Togetherness in Israel

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bin his love affair with the Arab on the Nile, criticized Ben-Gal, bdeclaring that “the Arabs of the Galilee are citizens of Israel and bno one has the right to question their loyalty.” No matter that bon top of that nonsequitur he ordered the general to “correct” bthe statement. No matter. Ben-Gal knew exactly what he was bsaying, because he understood the full dimension of the situ- bation. When a general in the Israeli Defense Forces calls Israeli bArabs “a cancer,” one is again confronted by the thousands of bstunned Jews who ask: “What happened? The Arabs of Israel bwere always quiet, loyal citizens enjoying progress and equal brights. What caused them to change? What happened?”

bThe answer is: Nothing. Nothing basic, nothing fundamen- btal, has changed at all. The hatred was always there. The alien- bation was never absent. Objective, historical reasons prevented bthe reality from emerging during the first twenty years of the bState of Israel, but those have passed. And the real reason Jews are bso shocked today is that Israel never wanted to see the reality. bThe government and the people built elaborate illusions and bself-delusions. We believed what we wanted to believe. But truth bwill out, and with a vengeance. The illusions are shattered, the bdelusions battered, and there is left only one last chance to face bbitter reality.