Dhimmi Netanyahu

Originally featured in The Jewish Press:  Dhimmi Netanyahu

“We saw the Nephilim there-the Anakites are part of the Nephilim- and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” (Numbers 13:33) JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh

I didn't make aliyah to become a grasshopper or to live in a society of Jewish grasshoppers. I see no such reflection when I peer in the mirror. Baruch Hashem, I don't suffer from this complex which plagued too many Jews throughout history. But I can't speak for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since his actions suggest that he very well may see this winged creature whenever he looks at his visage. How else can we explain the incomprehensible fact of a prime minister placing the status of the dhimmi upon his own people?

Nothing ever changes in Israel. Wars are always fought, or not fought, in the same impotent manner. And so it shouldn't surprise us that Netanyahu debased himself (yet again) before the make-belief “king” of Jordan, by maintaining the degrading status quo on the Temple Mount which prohibits Jews from praying. This insanity began long ago during the Six Day War, when Moshe Dayan returned a Divine gift by refusing to destroy the Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa, and all vestiges of Islam's sovereignty. To compound his sin, Dayan gave the mufti custody of the Mount. His shameful act became Israel's de facto national policy on Har Habayit. We won the war;the mufti retained control of our sacred site. Today, the Jordanian Waqf reigns supreme. And Israel continues to take marching orders from Jordan. Even in the midst of the latest intifada for which Jordan blames Israel, Netanyahu had the audacity to utter the following:

“We respect the importance of the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as reflected in the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, and the historical role of King Abdullah II.

Israel will continue to enforce its longstanding policy: Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount.”

We? Speak for yourself Bibi. No self-respecting Jew believes this garbage. A rudimentary look at history reveals what the “moderate” Jordanians did to our synagogues and cemeteries when they occupied Jerusalem. Stables. Latrines. They defiled our holy places, and debased our resting places.

How tragically ironic, that while it may be unsafe to do so, Jews can legally pray in the streets of Germany, Spain, or France. Wherever Jews legally reside, they are permitted to pray. Ironically, it is only in Israel that there are restrictions on Jewish prayer.

On Judaism's most sacred site where two Jewish Temples stood, the state of Israel forbids Jewish prayer. Ishmalite enemies caterwaul to their blood deity. They shout at Jews, harass them, spit and beat upon them, yet  the Jew cannot pray or even make a blessing on a cup of water.  The Arabs destroy precious artifacts from atop the Mount, in a crude attempt to remove any vestige of Jewish identity. They can hurl stones on the heads of the groveling Jews below who are satisfied with retaining Herod's retaining wall. Sometimes, Arabs even spill acid on the heads of Jews, another horror which the media never reports.

Jewish Prayer

I want to emphasize that I am speaking solely of the right of Jewish prayer, since halacha cannot permit christian prayer on The Temple Mount. The oft distorted argument by certain activists (who crave interfaith alliances) that the Temple will be “a house of prayer for all nations” speaks of righteous gentiles worshiping the One True Creator. We only lose, if in order to defeat the Arab predators, we compromise basic halachic tenets on the altar of a false hashkafa. The halacha is clear in permitting righteous gentiles access within the Torah framework. Nothing more needs to be said.

As far as  those timid sorts, rabbis and laity, who try to solidify their preferred halachic position by noting that Jews who go up incite Arabs, these frightened nebs need to leave the shtetl. If they oppose ascending the Mount on halachic grounds then they should argue their position solely within that context. Unless of course they follow a Satmar-esque philosophy, in which they should be inellectually honest and refrain from even visiting Israel until the Moshiach arrives riding atop a griffin vulture. In Judaism, we don't rely on miracles. So if the state per-say is a sin, one who visits Israel relies on the security of the IDF.

Without belaboring the point, there are legitimate halachic positions which permit a person to ascend and visit certain areas. Naturally, since most people are not expert on such matters they require the aid of a learned man. All sides need to respect the halacha. And the oft mentioned argument that we are speaking of matters of karet is a false one. No one would argue that one Rav may render a different p'sak than another on a given question pertaining to the laws of niddah (ritual purity). Also an issue of karet (an act punishable by spiritual excision), and yet two equally respected men of Torah may arrive at two different conclusions. “Elu V'elu.....”

Bibi The Dhimmi

Jews always lived as dhimmis under Islam. It wasn't pleasant. The myth of Jews living well in Muslim countries is a liberal fairy tale. Yet these same lovers of fantasy cannot explain why nearly a  million Jews from Muslim/Arab countries fled their places of birth, to migrate to Israel. The reason is simple: it sucked to live with these people. Even the “good times” were terrible. Many scholars have exposed the reality of being a dhimmi. At the end of the day, Jews and other dhimmis faced daily debasement. Violence. Theft. Murder. Sexual assault. Over-taxation. Injustice. A life of shame and debasement.

And there was no recourse for justice, since a dhimmi's word was useless against a Muslim's.

The dhimmitude continues today in Israel. In the sovereign state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed the yoke of the dhimmi on our necks. All in the name of maintaining the unacceptable statu quo toward the same Islamic Amalekites who defiled our synagogues and graveyards when Jerusalem was under Jordanian occupation.

After this latest disgraceful display of Jewish weakness, how can any Jew with a vertebrae still support Netanyahu? After two thousand years of being grasshoppers, how can the leader of modern state of Israel debase himself time and time again in the manner of the original meraglim?

Today we live as dhimmis in Israel. Not only will the country not protect us adequately, they deny us the right to defend ourselves. Draconian gun laws permit only elitists to arm themselves. The rest of us are entitled to pepper spray; not to use it mind you. We are told that we cannot carry flags in some areas. We cannot drive in other areas, lest Fatah gun us down. We cannot legally vote for a candidate who wants to throw Arabs out. And we cannot pray atop Har Habayit. Self-debasement is the spine of our countries superstructure.

Those who ascend Har Habayit halachically generally do so with dignity. By merely ascending, they strengthen our ownership. The important thing is not to ascend as a dhimmi. There are opportunities to elevate the kiddush Hashem in some capacity. An added display of Jewish strength. Remember: silence is not golden atop Har Habayit. Any opportunity to recite a Jewish prayer: a blessing over a glass of water, or something else, is an opportunity to contest Bibi's status quo on the greatest stage. And lest we forget, there will now be video cameras. How ironic that an unacceptable concession to antisemites can now become a magnificent tool to publicize Kiddush Hashem.

The time for Kiddush Hashem is now.