. By the way, the youth movements, no matter what political stream they belong to, are a great platform for nurturing the Zionist spirit and unity.
"Beyond that, I think that Beitar values such as telling the truth, respecting others, pride, overcoming inhibitions as expressed in the Beitar song – all these are important to bring back to the forefront, in the media and in the Knesset, and thus help halt our internal deterioration. Is there a place for this in the Israeli public? More than ever."
You mentioned the application of Beitar values in politics as well, in the Knesset. Does today's Likud continue to march according to Jabotinsky's Beitar vision?
"No, because the face of the Likud has changed. In my opinion, the Likud does not give enough thought to its heritage. We must cultivate, for example, the Jabotinsky Institute, which is the heritage institution that represents the roots of the Revisionist movement, the Herut movement, Gahal and the Likud. The Likud is ostensibly loyal to the Jabotinsky movement, but it is doubtful whether two-thirds of the faction's members can quote something from Jabotinsky. It is appropriate, of course, for the Institute to receive from the state what it should receive from a budgetary standpoint."
You said not long ago that the Likud is still the same Likud when it comes to the Mizrahim movement and the Second Israel, but will these populations, certainly in light of the reform, remain in the Likud for long?
"Most of them do. Yesterday I spoke with my friend, the writer Yossi Sukari, and we talked about what you raised in your question. He says that his mother, for example, will always vote at a polling station from abroad. She said: 'Until 77 we were a speck of ours, since 77 I have been a human being.' Begin and Shamir knew how to exploit, in a positive sense, the discrimination of the population that was thrown into the periphery, which towered over it. They brought it closer to the Likud. I think since then it's been strongly ingrained in their hearts, so there are populations that will always remain loyal."
Shimon Peres with Yitzhak Shamir, Photo: Nati Harnik / GPO
What about the polls?
"So in surveys, some of them have criticism. But don't get confused, they know that at the moment of truth they will put Machal in the ballot box. It's stronger than any spin or current event, almost a force of nature."
And what about the new generation of voters?
"Of course, the things I mentioned will not help the Likud in the long run if the party does not function better, does not know how to nurture the Jabotinsky heritage and does not know how to choose an adequate and attractive list. There are several figures there who were not chosen in the days of Begin or Shamir. Extreme figures in the form of expression and behavior. Things that are not to the liking of many."
Are there Knesset members who in your opinion do not deserve to sit in the legislature?
"Yes, in terms of their suitability. Primaries are indeed a democratic system, but they promote those candidates who spend more money, make noise in the street and in the media, and maybe close deals. I wouldn't go to the opposite side, as is happening in Yesh Atid, on the state list or with Lieberman, but I also wouldn't choose the wild primary system."
So what is?
"I would suggest holding a committee of 'elders of the generation,' which selects 50 people who were selected after they were interviewed, answered relevant questions and showed suitability. After that, the Likud functionaries will be able to rank them."
A kind of search committee.
"A combination of an elective committee and a selected list. I think this will add a balancing factor to the current system. Don't forget that in the 50s and 60s there was a selection committee in the Freedom Movement. Begin apparently pulled the strings and knew how to inform this list who he prefers and who he doesn't."
That's not exactly democratic either.
"Still, worthy figures were chosen. At the first conferences, the Herut movement had excellent teams. Until now you remember the people from that period, while today you don't remember who was in the previous Knesset and who is on the current Likud list. The entire political cross-section is downhill. The good guys don't go into politics, which is a shame. They don't want to be degraded. The more the Knesset and politicians degrade themselves, the more good and worthy people distance themselves from it."
When a political appointment succeeds
You mentioned Begin. You got to work with him, and more closely with Yitzhak Shamir. It seems that Israeli society misses them, even though in real time they did not always know how to appreciate them. Maybe we have trouble evaluating our leaders in real time.
"That's true. I think in 30 years they might miss Bibi. I remember how Shamir was cursed in real time. How they called Begin a murderer in real time. What demonstrations were held in front of Begin's office during the Lebanon War, and in general? I believe that leaders are born in a role, so perhaps it is easier to evaluate their performance only in retrospect. Who would have imagined that Shamir would ever be prime minister? He was almost dragged into office, but emerged as a leader of stature."
In our background conversation, you talked about the Begin-Shamir meetings, when Begin was already at home and Shamir was prime minister. Only you remain as living testimony to those conversations. What was their nature?
"I was the fly on the wall. During his tenure, Shamir would visit Begin, report and consult. Begin was already weak, dressed in a dressing gown, with a large pile of books next to his bed. He listened, nodded, and had great respect for Shamir. They agreed that the establishment of a Palestinian state must be avoided, and agreed that Judea and Samaria would not be given up. I would say that Begin could have relied more on Shamir than on himself in the matter of not giving up one centimeter of Israeli land. After all, Begin gave up three times the territory of the State of Israel."
On another matter, you are a board member at Yad Vashem. Do you see the attempt to replace Dani Dayan as a kind of move to turn Yad Vashem into a political pawn?
"Yes, absolutely. Yad Vashem should be a body free of politics and political considerations."
Well, Danny Dayan was also a political appointment to some extent.
"True, but at least he was appointed as soon as his predecessor, Avner Shalev, left office after 27 years. I must say that I was also reluctant about Danny Dayan, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he was the right man. In the two years he has been in office, serious donations have come in, and in a few weeks the Collections Center will be inaugurated, a huge project that cost NIS 104 million. So sometimes a political appointment is also a very appropriate appointment."
In conclusion, what do you wish for the people of Israel?
"I wish the people of Israel to look around in our glorious country. Everywhere they build, the shops and malls are overflowing. We are a country that sends rescue teams to Morocco, Turkey, Greece. All in all, a democratic country. No comparison, to Hungary, Poland, Turkey or Iran, is misplaced. I do hope that the government will moderate the legislation and work toward broad consensus, but even when the government acts as it does, there is no lack of democracy in our DNA, there is no such situation."
For suggestions and comments: Ranp@israelhayom.co.il
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