INTERVIEW: Yuval Noah Harari: Netanyahu is creating depraved ideas of supremacy
In an exclusive Jewish News interview, the iconic Israeli historian and publishing phenomenon warns: 'What is at stake is the very meaning of what it is to be a Jew'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
One of the world’s most respected historians and authors has accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “trying to create a new Judaism” shaped by “depraved ideas of Jewish supremacy”.
In a hard-hitting Jewish News interview, Yuval Noah Harari went as far as to suggest Judaism was experiencing its biggest “spiritual crisis for generations ” as a consequence of the Netanyahu government’s abandonment of the ideas of “democratic equality for all.”
The 47-year-old Hebrew University of Jerusalem professor also urged those “sitting on the fence” both in Israel and in the diaspora, over whether to speak out about the judicial overhaul to recognise the “moment of crisis” is now.
Harari said: “The key thing is that this is the moment of crisis. The issue will be decided in the next few weeks.
“If people wait, if they sit on the fence and think that while it’s worrying and dangerous there is still time, the time is over.
“If we don’t stop them in the next few weeks then they’re probably going to win. And Israel, for generations, and Judaism for generations will be shaped by their depraved ideas of Jewish supremacy.”
Harari, who grew up in the Kiryat Ata Haifa district, had delivered a similarly defiant message earlier last Sunday after delivering an impassioned speech at the latest Defend Israeli Democracy UK demo in Trafalgar Square.
He admitted he was surprised by the size of the turn-out for the latest protest in the country, with had brought Israeli expats and an ever increasing number of UK born Jews to demonstrate at the iconic location.
And he was afforded the reception of a hero by many of the younger activists at the vibrant London demo.
The 47-year-old Hebrew University of Jerusalem professor urged those “sitting on the fence” in Israel and in the diaspora, over whether to speak out about the judicial overhaul to recognise the “moment of crisis”.
He is among the scores of academics, business leaders, and military figures, both active and retired, who have decided to speak out against the judicial overhaul.
But Harari also seemed aware that many in the UK diaspora community, including some of its most influential leaders, had been relatively muted or indeed silent in their criticism of the Netanyahu government’s ideological stance.
“There are two considerations that cause such leaders to still sit on the fence,” he reasoned. “The first is the feeling of a kind of inferiority complex. ‘I’m living here in the diaspora, how can I criticise Jews and the people in Israel?’ And the second, is that it will cause a split within their own community.
“You know ‘after all the Jews have been through for centuries, there is this value we must stick together in order to confront all sorts of external threats’.”
But Harari, who, when not travelling the world for work lives in a suburb of Tel Aviv with his husband Itzik Yahav, added: “I want to emphasise again, like I said in my speech earlier, what is at stake is not just the state of Israel.
“What is at stake is the very meaning of what it means to be a Jew. It’s the future of Judaism.
“I can’t predict the future,” he admits. “I think there is a possibility of victory, of saving Israeli democracy.
“So it’s not just some kind of internal Israeli issue that as a non Israeli you feel you can’t comment on. They are trying to create a new Judaism.”
The outspoken vegan activist, whose book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind became a global bestseller, reasons that if the Israeli government “establishes racist dictatorship based on the ideas of primacy” then this will also be what Judaism will come to be.
“So it’s not just Israel,” he continues. “It is also your identity which is at stake.”
With regards to fears over causing splits with the community, Harari argues that the Netanyahu government is already responsible for doing just that.
“We are already there,” he says. “Israeli society is splitting, Jewish societies all over the world are splitting because of what the government is doing.”
Harari suggests the yearning a for a united Jewish community is based out of the desire to preserve power so that when a crisis does come around there is the ability and strength to resist.
“The crisis is now,” he suggests. “This is the biggest spiritual crisis Judaism has faced for generations.
“Judaism is used to dealing with physical disruption, now it’s a different threat. The threat is spiritual destruction. This is the moment of truth we have been preparing for. If we don’t use whatever power we have right now, them in a few months or years, it will be too late.”
Harari does not though rule out certain areas in which compromise is possible in Israel’s political crisis, but “the key principal on which we cannot is that Israel must remain a democracy for all the people in it. For Arabs, for women, for men… there is no compromising.”
People for many years have told themselves the occupation is temporary, only for security reasons. Now what the government is doing and declaring openly is that this is no longer temporary. Their plan is to annex the occupied territories without giving citizenship.
He adds: “You know, if a tiger comes to eat, you can’t compromise, ‘okay eat only half of my body!’
“If they are trying to destroy democracy or to establish a racist dictatorship there is no compromise with that. But with other demands, other positions, absolutely.”
The protests in Israel, and across the globe against the march of the Netanyahu government have managed to unite people from across the political spectrum.
Netanyahu, also on trial for corruption charges, has defended the overhaul plan, saying it is needed to rein in the powers of an interventionist judiciary.
But critics say it will push the country toward authoritarianism by weakening an independent court system and concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.
But asked if it is understandable that some in the community, both here and in Israel may feel uneasy about issues like continued military rule over the Palestinians in the West Bank being raised on banners and self-made posters at the demos, Harari accepts that the security of the Israeli state certainly “needs to be protected.”
But he argues: “It doesn’t demand the kind of extreme brutality and taking away all the rights of the Palestinians.
“It’s not the same thing. People for many years have told themselves the occupation is temporary, only for security reasons.
“Now what the government is doing and declaring openly is that this is no longer temporary. Their plan is to annex the occupied territories without giving citizenship.
“This government is saying, God gave us the right to control the entire land and oppress people because Jews are superior to the Palestinians. If they are leading us in that direction this will lead to the spiritual destruction of Judaism.”
Harari concedes that Israel was established on “an ideal vision of equality for all”, but he says that, “as often happens with big visions it was never realised in full.
“For many years, I think we tried and failed, but tried to reach this vision. We make some progress, and now the government is just destroying this vision entirely.
This government is saying, God gave us the right to control the entire land and oppress people because Jews are superior to the Palestinians.
“This admit Israel doesn’t want any kind of democratic equality for all. I would tell Palestinians, whether Israeli citizens, or certainly Palestinians in the occupied territories, they never enjoyed equality and freedom to choose.
“This is absolutely true, and a shameful thing for Israel, but a large part of the Israeli population thought this was wrong.
“Now this government is saying this is not a problem. This is what we want, a racist country which in the name of Jewish supremacy treats people of different religions and ethnic backgrounds differently.”
But ultimately, with Israel’s Supreme Court now poised to rule on the legality of the overhaul that would limit its powers, can the protest movement, actually achieve victory?
“I can’t predict the future,” he admits. “I think there is a possibility of victory, of saving Israeli democracy.
“But whether that possibility is realised depends on the people of Israel, but also people in the UK, and the other countries.”
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