In the spirit of Parshat Yitro, which contains the establishment of the first Hebrew justice system and the nation’s acceptance of the Torah at Sinai, it is incumbent upon us to reflect on the successes and failures of our national pursuit of a more just world.
As many great scholars have written, the stage of Israel’s material, economic, and political development, under the force of Mashiaḥ ben Yosef is essential. Without the successive stage of spiritual and moral development, however, we’re forced to question the value of previous developments.
It is not enough for Israel to be like all the other nations, pursuing earthly geopolitical and economic goals. Since we collectively accepted the Torah at Sinai, each and every Jew must demonstrate responsibility for promoting the moral and spiritual growth of the nation, and through Israel’s spiritual growth, provide an example and positive influence for the rest of the world.
It is therefore disappointing, and ultimately self-defeating, when Jews today, in efforts to defend the State of Israel from its detractors, try to ignore this unique role that Israel must play in the world. As the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) writes, one example of behavior which they characterize as anti-Semitic is “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”
Seemingly the Torah, the Prophets, and our greatest Sages, which all posit that the people of Israel has unique moral responsibilities, are anti-Semitic according to the IHRA.
Beyond the true absurdity of such a definition, the mindset that denies Israel’s unique responsibility to create a just society risks repeating the errors of our ancestors. After all, our Sages were explicit in asserting that our exile and our great national tragedies were a direct result of our failures to live up to HaShem’s expectations of us. By rejecting the burden of our moral responsibility in an effort to be like “any other democratic nation” and enshrine ourselves within the American-led world order, we are denying the unique relationship our nation has with HaShem and with the land we were given as an earthly base from which to pursue our spiritual and moral aims.
It is no coincidence that in our daily tefillot in the Amida, the request for the restoration of justice immediately precedes the request added to repudiate heretics and those who stand in the way of Israel’s mission.
Throughout our history, HaShem has sent various antagonists to challenge Israel in order to catalyze within us a process of self-reflection and moral refining. When faced with harsh criticism, even when that criticism seems to single Israel out and hold the Jewish state to a uniquely high standard, we must be willing to listen and evaluate if there is truth in what’s being said, and recognize if HaShem is in fact sending us guidance in disguise. It is only once we have fully realized our own moral and ethical responsibilities that we can dismiss those who challenge us as hateful and heretical, and work towards their demise.
It is therefore exceptionally disheartening to see news of the recent coup in Myanmar. The country, which (like Israel) liberated itself from British rule in 1948, originally established itself as a socialist state within the Soviet sphere of influence. After a 1962 coup by authoritarian forces in the military, characterized by a purge of communist opponents and the suppression of autonomy for ethnically non-Burmese minorities, the country was led by a military junta which joined the Cold War Non-Aligned Movement while promoting cultural decolonization.
Since the restoration of elections in the country in 2010, Myanmar has toed the line between military control and democratic liberalization. But throughout this period, the military – which has maintained wide-ranging influence in the nation – has engaged in the country’s third wave of massacres and persecutions of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority.
Despite this fraught history, the Israeli Foreign Ministry celebrates the “strong bond of friendship” between the two nations. Conspicuously absent on Israel’s Yangon Embassy website and other official publications is the darker history of Israel’s weapon sales to the Myanmar military which were used to perpetrate these crimes against the Rohingya.
While these sales were officially ended after an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in 2017, military cooperation between the nations continues, with Myanmarese military officials continuing to attend defense and security expos in Israel and Israeli arms companies denying knowledge of the Supreme Court ruling as recently as 2019.
These same “great friends” of Israel have just overthrown the democratically elected state counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to prime minister), whose party enjoys considerable support from the Rohingya and other minorities, despite her silence and qualified justifications of the army’s atrocities. While it remains to be seen how the Netanyahu government will respond to the coup, this may be the wake-up call that Israelis need.
Ultimately, the military relationship between the countries is a product of our dependent relationship with the United States. As Israel continues to receive “military aid” from Washington, which actually requires the money to be spent on US arms (acting as an underhanded bailout for American companies), Israeli producers are forced to sell their wares abroad, instead of arming our own military. This necessity has led Israel to sell to unsavory customers, including murderous regimes like the one in Myanmar.
If we are to live up to our responsibility to act justly, and be guided by our moral principles in all matter of state, it is necessary that Israel stop selling arms indiscriminately to criminal regimes, and to take responsibility for our own security, rejecting Western aid that makes us dependent on foreign powers and leads our industries into such moral degradation. In doing so, Israel can begin to accept and work towards the unique obligation we have as a nation to serve as a spiritual and moral example to the world, and to repudiate those who would encourage us to settle for being “normal” like any other nation.
Israel’s actions and its adherence to the Torah and The Prophets should be Judged by Jews, not by non-Jews, who have their own, often hostile, agenda. The IHRA statement is aimed at preventing Israel from being attacked for not living up to other people’s standards.