The left is not the left, the right is not. The center is perhaps the worst of all

written by: Avraham Borg - Walla,

"Supposedly" there is a titanic confrontation between the right and the left here. Ostensibly. Even dinosaur schnitzel is "supposedly" a creature, and tofu is "supposedly" a delicacy. And Benny Gantz is "supposedly" both a leader and an alternative. At the same level of self-deception, the left pretends to be left and the right is right. Even though these are two groups that have long since broken away from their ideological pull. The left has forgotten what it means to be left and the right has forgotten what it means to be. And we are here to remind.

The left, at the most fundamental level, is a political, social, and ideological system committed to the secularization of the public sphere, to full equality of all citizens, and fairness in the distribution of public resources. The right is everything that is the opposite.

Or vice versa. The right is an ideological space that is essentially conservative and not progressive, committed to the centrality of the national collective, flirts with the religious component of its identity, and prefers tribal privileges over the equality of all citizens.

A particularly favorite family sage once wrote: "The right is characterized by militarism; nationalism; a romantic and positive perception of war situations; and a belief that violence is often a legitimate means of achieving political or policy goals. The left, on the other hand, is characterized by a preference for the civilian over the military; Ionianism; the pursuit of peace; and pacifism." Perhaps this was once true, perhaps in Denmark or Bhutan. But when those who claim to lead the "democrats" openly say: "The new Israeli left. This is a patriotic left, a militant left, a strong left" and add: "First of all, close all the gates to Gaza. I think that in this campaign, a humanitarian effort must not be allowed. We need to tell them: Listen, until these are freed, we will starve to death. This is completely legitimate." With such a "process identifier," who needs thinkers like Almog Cohen? Have we already said fifty shades of right?

Right now everyone wants to fight, but it's not clear what and for what. Hundreds of dead Gazans are a mass government murder that is almost completely ignored here. Compassion is weakness and Gaza is nothing more than a - quite large - thorn in the ass. Is it any wonder that the father of the "thorn concept" registered a party this week, and expects the support of the masses, some of whom are considered people of peace?

By now, a country with a substantial left should have been completely paralyzed. And the army would have been prevented from carrying out, like a slave, the plots and injustices of the political echelon. But when it's the left, it's clear why moral refusal is not a real alternative. And secularizing the public sphere is a joke as sticky as a Chabad donut.

Meanwhile, the main difference between the right and the referendum is that the right wants to destroy everything that still functions in Israel as a rational democracy, and the left wants to preserve exactly everything that needs to be dismantled and changed.

And in the middle? I am well acquainted with Yair Lapid's theory of the extreme center. I also highly appreciate him as a worthy political person. And yet, it is important to tell him here what has been said between us many times in private. Israel does not have the space to indulge in the idea of a center. Israel needs either-or decisions, not both-and compromises. The center in Israel has become a parking lot for people who have no opinions. And as this parking lot grows, and those without opinions multiply exponentially, so does the living space of the extreme predators. Only with centrists who flee from the decision, who seek a little bourgeois peace between two and four, can such dark creatures be recognized as the government of Israel.

As always, dark times require clarity. And radical policies demand bold initiatives. Any political alternative that will remove the malicious government from the country must include the following components:

In the area of war: an immediate end to the war. The return of all the kidnapped and killed. And whatever the exchange, political negotiations with a single Palestine in all the occupied territories, the expansion of the Abraham Accords to include both Saudi Arabia outside and Palestine inside.

In the civil sphere: Enough with the ignorance. The ignorance whose home models - Kerei, Eliyahu, and Smotrich are still the best of them - is a cancer in the qualitative soul. The education system must be a target for occupation. And the plans for the struggle must include the intensive return of civics studies. So that democracy does not fall again. It is necessary to condition every state benefit on the acquisition of a basic education. There is no funding from tax money for those who do not study subjects that will form the basis of a productive society. Those who do not want English, math, civics, and the humanities for their children - let them finance their education themselves. Not a single penny from a budget that is entirely the fruit of others' labor. If the Torah protects them, then it will also finance them.

In the area of government: the abolition of autonomies. The government must return to governing. Without distorted exemptions and without regime autonomies. The Chief Rabbinate has no law of its own, religious councils are not a state within a state, Meron is not an extension of Mea Shearim. Every child who reaches the age of 18 will be faced with a simple decision - will he want to enlist? Will he be offered a vital service track (military, civilian or community) and will be entitled to a series of benefits upon his release. And those who do not want to can apply to the job market. There is and will be no funding for those who do not choose one of these alternatives. Idle people and parasites will be responsible for their own lifestyles privately. Without exemptions and without benefits.

In the economic sphere: Capitalism's greed will be curbed. The welfare system will be restored and renewed into a social democratic whole. Better than the one that the knights of privatization tried to eliminate.

And in life itself? It is worth embarking on a real civil struggle for a constitution. Because without rules of the game, without basic fairness, without binding fundamental values and civil equality for all, days will come when we will miss the glorious evil of our day. Then the civil war will come, and then the constitution will come. Isn't it a waste of time and sacrifice?