In recent days, headlines have been dominated by the criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leveled by model and reality TV host Rotem Sela and "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot, claiming that Israel should be "a state for all of its citizens" and that Netanyahu must learn to "love thy neighbor." Even Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's office has chimed in, proclaiming that Netanyahu has demonstrated "blatant racism" toward Arab Israelis.
In response, Netanyahu passionately argued: "Turkey's dictator Erdoğan attacks Israel's democracy while Turkish journalists and judges fill his prisons. What a joke. In Israel, no one is a second class citizen. Israel is a democracy in which all Israelis enjoy equal individual rights but Israel is also the one and only Jewish state."
Of course, Netanyahu is right: We should be proud of Israel's religious tolerance. There is no contradiction between respecting the rights of all citizens and being a Jewish state.
At every Israeli university, people from all backgrounds and walks of life study together. Whether one is wearing a Muslim hijab or niqab, a Jewish kippah or scarf, traditional Druze attire, or Western blue jeans, one will find tolerance and acceptance on our campuses.
And the same is true of wider Israeli society as well. All Israelis have the right to study, work and live together as equal citizens under the law. Every Israeli enjoys the right to vote, run for public office, and pursue whatever profession he or she desires. The fact that there are Arab and Druze doctors, professors, soldiers, judges and Knesset members highlights this reality. Despite how Israel is portrayed in certain media outlets, it is a vibrant democracy that promotes tolerance and pluralism.
Israel is indeed both Jewish and democratic. And, contrary to what Erdoğan, Sela and Gadot claim, the nation-state law does not undermine this. It only asserts that Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, who have prayed in the direction of Jerusalem for thousands of years and have a historic attachment to the Holy Land dating back from time immemorial. It is an assertion that assists the country in its struggle against those who seek to terrorize, delegitimize, and harm the state and its citizens. It is decidedly not an attempt to tell Israel's Arab citizens that they do not belong here.
A strong Israel that can defend itself against all of its enemies, foreign and domestic, is good for the country's Arab and Druze citizens, who, like Jews, have also fallen victim to Palestinian terror attacks. They too benefit from anything that weakens the arguments behind Palestinian terror.
England – a Christian country with a cross on its flag – respects the equal rights of minorities and includes among its senior goverment officials non-Christians such as British Home Secretary Sajid Javid and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Likewise, Israel – a Jewish state with a Star of David on its flag – respects the equal rights of minorities and includes among its senior government officials non-Jews such as Communications Minister Ayoob Kara.
Individually, we all enjoy equal rights, but nationally, this land belongs to the Jewish people, as envisioned in the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate and enshrined in international law under Chapter XII of the U.N. Charter.
There is nothing morally wrong with living up to the vision that the framers of the Balfour Declaration had for this country, just like there is no problem with recognizing that England is a Christian country. This does not mean that minorities should feel no attachment to Israel or England. Naturally, Arab and Druze Israelis also have a strong attachment to this land; they too were born here and love the Holy Land. They also have a long and ancient history on this land. Many English Jews feel the same way about England. Being a minority does not mean that the country does not belong to them or that they are in any way inferior. It just means that they are minorities and not the majority. There is nothing undignified about that. Many Druze and Christian Israelis, and a significant portion of Muslim (particularly Bedouin) Israelis, as well, have no issue recognizing the national rights of the Jewish people and their own equal rights as citizens of the country, just as most British Muslims and Jews feel about theirs.
Erdoğan, instead of attacking Israel, should pay attention to what is happening in Turkey. In recent days, he has been attacking the Women's March in Istanbul that was held in honor of International Women's Day. He has been accusing them of insulting Islam merely because they decided not to halt their rally during the traditional call to prayer. This peaceful protest, in which women merely sought to promote gender equality, was broken up violently. And the women have good reason to protest: According to Euro News, the number of Turkish women murdered by their spouses increased 75% between 2013 and 2017, all under Erdoğan's watch. In 2018 alone, 477 Turkish women were murdered by men, Hürriyet Daily News reported. Erdoğan has done nothing to reverse this trend. In fact, his rule is a major part of the reason why the plight of Turkish women has worsened.
Nor are Turkish women Erdoğan's only victims. Under his watch, Kurdish olives in Syria's Afrin region have been stolen from their rightful owners and sold abroad as a Turkish product. Yezidi women and girls in Turkish-controlled areas of Syria have been forced to wear the hijab and converted to Islam against their will. And in recent days, Erdoğan has continued to threaten to invade other areas of Syria that are held by Kurdish allies of the U.S. while continuing to reach out to dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The latter now seeks to introduce the burqa in Bangladesh's schools and universities. Hasina is doing this after a radical cleric associated with the Islamist pressure group Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh ordered girls to stay home from school unless they wore the burqa and attend segregated classes.
Like Erdoğan, Hasina seeks to enhance the freedoms of veiled girls at the expense of secular girls as the first step in a creeping Islamization of the country. Under such a scenario, Hindus, Christians and other non-Muslim minorities would be the first to suffer. In the Muslim world, accepting religious clothing in the name of tolerance often leads to its imposition on others. In Iran, what started out as freedom for chador-wearing women led to the imposition of the chador on all women. Turkey is now heading in the direction of Iran with Bangladesh right behind.
Erdoğan's hateful rhetoric is not surprising given the company that he keeps. But I expected more from Gadot and Sela – Wonder Woman and the reality TV star admired by so many young girls.
Instead of attacking Netanyahu over Israel's status as a Jewish nation-state – the only country in the region where religious tolerance and ethnic pluralism are the reality– they could be working wonders for our Palestinian sisters.
I suggest funding an organization that will help prevent Palestinian women from turning to terrorism by addressing the causes that prompt these women to give up on life. They could fight against honor crimes, domestic violence, incitement, and the misogynistic, anti-Semitic ideology that stands behind Palestinian terrorism. In addition, they could work to promote dialogue and understanding between Palestinians and Jews, laying the groundwork for people on both sides to put aside old hatreds and pursue an end to bloodshed.
If they were to do this, Gadot would truly be a Wonder Woman rather than just an actress playing one on the silver screen. And Sela, instead of just peddling the escapist fare that is called reality TV, would make a significant contribution to improving reality for all of us.
