"Never Explain." Z'ev Jabotinski, 1911
"We do not have to apologize for anything. We demand the right to have villains, exactly as other people have them." Jabotinski
"We are very far from having any moral qualms as far as our national war go goes..when before us is the commandment of the Torah: 'Ye shall blot them out to the last man'. Stern Gang manifesto. 1943
I think this tradition lingers in a powerful and influential way in Israel today. Israel's conception of diplomacy; it's conception of its own rights and limitations owes as much to the Slavic anarchism of over a hundred years ago as it does to any appreciation of conduct among civilized nations. I call this the Irgun/ Stern gang complex. It is no wonder, since not only Stern and Jabotinski but more recent transitional figures like Begin and Shamir were directly nurtured in this atmosphere of horror and violence
I am addressing first of all Israel's consistent and habitual predilection for violence and vigilante tactics in international affairs. Even in examples where the world did not complain - like Entebbe or the The Eichmann kidnapping, the fact is the behavior is pure vigilantism. More typically the Suez crisis, The Lebanese wars, the Gaza incursion, the assassination in Yemen, the policy of ten Arab lives for one Israeli, we see a nation willing to violate all usual diplomatic norms and international law. None of this is civilized behavior.
Moreover, the habitual Israeli stance of self justification is not the behavior of a mature state. Here again we can see the attitudes that were typical of Slavic anarchism, where, from Bakhunin to Lenin, the aim of talk or writing was merely to try and assassinate the opponent with words.
This custom is firmly entrenched in Sabra Israeli custom, where I understand it is called 'talking drugji'. This consists of verbal slanging matches where the object of discourse is merely to intimidate others through verbal outrage. No doubt it is fun and macho, but, having myself been the butt of it on quite a few occasions, I can only say that for an outsider it is a painful and sorrowful experience. It does not seem civilized. As Peter Beinart recently noted in a moving podcast by way of the Forward, this whole side of the Israeli tragedy is only made many times worse by the increasing role of the settlers, Haredim and the Russians. Israel's troubles multiply.
Now, to throw in the obligatory disclaimer, I think the Arabs are much worse. And yes, I have a double standard. I hope for civilized behavior from Israel, while I don't really expect that from the Arabs, for enormously complex reasons. Moreover, I think that civilized behavior would better serve not only Israel's international standing, but also its pragmatic position in the Middle East. Time to let go of Slavo Anarchist traditions. Otherwise Israel will descend to being little more than another oriental state.