Netanyahu Will Go, but ‘Bibism’ Will Abide

“Even if the prime minister is ousted, his principles have become enshrined among the Israeli public and in the media (…)  Bibi did not create this movement, which is as old as the state itself . He’s just its chief formulator, main ideologue and most successful implementer. It exists independently of him, and its fate is not entwined with his.”

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HAARETZ – Even if the deepest wishes of the old elites come true and their nemesis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is ousted, Israel will not change its ways. The “Bibists” – Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Moshe Kahlon, Avigdor Lieberman, Moshe Ya’alon and Gideon Sa’ar – will still rule. Bibism will continue to lead the state. The principles of Bibism enjoy a broad consensus among Israeli Jews and in the important media outlets – channels 2 and 10, Israel Hayom, Yedioth Ahronoth, Army Radio and Israel Radio.
“Bibi” did not create this movement, which is as old as the state itself. He’s just its chief formulator, main ideologue and most successful implementer. It exists independently of him, and its fate is not entwined with his. Bibism has three basic principles:

1. THE HOLOCAUST NEVER ENDED. Like a cancer in remission, it is always liable to recur. Israel’s Jews cannot make a complete recovery from the malignant, eternal Shoah and leave it behind. Aggressive metastases of anti-Semitism appear all over the world, all the time. All criticism of Israeli government policy stems from this anti-Semitism. The Palestinian national movement is the continuation of the Holocaust by other means. Together with Islamic extremist terror and Hitlerist Islam, it seeks to eliminate Israel’s Jews.

The life goal of Israel’s Jews is to guarantee that the Holocaust will not happen again. But the Shoah is not only our reason for being; it is also the consequence of our existence in Israel. The proof is that we are in a constant state of existential threat. The Jews, therefore, are the eternal victims of history: If there were no Jews in Israel, the forces of the Holocaust would have succeeded in destroying the Jews. On the other hand, the Jews’ existence in Israel creates a greater incentive for the forces of the Holocaust to destroy the Jews.

It’s a trap, and the solution is that the Jews have no choice but to always live by the sword. Such is the fate of the Jews. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it gives meaning to our communal life. It is our fire.

Since the Holocaust is only in remission, Israeli Jews identify themselves first and foremost as Jews, not Israelis. They are not part of the Israeli nation – 20 percent of whose members are Arab – but rather, part of the Jewish nation in the Diaspora. They are persecuted by perpetual anti-Semitism because they are Jewish. They are slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists because they’re Jews. And that proves that there’s no occupation and no apartheid. It’s not the acts of the Jews that cause Palestinian terror. The so-called occupation and apartheid are nothing more than preventive measures whose purpose is to defend against terror.

2. THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCE IS SACRED. To prevent another Shoah, Israel must be strong. The raison d’être of every Israeli Jew is to protect the state. Above all else, he is a link in the eternal Jewish chain. The Israeli Jew must be willing to sacrifice himself for the Jewish people. His highest aspiration is to die a hero, in combat. That is why the army is sacred. It protects us. It’s the only thing standing between us and another Holocaust. But it’s hard for people to die for their country without believing that the IDF is, in effect, the outstretched arm of G-d.
G-d promised this land to the Jews and chose us from among all peoples. The IDF realized His policy. The IDF is the continuation of G-d by other means.

3. IT IS A ZERO-SUM GAME. It’s them or us. Therefore, full or partial belief in the justness of the Palestinian narrative is betrayal. Bibism is the national narrative of Israel’s Jews.