Habayit Hayehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich showed a combination of stupidity and insensitivity on Tuesday when he tweeted that his wife wouldn't want to be next to an Arab woman in the maternity ward because who knows, maybe the Arab boy would grow up to be a terrorist 20 years from now. Above all else, such comments run against core Jewish values, the very values that are being tarnished by Smotrich and his likes in Israel and beyond. In one rabbinical tale, angels ask God why Ishmael is entitled to water in the desert despite knowing that he will one day try to attack the people of Israel. "Right now, is he righteous or wicked-," God retorts. The angels concede that Ishmael is still righteous, at which point God orders that he be given water based on who he is, not who he will become. Smotrich probably missed class when this great moral lesson was taught in school. As a lawyer and as a well-educated individual, Smotrich knows full well that liberal minded Jews were disgusted by his comments, including many religious people. He knows that what he said plays right into the hands of the evildoers of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, who work around the clock to besmirch Israel and cast it as an apartheid state. His comments are considered proof of Israel's supposed segregation policies, just like anti-Israel activists tried to create the impression that the shooting of a subdued terrorist last month (seen in footage taken by the left-wing group B'Tselem) was the widely accepted norm in Israel, even though other militaries would have done the same, and on a much wider scale, in similar circumstances. Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett reacted to Smotrich's comments by saying "everyone was created in God's image." Bennett hoped Smotrich would take his cue and fix the damage. Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern also made comments aimed at saving Judaism's reputation, but the ill-advised Smotrich did not change course, despite being a wise man. He will not retract his comments, he is unwilling to climb down from his high horse and clear the stench, despite being offered a way out. The loathsome views Smotrich expressed are not limited to the maternity ward. Why not have segregated buses? Why not fire Arab security guards, even though they do their job well and seize firecrackers in stadiums? Regardless of how far this evil policy is extended, Smotrich will be there to support it. Smotrich is a racist, we get that. But why does he have to sound his views everywhere, and in the process inflict damage on an entire segment of the population? What is particularly troubling and saddening is his conviction that such statements bolster his political standing. He believes that his base approves of this racist ideology, as if the Jewish people have forgotten what the Smotriches in other nations said, in various languages, on our parents and probably still say on us. Smotrich will probably say something to clear up the mess and his supporters will try to create a charade by explaining that he has retracted his comments. But that will be hardly true. I dread the notion of waking up tomorrow and finding out just how many more people have endorsed his views.
