On defensive democracy

It is important to stress that it is the education system's responsibility to expose students to a wide range of opinions -- to the ideology of a Greater Israel, up to the last inch, and to an ideology of complete withdrawal, up to the last inch, and to everything in between.

Students must be provided with the best tools with which to form a solid worldview. However, alongside this, red lines must be drawn. Not every opinion is legitimate, and certainly not every organization is legitimate. There is no way I would allow my children to meet with representatives from the extreme right-wing anti-assimilation organization Lehava, for example, because it is a racist organization that functions as a bully. And in the same vein, we must prevent entry to schools for radical organizations like Breaking the Silence, dedicated to exposing alleged wrongdoings by the Israeli military.

Israel is facing a global delegitimization campaign. This campaign is designed to lead to boycotts, in the hope of causing Israel's collapse. Breaking the Silence works against Israel within the framework of this campaign. Members of the organization travel the world, visiting campuses and cultural event halls, funded by entities hostile to Israel, in an effort to incite against it. Breaking the Silence is a part of the industry of lies against Israel. The pamphlet it distributes at schools, which is designed to incite students nearing draft age against the IDF, states that the military "frequently uses violence against children," that this includes "shooting directed at children," "arbitrarily and without real cause," as part of the "daily reality." This is libel against our sons, who are being presented as child killers.

The organization's actions during Operation Protective Edge illustrates their path. During the 2014 Gaza war, Israel exercised its right to self-defense, and, in a war of "no choice," tried in a globally unprecedented manner to minimize damage done to uninvolved persons, even when that meant exposing IDF soldiers to risk. And all the while, the enemy used its own citizens and children as human shields. At the height of the war, when half of Israel was under rocket fire, Breaking the Silence presented the IDF as an army of brutes carrying out war crimes against the Palestinians in the "occupied" Gaza Strip. As in every war, there were rare incidents in which a soldier or a unit strayed from the IDF principal of purity of arms. The IDF is dealing with these situations. Taking such incidents out of context, as though they represent the IDF, is none other than collective libel against the IDF and Israel.

An organization must decide whether it will fight for its beliefs within the framework of democratic discussion inside Israel, or whether it will operate against Israel from outside its borders. You cannot have it both ways. Breaking the Silence made its choice, and it must now pay the price. Due to the group's own actions, it has removed itself from the legitimate political discourse in Israel.