This charming couplet from Robert Louis Stevenson can be read (at first glance) as a reflection on the innocence of children. But the word “should” in the verse is troubling; it suggests that we “should” be happy, but that happiness eludes so much of humanity for so much of their lives.
I think the modern state of Israel presents a microcosm of this dilemma. Formed with the greatest of hopes in 1948, much of the world celebrated the newly proclaimed Jewish homeland in the area of the Middle East historically known as Palestine. This event had been the goal of Zionist organizations since the late 19th century, and the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime in Germany swung most of the world to the cause.
But although the state of Israel was admitted to the United Nations as a full member state a year later, on May 11, 1949, and soon was accorded diplomatic recognition from 85% of the 193 total UN member states at the time, nations that were part of the Muslim world objected then and have never stopped objecting. The day after the vote at the United Nations, a civil war began between the Arab and Jewish populations in the region. Minor conflicts continued after this was settled, with larger conflicts breaking out in 1956 (the Suez Crisis), 1967 (the Six-Day War), and 1973 (the Yom Kippur War). Other regional outbreaks ensued, and the uneasy relationship between the government (controlled by the majority Jewish population in the country) and its Muslim and Christian citizens has been a constant source of unrest.
American policy toward Israel has been generally supportive, although the mistreatment of Palestinian Christians and Muslims by successive governments of Israel has been a constant source of concern. Two suggestions for the resolution of this problem are percolating in American politics: a two-state solution (carving out of a separate state for the Palestinian population) and a two-nation solution (in which the two “nations” involved – the Palestinians and the Jewish Israelis – would find a way to coexist in one state). There are several models of this option. You should check them out if you’re interested, but I won’t go into them here.
The reason I want to write about this today is that Israel has been in the news recently as it deals with a serious crisis of governing. In early 2023, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a wide-ranging series of judicial reforms. These reforms would centralize the power of the Supreme Court and render the Palestinian people even less likely to assert any autonomy within the government. Netanyahu and his ruling right-wing orthodox coalition took office at the end of 2022 after an almost two-year period of floundering as the electorate held multiple votes to establish a governing coalition. When Netanyahu and his team took office, they almost immediately announced plans to reform the judicial system, placing it essentially within the control of the ruling party. Lacking a Constitution that lays out the rules of the game, Netanyahu is working to solidify his hold on power, to the detriment of the Palestinian people, whose homes (largely in the West Bank) are increasingly under threat.
If you want to know more about this, there are lots of places you can go. Today, I found a podcast helpful to me. The podcast is called “Pod Save the World,” hosted by the Crooked Media company. In a 30-minute or so discussion, the hosts of the podcast provided a good overview of what is going on in Israel. Give it a listen.
The crisis in Israel is echoed in other parts of the world. In the broader Muslim world, the fight is between fundamentalist Islam and a reformist view of the relationship between religion and government. In the US, the fight is between the growing influence of evangelical Christian nationalism and a more tolerant view of the role of religion in the formation of domestic and foreign policy.
There are differences among these situations, of course. Some of the 17th-century British colonies in North America were founded with specific religious intent and were intolerant of religious diversity. However, the immensity of the North American continent made it possible for dissenting sects to simply move away from religious orthodoxy, freeing people to engage in a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices. Throughout American history, the pattern has been one of increasing religious tolerance. The 21st-century return to the claimed “historical roots” of the United States as a religion-based society is fabricated and reflects more a desire for political power than a desire to restore anything.
In the modern Islamic world, the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism nationalism is in some ways a response to the westernization and secularization of regimes that grew in the area after World War II. The clearest example is probably Iran, where the Westernized and secularist regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi was overturned by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Strife in that country has been driven by the desire of many Iranians to become a greater part of the Western world, while the leadership has continued to push for a stricter Islamic state.
The situation is different in Israel, but the motivation is similar. The formation of the State of Israel in 1948 was a kind of collective gasp of international outrage after the horrors of the Holocaust became inescapable. Jews had suffered centuries of discrimination and persecution throughout the Western world, and world opinion seemed to agree that the only solution was the creation of a state where the Jews would be in control. However, the persistence of non-Jewish interests in the country – both among Muslims and Palestinian Christians – has made the maintenance of Orthodox religious dominance more problematic.
It is also a problem for the rest of the world, including the United States. US support for the state of Israel has been steadfast and reliable, but the challenge to democracy created by Netanyahu’s orthodoxy creates challenges for the United States. Israel is an important military ally of the US in the Middle East, but most of the countries in the region are united against the very existence of the country. President Biden is trying to find a path that allows for continued US support for a key ally in the region while also responding to the very real claims that, under Netanyahu, Israel is devolving into autocracy.
I am broken-hearted over recent news about Israel, the most democratic country in the middle of a very undemocratic part of the world. It's never been terrific, but it grows worse. Britain could have done a better job after WWII there. However, Netanyahu has made bad decisions in the name of power. I don't support autocratic behavior here, there, or anywhere else. Humanity must move forward with better thinking, better behavior, and more and constant contact if we intend to survive this century.