Palestinian citizens of Israel are not a stock force for the Zionist “left wing”. Rather, they are an essential part and fighting force of their people and homeland. Just three weeks before Israel’s general election that was held on November 1, a prominent Israeli scholar published an article in the Hebrew-language Haaretz titled “400 Buses and a Tent City: 20 How 10,000 Israeli Arabs Will Be Deported in Two Days.”
Yoram Yovell is well known in the fields of psychiatry and neuroscience and is considered an expert in shaping public opinion. As a representative of the Israeli “left wing”, he generally sided with the occupying power.
However, in his article, Yovell paints a dire scenario led by far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of Justice, Bezalel Smotrich as Minister of Security, and General Zvi Fogel as Minister of Public Safety.
Feeding off of Fear
Palestinian citizens of Israel are not a stock force for the Zionist “left wing”. Rather, they are an essential part and fighting force of their people and homeland. Just three weeks before Israel’s general election on November 1, a prominent Israeli scholar published an article in the Hebrew-language Haaretz titled “400 Buses and a Tent City: How 10,000 Israeli Arabs Will Be Deported in Two Days.”
Yoram Yovell is well known in the fields of psychiatry and neuroscience and is considered an expert in shaping public opinion. As a representative of the Israeli “left wing”, he generally sided with the occupying power.
However, in his article, Yovell paints a dire scenario led by far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of Justice, Bezalel Smotrich as Minister of Security, and General Zvi Fogel as Minister of Public Safety.
The author concludes the plot by saying that this may or may not happen, but may be applied based on current Israeli political trends and the prevailing mentality in Israeli society.
But this raises an important question: Why did Yovell write such an article? Politically, Yovell was not as prominent as in his academic and medical career. He does not belong to the same anti-Zionist or anti-occupation Jewish group that weekly conflicts with the occupation forces with the Palestinian people’s resistance in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Is Yovell’s aim to scare Israel’s vulnerable Palestinian citizens into rushing to vote? He proposes replacing the bus or bus equation to take voters to the polls in parliament to force Palestinians in Israel to vote for Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Gideon Sarah to reform what they call a “government of change” or “a dream government“?
Or not go vote to shock and agitate the Palestinian citizens of Israel? Does Yovell want them to bear the brunt of the rise and possibility of further control of Israeli power by Itamar Ben-Gvir, heir to the historic movement led by Meir Kahane and his fascist party? Yovell is not trying to bully Labour, Merett or Fast voters, he is trying to bully Palestinian voters. He did not seek to “shock” residents of the northern Tel Aviv community who support the center’s secular Zionist party, nor did he appeal to their so-called Jewish conscience.
Early results of the elections show that Arab-Israelis secured enough seat to keep their representative in the Knesset. The years to come may prove their might in the political stage of Israel and Palestine.
