What unites us as the Jewish people? Positive thinking - opinion

The most important question that we can ask ourselves about our future and our new government is, what unites us? This is an example of positive thinking. It is focused on what sustains and strengthens us, what helps and heals, rather than hurts.

Positive thinking searches for new ideas and possibilities but is also based on reality; whereas, negative thinking ignores reality and the consequences and risks of where that leads. Positive thinking is motivated by creativity, imagination, challenging assumptions and self-confidence; it is competitive, not combative.

Negative thinking is based on promoting doubt and fear. Although both may be necessary parts of the thinking process, one needs to choose which is better.

In contrast to the previous government, we have a government that was truly elected and represents a majority of Israelis, and one which will last for at least four years and perhaps longer. Yet, its leaders have been attacked before and ever since the election.

Those who lost the election have refused to accept the results and call for a popular uprising, civil war and insurrection. This is unprecedented and undermines the democratic process; it is, therefore, a danger to our national interests and to our society.

Civil disobedience may be justified when there is no other way to challenge unfair laws and redress grievances but in our democracy, we have courts and the Knesset. Why, then, are protests that include breaking laws and creating havoc justified? What purpose does this serve? Mob rule and anarchy are contrary to Judaism and Jewish law.

The “anti-Bibi” (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) crowd and those who oppose ministers in his coalition, abetted and encouraged by the leftist media, a legal mafia, accuse the government of promoting policies that will undermine Israeli democracy, but the protesters refuse to accept the results of the last election. This is undemocratic and an example of negative, destructive thinking.

Israelis want and need judicial reforms to end the tyranny of legal advisers with leftist agendas who control government institutions and our courts. Israelis want judges to implement and enforce laws, not make them up. We need a coherent judicial system. Israeli Jewish citizens living in Judea and Samaria are entitled to live under a civilian, rather than military administration.

JEWS WHO live in mixed cities and neighborhoods in Israel deserve to be fully protected. Muslim leaders, especially those in Israel, must take responsibility for ending incitement and support for terrorism.

Many feel betrayed by Bennett

Despite a great deal of negative focus on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, there is little or no understanding of why he is so popular in Israel and why the left lost the recent election. Many people of the Center-Right felt betrayed by Naftali Bennett and others in his party who put together the previous government.

Bennett’s alliance with the left and the Arab parties enabled a government with little popular support. In that context, Ben-Gvir and his party became a symbol of what most Israelis want: people who can be trusted and who speak for them. Although some are offended by his views, many are proud of him for defending Jews, especially those who are under attack by Arabs.

In addition, former IDF officers and former diplomats who are associated with the Labor party have attacked the new government. This has exposed the depth and widespread influence of Labor and its defunct ideology throughout Israeli society and its institutions. Israelis are fed up with a fake peace process, appeasement, and concessions to terrorist organizations. They first and foremost want safety and security.

We are like a family and despite our differences, we need to work together for our future. United by our shared history and our common identity, we can and do differ about what it means to be a Jew but not about our heritage and the importance of being Jewish as core beliefs.

We may differ about the meaning of a Jewish country and Zionism but not about the centrality of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. It’s who we are and why we are here.

Negative thinking is destructive, not constructive. It undermines our ability to confront threats to our existence and deal with the challenges we face. We need to support our new government, not try to tear it down. Most of all, we need to protect and cherish each other.

The writer is a Ph.D. historian.