A video of a gun-wielding IDF soldier swearing he would disobey orders not to shoot Palestinians and Sudanese created a stir in the Israeli blogosphere. The video turns out to be a hoax – but it still teaches us something of how such attitudes are perceived by local audiences.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu26JiIUbSY[/youtube]
Over the weekend, a short Youtube video (above) became a hit over the Israeli Twittersphere and Facebook. The video was uploaded on May 25th 2011, at he height of the storm that followed the breach of the ceasefire lines under Majdal Shams. It begins with the strident tone of the IDF March, and then we see the insignia of the IDF. Afterwards, we gaze upon the self-satisfied face of Matanya Ophan, who is described as a “recent IDF recruit”. Ophan is the brother of noted extreme right wing activist Neryah Ophan, who managed to win the dubious honor of being so annoying he was administratively detained, and then was removed from Pisgat Ze’ev by the order of the GOC Homefront Command. Ophan is filmed wielding a rifle, and carrying the notorious guide to gentile-slaying, Torath Ha’Melekh; he rants about disobeying orders to hold fire against Palestinians and Sudanese, should he have the chance, and that he would disregard his commanders in such a case.
Murderous anti-Arab hatred is nothing new; An old joke said that in order to join Kach, you have to kill an Arab and a cat (punch line: The initiate asks “why a cat?”, and the recruiter says “you’re in”). But when did the Sudanese become a target? Well, we get a clue at the end of the video – it ends with the slogan “Jews, let’s win!”, which was used in the demonstrations against refugees and foreign workers in Bat Yam and southern Tel Aviv. Those demonstrations were organized by the students of the Od Yoseph Khai yeshiva, about which I already wrote; Ophan is a frequent contributer to Ha’Kol Hayehudi, writing wooly articles trying to combine “science and torah”. Defenders of Jewish Orthodox hatred of mankind, a specialty of Od Yoseph Khai, often claim this hatred is a result of the Jewish-Palestinian conflict; the fact that it is wielded so effortlessly, without breaking stride, against frightened refugees from Sudan shows otherwise.
There’s just one problem with this video: It is an empty provocation. Matanya Ophan, following in the footsteps of Baruch Goldstein, tried to connect his ideology with the IDF by wearing a uniform. The IDF Spokesman’s office (this is the place to compliment their new media unit on its quick process of professionalism, as well as civility and efficiency) quickly exposed the miserable truth: Matanya Ophan does not serve in the IDF, and never did. Furthermore, they believe that the gun he is wielding is a cheap plastic imitation . This seems borne out, when you look at it at 0:22.
This shouldn’t be a surprise: Characters like Ophan are simply not drafted. The army has enough on its plate without dealing with such nutjobs. Eden Nathan-Zada, the Jewish terrorist who massacred Israeli citizens in Spharam in 2005, was not identified as a danger by the IDF in time; Ophan is an observable problem several miles away.
There are a few comments about Ophan’s false pretense. To begin with, there is a small, determined Jewish minority which is capable not just of fantasizing of murdering gentiles, but of flaunting such fantasies in public. If and when such people actualize their fantasies, nobody ought to be surprised. Second, the fact that such fantasies can be openly aired, even by a loser who has to impersonate a soldier, means that a much larger public quietly supports them. This larger public won’t walk the walk, it fears the law – that it, it does not hate non-Jews enough to be willing to pay the price for murdering them – but it will show empathy to the “men” who will. Political assassins do not, as a rule, act without a supportive public. This is the public Ophan is speaking to.
The kippa-wearing public often pretends it abhors violence, but Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, won much support there – particularly as the public shock following the murder passed away, and its leaders understood they are not in risk of a violent backlash. Yishai Schlissel, who stabbed three people at a Pride Parade in Jerusalem in 2005, enjoys similar support in the Haredi and national-Haredi public. Like failed Palestinian suicide bombers, carrying out a “Kidush Ha’Shem” (“sanctifying of the Name”) attack is an excellent way of getting quick and cheap cultural capital. Unlike failed suicide bomber, Jewish shaheeds leave prison rather quickly, or, as in the case of Ophan, never even enter it.
And thirdly, it is worth noting that the Jehoviac Right is probably in dire straits, when it has to fake a provocation instead of creating one. But that shows what these people thinking about truth: It is permissible to lie for the sake of Eretz Israel.
