The Left's prophecy of doom

Earlier this week, advertising man Udi Pridan, who deserves some of the credit for Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu Party election victory (winning 10 Knesset seats right out of the gate), told financial magazine Globes in an interview that he thought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "the devil, a bad man, dishonest, war-mongering, divisive and a charlatan." He said further that he never leaves Tel Aviv because it is the only enlightened place in the country. "Without Tel Aviv there would be no Israel," he said.

This interview provides yet another glimpse into the collapse of the veteran Israeli elite, as the state nears its 70th year. That is why it is so important. Let it be said in advance: No one's feelings are hurt. It is important that we hear these sentiments publicly rather than letting it fester as an internal dialogue. Pridan and his ilk insist that they are not condescending, but we learned long ago that the idea of projection is the psychological version of the adage "calling the kettle black."

Throughout the interview Pridan reveals his world to the readers: aggressive, materialistic, rife with stereotypes and prejudices, where social relationships and ideologies are measured quantitatively. A world were Pridan and individuals who think exactly like him are the only ones who have a true grasp on reality, and therefore it is only on their Noah's Ark that anyone will be saved from some imminent catastrophe.

We have grown accustomed to a lack of intellectual integrity on the part of some well known cultural figures. Even though their diplomatic projections have consistently fallen to pieces when confronted with the harsh reality, they continued to torment the people of Israel, demanding "why aren't we making peace-" and blaming Israel for everything. Pridan and others like him provide a glimpse into the psychology of this fantastical phenomenon within the Israeli Left.

And another thing: Pridan and others who have openly criticized the state and its citizens recently (actress Anat Waxman, painter Yair Garbuz, to name two) are not the Left's version of Ben-Zion Gopstein (a radical, anti-Arab activist) and other extremists within the Right. While Gopstein is marginalized, and is considered nothing more than a blip on the radar even among the average settler, the haters on the Left emerge from the heart of the left-wing consensus. Not all of them are cultural and intellectual figures, but it is precisely for that reason that they teach us so much about the general sentiment in their political circle -- they are simply not sophisticated enough to disguise their positions. So here I present to you Pridan's interview as an anthropological study. Archeology of text.

Not the most evolved people

In the interview, Pridan echoes many of his friends when he explains the discrepancy between the polls ahead of the recent election (which predicted a victory for the left-wing Zionist Union) and the final results (a dramatic victory for the right-wing Likud Party). "The pollsters weren't wrong," he says, explaining that in the last two hours of the election, 400,000 people who "did not initially intend to vote," cast their ballots. He knows them; they promised him that they were not going to vote. Who are these people who weren't going to vote? According to Pridan, they are "people who wear sweatpants outside" or people who have "given up" or those who are "frustrated and accepting."

The renowned sociologist Pridan divides Israeli society into two parts: those who "move forward" and those who are "stuck." The Left moves forward and "fights to make things better" while the Right is stuck and has "given up." This time, however, there was a glitch. These people put on their sweatpants and went out to vote after all.

How did this miracle occur? You have all heard it already, but here it is again, the Pridan version: Netanyahu warned that "the Arab voters are coming out in droves" and said "my life and the state are in danger, they are going to overthrow the government." That is when the "people who don't have the highest IQ or the highest income, and they are not the most evolved" came out of their holes to vote. "That guy who lives in Ashdod or Rehovot probably said to his wife: 'we didn't vote in the last elections, but our home is in jeopardy. Forget about food for the children. They are going to kill the prime minister! Let's go vote!' They gave Netanyahu ten Knesset seats in the last two hours of voting."

This man is considered a top advertising executive. He controls the public's minds. Other cultural figures in the Left would likely agree with his characterization of the Right: Low income and little education (I wonder how much education Pridan himself has) and most importantly, "not the most evolved." This is a nice way of saying exactly what author Alona Kimhi said immediately after the election results came in ("Drink some cyanide, f---ing Neanderthals). Indeed, it is a problem. We never advanced all the way to Homo sapiens.

Protecting the house

So what were the voting considerations of the under-evolved, according to the "Origins of Species" scholar Pridan? "The house is in jeopardy." Not the national home, heaven forbid. The state is not in jeopardy and the Middle East is as peaceful as can be. The house in question, according to Pridan, is Netanyahu's house. Therefore, it doesn't matter if the children have food to eat, as long as we save Netanyahu. That doesn't make sense, but when you're so busy hoarding food, apparently it stunts your logic.

Judging by Pridan's words, these sweatpants-wearers don't realize that for 20 years, Pridan and his predecessors have been promising peace and getting car bombs and rockets instead. They cannot see that the Middle East has gone completely berserk and a severed-head spring is upon us. They also fail to see that Pridan and his ilk are inviting international pressure on Israel and undermining Netanyahu's campaign against the Iranian nuclear ambitions. They are so stupid that they don't believe Kahlon's promises of free land, and most infuriating, they don't think of Kahlon as the ultimate savior, because they don't understand that he knows better than everyone else. All they care about is Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Netanyahu.

The long-standing convention that the Left operates on hard logic and the Right operates from the gut is something that appears in almost every public remark made by a leftist. Pridan describes his political campaigning and his efforts to attract right-wing voters as the "mathematics of emotion."

But an objective analysis of the facts reveals that the opposite is true. The Left has clung to its diplomatic theories despite the fact that the regional and global reality has changed dramatically since the big debates of the 1980s. The solution that was raised then is no longer relevant today. A Palestinian state on the hills of Samaria would be a prelude to an Islamist takeover, en route to an Islamic caliphate. This is not a scare tactic. Just look around at our neighbors.

"The poor vote on the diplomatic-security issues, which is to say the Right, and the rich vote in favor of solving the social gaps and poverty, which is to say Center-Left." It is not entirely clear that the rich are interested in closing the social gap -- they are just voting for the members of their tribe. The "poor" on the other hand vote rationally: they understand that without security there will not be anything, not even an economy. Speaking of the economy, I still don't get the difference between Kahlon's economic platform, which Pridan promoted, and Netanyahu's. Kahlon's claim to fame, having lowered the rates charged by mobile phone companies, was an implementation of neo-liberal ideas. Increasing competition and removing government oversight from the free market are basic tenets of the Right's economic platform.

Pridan also takes issue with the Zionist Union campaign. His complaint is that they didn't lie enough. They should have concealed their loathing for Netanyahu rather than parading it in interviews with the media elite, because "in political campaigning, that is a mistake."

Just you wait

Much like his political clones, Pridan is also a prophet. The Left is full of doomsday prophets who warn of gloom and doom. "You didn't want to listen to us, just you wait and see what is going to happen to you." That is what Pridan prophesies. "Israel will wake up when the world boycotts us, when our industries and agriculture are boycotted, when we are treated like a third world nation and when the U.N. unilaterally decides to recognize the Palestinian state. Then they will finally understand."

I have already written in the past that the gauge by which the veracity of prophecy is measured is how comforting it is. A true prophet doesn't only torment his people, but also uplifts them and gives them strength. The prophet Jeremiah started out with the doomsday prophecy that "Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land" (Jeremiah 1:14), but immediately followed it with "I remember for thee the affection of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown" (Jeremiah 2:2).

The truth is that Pridan is not even a doomsday prophet. All he is doing is stomping his feet like a child and wishing evil on anyone who didn't give him what he thought he was promised. He sounds like a child who didn't get his chocolate bar saying "I wish you were dead." This man led Kahlon's campaign. Incidentally, last November, Pridan forecast an election result of 22 or more Knesset seats for Kahlon.

Samson's choice

As the interview continues, the ridiculous truth emerges more and more from the depths of Pridan's soul. When asked how Netanyahu succeeded where Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni failed, he says that "What Netanyahu did was his usual scheming." Unlike the Zionist Union, he says, who were just clumsy. "For me, Netanyahu is the devil," he says. In the eyes of many among the Israeli Left, Netanyahu plays the part of Voldemort from the Harry Potter books. And this is not a fringe perception -- it is the prevalent point of view. Just take a look at Igal Sarna, a senior journalist with Yedioth Ahronoth, and what he posts on his Facebook page, and you too can drink in all that poison. It is no coincidence that the Left's key message was "anyone but Bibi" (Netanyahu's nickname) and "It's us or him." To them, that was the only issue. This childishly binary perception is the root of the Left's ultimate demise, and the root of one of our biggest tragedies as a society. Those parts of the Israeli elite, whom we need, opted for what I like to call "Samson's choice" -- If we're not controlling the game like we used to, then no one plays. We will burn the state down.

"The way it was supposed to happen to Netanyahu was exactly what happened in 1999 when the people grew tired of him and we did the 'Israel wants change' campaign and [Ehud] Barak won," Pridan says. Take your time and read that again. "Supposed to happen." That is what the Left discussed; that is what they planned in between the espressos. But reality refused to obey. This is a well-known pattern: They brought in Yasser Arafat and his gang, gave them weapons to protect us, but they did not obey. The Middle East also refused to obey Shimon Peres' vision of a "New Middle East." Even Gaza refused to obey, and instead of taking the infrastructure of the evacuated Gush Katif and becoming the Singapore of the Middle East, an Iranian Sparta rose on our border.

They don't believe in themselves

And of course, as always, the ethnic issue came up. Pridan tried to explain why the Mizrahi Israelis (whom he describes ever so eloquently as "the people who wear sweatpants in the streets in the peripheral towns; the people with the least self awareness") didn't vote for Kahlon (a Mizrahi Jew) and voted for Netanyahu (who is Ashkenazi). Well, as it turns out, "Mizrahim don't believe Mizrahim. They don't believe in themselves, so they don't believe that someone like them can be a leader. ... Their inferiority complex, which is so deeply rooted within some of them, brings them to hate the white Ashkenazi race much more than the white Ashkenazi man looking down his nose at them."

Unbelievable. He isn't even aware of the racism inherent in his remarks. But let's roll with Pridan's racism: Kahlon's family hails from Tripoli, Libya. Does this remark hold true for Mizrahim whose parents were born in Yemen? What about those whose grandparents were born there? What about those whose predecessors came from Thessaloniki or Morocco? And if they think (assuming they are capable of thinking) that Netanyahu's platform best suits their desire for security and a free economy, do they still have to vote for Kahlon simply because, sociologically speaking, their parents came from an Arab country so they are from the same group?

How much racism and ignorance can you fit into one sentence? Speaking of people with no self awareness, Pridan says that these sweatpants-wearing, Netanyahu voters "don't see me. They hate me. They are unwilling to understand me." He certainly has a sense of humor.

"I never leave Tel Aviv, and I never will," says the man who doesn't think he lives in a bubble. But from what he has heard from the aliens in the peripheral towns he knows that the "violence and rampages perpetrated by ugly Israelis happen relatively less in Tel Aviv and more the further you travel from it." And what do you know? "I don't look down on the peripheral towns, because they are inhabited by people who are not inferior to me." What is this lack of self awareness if not life in a bubble?

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

He comes out against the idea that "the state of Tel Aviv is a detached bubble." Considering the quotes above, he may be right. It is not a bubble but rather a helium balloon that has lost its way beyond the stratosphere. "And I say, if there was no Tel Aviv, there would be no Israel." That is because, in his view, without Tel Aviv there would be only "a chaotic standoff between extremists, messianic radicals, amulets and superstitions -- and the Arabs."

It is true that Tel Aviv is cultural center and it is important to the Israeli people. But it is no less true that without Jerusalem not only would there not be Tel Aviv, there would not even be a prospect of Tel Aviv ever coming to be in the future. Without Zion, there is no Zionism. Tel Aviv can be liberal and cosmopolitan because Jerusalem perpetuates the Jewish identity of Tel Aviv itself. Tel Aviv has the luxury of rebelling against tradition for one simple reason -- because there is a tradition to rebel against. Without Jerusalem, Tel Aviv would have to take the burden of tradition upon itself, because even there people understand that without Jewish tradition there is no Israel and there is no Jewish people.

But Pridan and his gang don't understand. "A hotel that doesn't serve espresso on Shabbat is not worthy," Pridan says. "The espresso reflects the fact that it is forbidden to heat things up because of the laws of kashrut, in 2015, when people come here from all over the world." Of all the examples he could have used to demonstrate the cultural difference between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, this ad man chose to bring up espresso on Shabbat. What would Freud say? Alongside unwitting racism, there is also lack of culture. Is Shabbat something that belongs only to one specific sector?

National poet Haim Nahman Bialik once wrote in a letter to a resident of Kibbutz Geva: "Eretz Israel will not be built without Shabbat. It will be destroyed, and all your hard work will have been for naught. The Jewish people will never give up Shabbat, which is not only the keystone of Israel's existence but of human existence. Without Shabbat, there would be no godliness and no semblance of humanity in the world."

"If work is its own objective, then nothing separates us from the beasts. All the cultured peoples of the world took from Israel, in one way or another, a day of rest, which gave them the appearance of humans. Without it, everyone would be savages. Shabbat, not the culture of oranges or potatoes, is what has kept our people in existence throughout our tribulations. And now that we have returned to our ancestral homeland, are we going to toss it behind our backs as though we don't need it anymore-"

You see, Mr. Pridan, Shabbat is a winning global brand. It is a huge draw for the peoples of the world. The tourists who come to Israel want to experience it, even at the cost of giving up their espresso for one day.

This, too, is the key to the Left's defeat. Israeli society is traditional for the most part, in varying degrees. Agnostics understand the value of Shabbat, but the uneducated do not. The shallow disaffection toward religious tradition does not indicate free thinking, but rather irresponsibility. Even the most secular elite has to understand that it can't take away (or cancel) from the masses the one thing that provides meaning to their lives. Atheism is not anti-religiousness -- it is only individual indifference toward the question of whether or not there is a god. But even atheists understand the important and essential role that tradition plays in the lives of a people, especially the Jewish people. Espresso, yes.

Soul searching?

How do the Left plan to restore themselves to power? By way of historical soul searching and reflecting on the decisive cultural gap that has developed between them and the masses of Israel? Or perhaps by retreating from the failed diplomatic theories and starting to accurately judge reality? No way. "I would consolidate the entire Center-Left; I would put a 'security' type authority figure at the helm ... who speaks the same words as Netanyahu." You see, they plan to deceive the sweatpants-wearers by giving them someone in a Netanyahu costume.

At the start of the interview, Pridan stated its main objective: "I would like to be the leader of a movement or a large party, but I can't do that today." Pridan slated himself for greatness. A leader without a flock -- a common phenomenon among the Israeli Left. It is only "today" that he can't fulfill his wishes. It is only a matter of time before his leadership skills are discovered.

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