"They also join themselves unto our enemies (Exodus 1:10)". "Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, men would swallow one another alive (Ethics of the Fathers, 3:2)." "Conflict between brothers is the worst of all. (Vayikra Raba 15:1)." Our Jewish sources, in their wisdom, contain apt descriptions of the conduct of several hilltop youth, who burst into (or came from within) an IDF base in Beit El in the Binyamin region and vandalized vehicles, ripped cables and sprayed graffiti in revenge for the destruction of three buildings in the Migron outpost. They behaved like outlaw hooligans and they crossed a red line. What is needed now is total silence from politicians other than the prime minister, defense minister and chief of staff, whose job it is to issue a brief official statement. The ensuing silence will allow other voices to arise, arrive, be heard and erupt: the voices of former IDF Chief Rabbi Avi Ronsky and Beit El yeshiva head Zalman Melamed, Ateret Cohanim yeshiva head Shlomo Aviner as well as local public figures: Yesha Council head Danny Dayan and journalist Yisrael Harel and Knesset members Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Danny Danon (Likud), Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Uri Orbach (New National Religious Party). It is important to listen not only to what they say but to the tone in which it is delivered. Not just to the condemnation, but to qualifications like "notwithstanding," "nevertheless," "leaving aside" and other Ivy-League expressions and whitewashed words that actually constitute a wink at the hoodlums, telling them what they did is not so bad, that their condemnations are lip service and that "price tag" attacks are actually a very effective method. Political panderers of this sort fail to understand that the High Court, which ordered the demolition, is Israel's flak jacket. It is Israel's last best line of defense in the West. Not for nothing does the extreme left detest the High Court, claiming its judges are hypocrites of the order of men who immerse in the ritual bath with a dead reptile in their hands. That is because the overwhelming majority of High Court rulings are highly sensitive to Israel's security needs. Only when things have gone too far and the injustice far outweighs the military advantage does the High Court rule against the IDF. But the Right will not forgive its judges, even in those instances where upon meticulous examination they decide that the Jews have to retreat. The security fence in Bil'in was one example of this. Another is Migron. Its residents are not responsible for this mess. Rather, it is the fault of governments that spoke out of both sides of their mouths and contradicted themselves. The glory of Judaism can be encapsulated in the Bible story of the conflict between King Ahab and Jezebel and Navot the Jezreelite. The royal family coveted Navot's private vineyard. In that instance, Elijah the prophet fulfilled the role of the High Court and chastised them. In that sense, the High Court has internalized Jewish values more than the hilltop youth. That doesn't mean that judges are infallible or that one can't differ, argue, debate or appeal their rulings. Indeed, Migron is not a clear-cut case. But there must be lines of authority. We have to be able to honor a judicial ruling that we don't agree with because otherwise Israeli society loses the essential glue that holds it together. I don't know where the guards were who allowed the "price tag" avengers to enter the base. I don't even know if the intruders had fifth-column collaborators within the base. Perhaps they all came from inside the base. The effectiveness of the police investigation rests on police readiness to carry it out vigorously and punish those responsible to the full extent of the law. It also lies in listening to the voices emerging from the generation's teachers in Judea and Samaria as well as their Knesset representatives.
