The Political Right in Israel by Dani Filc

Author:Dani Filc [Filc, Dani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Middle East, Israel & Palestine, Political Science, General, Political Process, Political Parties, Social Science, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781135183417
Google: 2mWLAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2009-12-18T01:15:43+00:00

2b) Populist ideology: Anti-liberalism

Shas’s vision of the political, of democracy, and of politics is profoundly anti-liberal. Its leaders do not believe in the separation between spheres – personal and political, state and civil society, state and church. In its own way, the ultra-orthodox party sees the personal as political. The movement’s political aims will be achieved first and foremost through changes in individual behavior, that is, by “returning to one’sroots,” which are Sephardic religious values and conduct (Yadgar 2003). These are strongly different from, and even opposite to, those of secular modern liberalism. Shas has led and still leads a movement of hazarah bitshuvah, repenting and readopting the religious values and way of life abandoned with modernization. This process of individual, family, and community change is a key political goal for Shas, and there are several institutions funded by the movement whose aim is to bring individuals back to the religious world (Tessler 2003; Yadgar 2003).

Shas strongly opposes the liberal separation between the public sphere and individual religion. In line with old Jewish theocracy, its members believe that religion is an inseparable part of the public sphere. The source of political authority is transcendental and is embodied in the figure of the Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. State institutions, therefore, should be subordinate to the religious authority. Nonetheless, subordination should be achieved through education, persuasion, and the will of the majority.

Shas members do not share the liberal democratic conception of a neutral state and a pluralistic society where the state’s task is to ensure that everyone is able to pursue his or her conception of the good. In this sense, there is a certain commonality between their view of the political and that of pre-modern Republicanism. They firmly believe in the centrality of the community (which is both religious and political), in the need to define and build a common good, in the need to stimulate the development of civic (which in this case is religious) virtue, and in the state’s role in ensuring that every individual achieves the good life.

In an article discussing youth violence, Rabbi Hayimm Amsalem, a Shas member of the Knesset, asserts that

specialists in the field claim that like every animal, every human being has violent impulses. They contend that we must take these impulses into account. That means, I am an egotist, I only care about myself, you only care about yourself. Let’s find ways of coexistence, otherwise we both lose. Gentlemen, we are the disciples of Moshe Rabbenu, we know that man was created in God’s image. We do not want to tame our bad impulses, but to increase our good ones. The real solution is education toward humility, modesty, readiness to concede to others, lack of greed, consideration toward our fellowmen and women, respect for our parents, respect for our friends and their needs and wants. (Amsalem 2008)

This claim arguably sets republican contentions about civic virtue against a Hobbesian view of society, or rather, to Adam Smith’s assertion that we must build on our fellowmen’sselfishness and not on their compassion.

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