Hope – Monday, July 15 – Hartman Day 6
Micah Goodman lectured this morning. He shared the argument of his new book, “Hayom Hashmini” (“The Eighth Day”). You can hear his thesis via Dan Senor’s podcast, Call Me Back. Goodman’s basic argument is that we live in a time of political polarization, characterized by binary choices: left or right. However, surveys of Israelis’ values suggest that there are many shared values among those in the center-left and center-right. Goodman sees hope in the possibility that the center will unite to create a new, third way.
A symbol of a polarized society
Why is this a real possibility and not an impossible utopian vision? The new center will be created, argues Goodman, not by a vision or dream, but by fear. Fear? Yes. In brief, he offers a, perhaps simplistic, read of recent Israeli political history. He says that purely left-wing governments of the 1990s gave Israel the Oslo Accords which culminated not with peace but the second intifada. Subsequently, Israel has had nearly two decades of right-wing governments. So, one my ask, after two decades of right-wing leadership why is Israel in its current situation? Prior to the formation of the current government the right could answer: we’ve always had left-wing parties in our coalition who blocked us from implementing the policies we wanted. If only we had a purely right-wing government ….. Since late December 2022, the right has achieved its dream, a purely right-wing government. What has that brought Israel? The judicial reform crisis, October 7, and the current war. It is the fear of purely left or purely right governments, argues Goodman, combined with shared values and interests, that will inspire in the next decade a new centrist coalition.
Rana Fahoum
Yesterday, I forgot to mention that we had a talk with Rana Fahoum, Hartman’s Director of the Center of Shared Society. In Israel, “Shared Society” refers to creating a society in which all citizens share trust, respect, and a stake in the country. Rana spoke about how hard it has been to remain in her position after October 7. She spoke about the persecution of Palestinian society; the heartache of knowing a colleague whose son is a hostage and a friend’s mother’s loss in Gaza; feeling the need to call for an end to the war, while knowing that advocating for ceasefire will be heard as Israel doesn’t have a right to defend itself. She said that she felt previously that she and her colleagues shared values, but during this war, those values weren’t expressed in action. In closing, she asked Israeli Jews to trust us (Palestinians), explaining that the vast majority want Israel to be a better place, for Israeli Arab Palestinians and for Israeli Jews.
Interestingly, that desire for a minority group to make one’s society better through rights that benefit everyone describes American Jewry’s approach to 20th century political activism.