Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh's remarks regarding the issues that immigrants encounter -- specifically in Israel, but relevant in every country -- only strengthen the time-honored proverb "silence is golden." In truth, however, he presented a troublesome sociological problem worthy of serious public debate in a tolerant society. Unfortunately, meaningful public debate is missing from what we see all over the world in this era of tumultuous word-lashing -- starting with the harsh deterioration of etiquette in the U.S. presidential race and ending with the level of certainty regarding immigrant issues in France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, and Poland. I have no doubt that Alsheikh didnt mean to insult anyone. Indeed, new immigrants from every country are simply more likely to be street criminals as they struggle to ground themselves in an unknown society. This happened after every wave of aliyah, and while there has always been someone to suggest restricting the ingathering of the exiles, the very vision and aspiration of Zionism, people like Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin fortunately rejected the idea. It can be confidently said that these immigrants enriched Israel more than Israel enriched them. At the end of the day, immigrants should have simply been told, "Welcome." There is no doubt that Alsheikh sees things this way. But it is also true that we must confront the unique difficulty that arises with the arrival of Ethiopians, Russians, Moroccans, and French -- and even Americans, who seem to have a particular easy time adjusting. Until their full absorption in society, the role of our leadership is not to condescend, God forbid, but to find ways to ease the process for them. At the end of the day, I see ethnic Ethiopians, Moroccans, and Russians in army and police uniforms, in universities, working in science institutes. I am convinced that what I see from here, Alsheikh sees from there.
