Ariel Natan Pasko, June 14, 2004

The Israeli Supreme Court today, in contradiction to thousands of years of Jewish tradition, and Israeli Law, overturned the 1956 Law of Authority, which granted city governments special authority to enact regulations banning the sale of pork products within their municipality. Many cities in Israel have such a ban, and at issue was a petition to the court, to remove the banning power from municipalities.

The nine-judge panel voted unanimously to allow the sale of pork and instructed municipalities to enact new regulations conforming to guidelines set down by the court. The guidelines include, taking the character of individual neighborhoods into account when enacting restrictions on sales of non-kosher meat. The guidelines allow pork to be sold in neighborhoods where the overwhelming majority of the population wants to buy pork, or are indifferent to its sale, i.e. where there are few religious or traditional Jews. In mixed neighborhoods, the city will be allowed to decide for itself.

"The Supreme Court has driven a nail into the coffin of Jewish identity in the State of Israel," Haredi (ultra-orthodox) opposition Shas Party leader Eli Yishai said in reaction to the court's decision.

United Torah Judaism MK Rabbi Meir Porush also Haredi and in the opposition, decried the Supreme Court's decision. Porush questioned the motives of the justices, who give the appearance of working to destroy the Jewish character of the nation, he stated.

But from the National Religious Party (a more modern orthodox party in the government), MK Shaul Yahalom said the decision was "reasonable," given the "well-known views of the judges." He said his party would have preferred to ban the sale of pork entirely. He also welcomed the decision of the judges not to cancel the jurisdiction of cities to implement local ordinances.

In contrast, Shinui Party leader and Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said the decision is "good news," he said Shinui is not "pro-pork" but wants citizens to have the freedom to buy "what they want, wherever they want."

Throughout Jewish history, Kashrut observance, i.e. Jewish dietary laws (as seen in Leviticus ch. 11 and elsewhere), has been a hallmark of Jewish life. Historically, if you asked most non-Jews about Jews and Judaism, the things they would know most about were the Sabbath, Passover and Matzot (those funny dry crackers), Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement, and that Jews keep kosher, they don't eat pork.

After their conquest and occupation of Judea, the Syrian Greek Hellenists (c. 168 BCE) attempted to "break" the Jews. They set up an idol and began offering pigs to their pagan deity, in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. When they began to spread their heresy among the Jews, they started in a small town called Modiin. They set up an altar in the town square and instigated some weak Jew to offer a pig up as a sacrifice in plain public view. Public acceptance was meant to imply that the Jews were repudiating the Torah and their covenant with the G-D of their fathers. But in a clear example of the "Law of Unintended Consequences," it sparked a national revolt instead, when a priest by the name of Matityahu took a sword, stabbed the turncoat Jew and Syrian Greek officials, and declared, "Whoever is zealous for the Torah and is steadfast in the Covenant, let him follow me." The revolt spread, and ultimately was successful, leading to a liberation of the Judean homeland from occupation

. The Jews cleaned-up the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and re-lit the menorah. The oil burned miraculously eight days (the Hanukah story), and Hanukah is celebrated till this day, throughout the Jewish world, as a holiday celebrating the liberation of the Jews and Judaism from pagan culture.

Why is the pig so detested in Jewish tradition?

If you look closely at chapter 11 of Leviticus, in the Torah, dealing with dietary laws, you'll find the defining characteristics of kosher land animals - mammals - they must "chew their cud" and they must have "split hoofs". Several animals are given as examples that chew their cud but don't have split hoofs. The pig is given as the example of that which has spit hoofs, but does not chew its cud. The Torah clearly says just following the pig example, "Don't eat their meat..." and in temple times "don't touch their carcasses..." because you will become ritually impure (and unable to attend services at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem).

So, it's very clear that Jewish law forbids eating pig...

The pig has even entered the popular culture of Jews as the symbol of hypocrisy. Because, it looks kosher on the outside - you can see it has split hoofs - yet it is "Treif" i.e. not kosher on the inside, because it doesn't chew its cud. In Yiddish (one of the thirty-some Judeo-vernacular languages that Jews created in their 1,900-year-exile from their homeland), a "Chazzer Fissel" or pig's foot was what one called a hypocrite.

And so, the most beautiful thing just happened, the G-D of Israel made His manifest Will clear for all to see. Usually one fumbles around, good intentions, good behaviors, but you're never really sure if you're doing the right thing. Then once in a while, comes a blessed moment, G-D's message is as clear as day.

This court decision comes at a time when the Israeli government is attempting to carry out an ethnic cleansing campaign against part of its own Jewish population. Ariel Sharon, current prime minister and the "father of the settlement movement," who for years encouraged Jews to "take to the hilltops" and set up "outposts," has agreed in the Roadmap to "painful concessions," which includes dismantling those very same outposts. Those so-called outposts are actually new neighborhoods - only extensions of existing towns - within the legal boundaries of the town limits.

And now, with his "Gaza Disengagement Plan," Sharon is determined to evacuate, expel, ethnically cleanse, Jews from their legally lived in homes, from their legally lived in towns, from historically Jewish Gaza, a part of the biblically promised "Land of Israel". Sharon looked kosher all these years to many on the right in Israel; retired general and war hero, supporter of settlement activity, tough on terror, his opposition to Oslo. Yet, in the end, he's willing to give away a part of the Land of Israel, without any quid-pro-quo from the "Palestinians". He's willing to allow Gaza to become a Terror State launching pad to wipe out the rest of Israel (the security fences won't stop Hamas missiles). And he's going far further than any Left-wing politician who supported Oslo.

"Chazzer Fissel" indeed...

The man who so epitomized security concerns is now in negotiations with the Labor Party, to bring them into the government. Those are the same people who brought the tragedy of the Oslo Agreement - about a thousand Israelis killed in the last three years of warfare alone - to the Jewish State.

Sitting with Sharon's Likud Party, in the Israeli coalition government is the Shinui Party, a party ostensibly middle-class and secular, who wrap themselves in the flag of Israeli democracy. But, of course, that didn't stop them from running the most overtly racist campaign in Israel's political history, against the Haredim, i.e. ultra-orthodox Jews, during the last elections. They even called them "parasites," something worthy of the Nazis, and something that should not be tolerated in a Jewish State.

With Sharon's recent firing of the two National Union ministers over the disengagement plan, and the National Religious Party also on the verge of leaving the coalition, Sharon's men have been scrounging around for additional coalition partners, to join the now minority government. Teetering on the verge of collapse, Sharon's government has even contemplated reaching out to the ultra-orthodox parties.

But the Shinui Party, according to MK Yigal Yasinov, would never sit with Haredim in the coalition, not today and not ever. Asked if he didn't feel his position was racist, Yasinov claimed that Haredim "just worry about money for Yeshivot [rabbinical seminaries] and their institutions, and are involved in graft and illegal activities," therefore his position was justified, he said.

In fact, it's Shinui's partner in the coalition, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who for over a year has been implicated in a bribery scandal along with his son.

More "Chazzer Fissel"...

I just want to mention in passing, that the National Union Party - supposedly "ultra-nationalist" - waited until Sharon fired it's two ministers from the government, rather than resign over the disengagement plan earlier. To their credit NRP leaders, former minister Effie Eitam and deputy minister Rabbi Yitzhak Levi resigned their positions in the coalition when it became clear that Sharon was no longer the "patron of the settlements," but their intended destroyer. But, the National Religious Party still hangs on, and the leader of the party's left-wing, Minister Zevulun Orlev, wants to continue being part of the government. He was just appointed by Sharon, to the Security-Political Cabinet, replacing Eitam.

Then there is Moshe Feiglin and his Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction within Sharon's ruling Likud Party itself. He has been encouraging the national-religious public to join Likud and "take over" from within, "Trojan Horse" style. Although they only make up 5-10% of Likud members - by his own admittance on a radio interview recently - they have been successful till now, of exerting disproportionate power within the Likud. Feiglin didn't create the "disengagement plan crisis" in Likud - that fell into his lap - but it gave him and Manhigut a platform to flex its muscles in the ensuing referendum, in which they "defeated" the Sharon forces. But, bottom line, Sharon is still carrying through with his ethnic cleansing plan, and all the Likud ministers voted for it in the cabinet.

How long will the Feiglinites attempt to kosher the Likud?

Interestingly, the Supreme Court's "pig decision" came in response to a three-year-old suit filed by Likud MK Marina Solodkin (originally part of the Russian-immigrant Yisrael B'Aliyah Party before they merged with Likud), challenging the laws against public sale of pork. It wasn't someone from the ultra-secularist Shinui Party, or the secular Labor Party, or the ultra-leftist Yahad Party, but from within the Likud itself.

In many ways, this is a sort of replay of the 1986 "Pork Bill" scandal within the leading "ultra-nationalist" party of the time, Tehiya - a mixed party of religious and secular elements - when retired general and ultra-nationalist - but avowedly secular - Raphael Eitan voted with the sponsors of the bill to allow the raising of pigs in Israel (for medical purposes, so they said). That led to his eventual withdrawal from Tehiya, and the transformation of his Tzomet Movement into an ultra-nationalist and anti-religious party. Tehiya itself later fell apart, but Tzomet was elected to the 1992 Knesset on an ultra-nationalist and anti-peace process platform. Yet, it was Tzomet's Gonen Segev and Alex Goldfarb who abandoned the party platform and joined Rabin and Labor in 1995. Segev, "sold his seat" for a Volvo - the car perk for government ministers - a seat in the cabinet, and was the 61st vote that allowed Rabin to pass the Oslo II Agreement in the Knesset. Today Segev is on trial for trying to import 30,00 Ecstasy tablets into Israel.

Why do I remind you of all this?

Because, I believe Manhigut Yehudit will hit a glass ceiling. Likud is a secular, centrist party on the Israeli political landscape, not the pro-settler, religiously oriented one Feiglin wants to turn it into. Already there have been many criticisms of Feiglin and the Manhigut faction from within the Likud, calling it an "alien implant". The mostly secular members and politicos in Likud will do all they can to block Feiglin and Manhigut from rising to power within the party. There have already been attempts to kick him out. We already see the lack of adherence to "Jewish values" and the lack of faith toward the Land of Israel on the part of many "old-time Likud" members.

If the Feiglinites get too close to a take-over, and they can't be stopped, then I think the "Likudniks," i.e. the secularists and moderates, will bolt the party to join some other grouping. There are already rumors that Sharon has been negotiating with Labor's Shimon Peres to form a Centrist "National Unity" party, out of Labor and Likud elements. If that happened, then Feiglin and Manhigut would be left holding a whittled down settler party called "Likud". That's not much of a change on the political landscape.

That's why I say; the Israeli government is kosher only on the outside...

P.S. With everything I've said, I don't want my words misconstrued to imply that I'm against the State of Israel. Jewish political independence in the Land of Israel, i.e. the State of Israel, is an important mitzvah from the Torah. In fact, all of Judaism presumes that Jews live in their own homeland as an independent polity. But, governments, administrations, and their policies come and go. The State of Israel is Holy. It is supposed to be used to further the cause of G-D in this world. But, those in power can misuse its institutions, and this must be stopped.

Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko

Copyright © 2004 Ariel Natan Pasko