An easy target
Israel's ongoing battle against traffic accidents bore the slogan, On the road, don't be right, be smart." There is something to be said for this sentiment, certainly when it comes to protecting human lives. But when applied to other aspects of life, that's when it becomes problematic, not conventional.
The recent decision to appoint Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, the settlers' biggest foe in the military, to the post of GOC Central Command -- assigned to the security of settlements, among other things -- warrants the use of this slogan to some degree. But in this case, it's actually better to be right. In this round, the right one is in fact the smart one. According to the violent, radical settler youths, who enjoy the support of large portions of the general settler public, any Israel Defense Forces officer who serves in or around the settlements could be seen as a destroyer of Israel. The list includes top officers like Yair Naveh, Gadi Shamni, Noam Tibon, former Chief Military Rabbi Israel Weiss, and now Nitzan Alon. The list goes on, and it will only get longer.
Maybe it is time for the settlers' spiritual leaders to do some soul-searching and ask themselves where they went wrong. It isn't likely that so many IDF officers have strayed from the righteous path and that only these vandals and arsonists can rightfully speak in the name of God.
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Arguments voiced two months ago by Alon, a veteran soldier, can now be heard on every corner, touted as the words of the living God. Whether they're "terrorists" or "anarchists," these vandals must be met with an iron fist. Alon experienced the reasons for this first hand when extremist settlers attacked his Jeep near Joseph's Tomb one night in July.
The argument that Alon isn't capable of performing this job stems from a basic lack of understanding of the rule of law and proper conduct. Alon doesn't formulate his own policy in Judea and Samaria. He is there to carry out the government's policy. He doesn't make up the rules. It is not even the IDF chief of general staff or the defense minister who make the final decisions, only the government.
The extremist settlers find it easiest to single out an individual and sully his name. Picket his home. Mock his wife and children. Slander him on every media outlet while he is still bound by military decorum and can't respond.
It started during the 2005 evacuation from the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza. I supported the disengagement, but it turned out to be a strategic mistake that caused a lot of damage. Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made a joke out of his campaign promises, which was not dignified but not entirely unacceptable. He did not violate the rules of democracy, and there was no room for the High Court of Justice to step in. That's when the "price-tag" concept -- acts of violence by extreme right-wingers against Palestinians in retribution for anti-settlement government policies -- was born. In its essence, the price-tag concept undermines democracy.
If extremist settlers really understood the idea of collective responsibility, the decision-making process of a democracy or degrees of responsibility, they wouldn't personally target this or that individual. It is possible, however, that they do understand these concepts but actually just find it easier to target Alon than to go after IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz or Defense Minister Ehud Barak or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thus creating a significant slant.
If Alon doesn't evade the post, he should commence his work. More power to him. We salute him, and warn him that a magnifying glass in the form of a mobile phone with a camera and recording capabilities will follow him wherever he goes.
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