The U.S. administration doesn’t want Bezalel Smotrich to be appointed defense minister. That’s an excellent reason to give him the job.
What would we do without America’s moral position? It protects us from, heaven forbid, radicalizing, so that we’ll remain that beautiful sole democracy in the Middle East, a good ally, the darling of the West.
Smotrich would come in and destroy it all. He would build settlements and kill more Palestinians than America allows. And then it would have to be ashamed of its ally, and maybe even take steps against it.
And that’s precisely why the administration doesn’t want him. He might tear the mask of decency off America’s face, and that’s the last thing America wants. Its ally’s true nature would be revealed, and America, the patron, would have to respond. For both Washington and Jerusalem, nightmares don’t get much worse than that.
As long as the status quo continues, with the Palestinians groaning and the Israelis celebrating, America is happy. Just don’t shatter this delicate balance.
The United States would be angry over Smotrich’s appointment and maybe even boycott him, because otherwise, it would have to admit that it supports an apartheid state. Smotrich is proud of the apartheid and seeks to intensify it, and then Washington would no longer be able to rhapsodize about “shared values.” Therefore, Smotrich in the Defense Ministry could prove to be an exciting surprise.
Benny Gantz, an army officer who boasts of how many Palestinians he killed and how many Palestinian civil-society organizations he shut, is good for the Americans. He’s “moderate,” “judicious” and “responsible,” just the way they like it.
He kills softly. He never crosses the line; he maintains a façade of decency. He’s an enlightened occupier who sometimes even lets tens of thousands of Gazans work in Israel. He meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; what more could Washington ask? Gantz is even in favor of the “peace process,” and the Americans need no more than that.
A liberal general, that’s what America likes. It swoons over that. But not over Smotrich.
Gantz has a lot more blood dripping from his hands; as far as we know, Smotrich hasn’t yet killed anyone. But in Washington’s eyes, Gantz is viewed as a defense minister who will bring peace.
Yoav Gallant, who is no less responsible for the criminal bloodletting in the Gaza Strip and other places, would also be welcomed joyfully by the Americans. Not a word would be heard from the Pentagon or the State Department if the appointment went to Gallant, the man who talks about “crushing the head of the snake” in Gaza and about the iron fist that ought to be employed against the prisoners living in the world’s largest jail. Anyone but Smotrich.
Smotrich might prove to be someone who breaks the rules, and that’s what everyone is afraid of, both in Israel and in America. As long as everything remains within the accepted bounds – dispossessing, killing, building settlements but not legalizing them, annexing de facto but not de jure – everyone can be calm.
America fears having the truth exposed about its ally, under which five million people have been living for 55 years in shameful conditions, with no rights whatsoever. The Americans want quiet, polite oppression, like that of Gantz and Gallant, so the world won’t suspect, heaven forbid, that the leader of the free world funds, arms and supports the bad guys, the very worst guys.
Smotrich might prove to be less polite. Therefore, we have to hope he is appointed.
It’s true that Smotrich might do some very bad things, but it’s hard to get much worse than the occupation. The suffering might increase, the settlers and soldiers might go on even more rampages. But maybe this would finally roil the stagnant water in which millions of people have been living in a subhuman situation for decades now while the end just keeps moving further away.
The situation is crying out for a shakeup, screaming for a shakeup. It won’t come from either the Israeli left or the world, as long as the illusion is maintained. But a Defense Minister Bezalel Smotrich might put an end to this self-deception.
America might find itself at the after-party of the masquerade it has been attending for so long, and then it would have to act. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides, who always smile on Israel, would have to intervene.
Right now, there is no greater hope than this – the hope that Bezalel Smotrich will be Israel’s next defense minister.