From the Editor
TYRANNY OF
THE MITSUBISHI
In order to justify their pell-mell retreat from Israel's heartland, the Labor government and its proponents constantly allude to the fact that they represent the majority and, in a democracy, majority rules, even a majority of one.
Last month, on ABC's "Nightline" with Ted Koppel, Haim Ramon, the new Minister of the Interior, between his repeated promises to crush his opponents, said, "But at the end of the dialogue, if we will not reach an agreement, we must agree on the one most important principle--that the majority will decide, a democratic majority, and everybody, everybody, will respect it." Of course, such a literal definition of democracy has nothing to do with the true essence of a democratic society.
Indeed, the American Federalists debated the complexity of majority rule when drafting the constitution, as did nineteenth century philosophers, such as John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. Mill and de Tocqueville viewed the 'tyranny of the majority' as the central danger to democracy.
Mill noted, "the people...may desire to oppress a part of their number; and precautions are as much needed against this as against any other abuse of power...'Tyranny of the majority' is now generally included among the evils against which society requires to be on its guard."
It is likely that John Stuart Mill would have considered Israel's current government not as the defender of democracy, as it portrays itself, but as the greatest threat to it.
The Revisionist Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky went further than Mill, arguing that the principle of majority rule was immoral. "For some inexplicable reason, democracy is identified with majority rule. This is understandable from a historical point of view--democracies were created under the banner of the struggle against different types of minority governments. This was the counter-swing of the pendulum.
However, the blind identification of democracy with majority rule is not correct. The value of democracy does not depend on the feeling of subordination by forty-nine kings with equal rights to one hundred, or even of ten kings or one to one hundred. The sense of democracy must rather be sought in the theory of consent and compromise."
In any case, it is academic to discuss the claims of Labor government ministers to a majority of one, since they do not have even that. Setting aside the issue of the Arab vote, two Knesset members of the Labor government were elected on the rightwing platform of the Tzomet party, splintering off to form the Yi'ud party.
Labor is quite cognizant of the fragile nature of its majority, as is President Ezer Weizmann, who remarked that the Oslo II accords passed the Knesset "by a majority of one and this would not have succeeded if not for one MK and his Mitsubishi"--a reference to former Tzomet member
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Alex Goldfarb, who supports the "peace process" in order to keep his position as deputy minister and his government automobile.
Lacking a majority, Israel's government does not even have the tyranny of a majority, but rather the tyranny of the Mitsubishi.
FOUR-LEAF SHIMONISMS
On November 28, Hezbollah launched five waves of katyusha attacks on northern Israel, injuring 36 people and causing an estimated $6.6-million in damage. Prime Minister Shimon Peres, noting that no one was killed, remarked, "Luck is also security." Peres speaks of "removing the desert from the land, the salt from the water, and the violence from the people."
In this vein, perhaps the first act of Israel's new and highly imaginative Minister of Defense will be to remove Israel's soldiers, tanks and planes and replace them with Leprechauns, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and rabbit's feet (especially appropriate under the circumstances). One thing is clear. If the Prime Minister's policies are implemented, Israel will need all the luck it can get.
FUNDAMENTALIST FAXES
Shimon Peres has said repeatedly that technology is the solution to overcoming ignorance and fundamentalism in the Arab world. He declares that the answer to Hamas is a computer for every Arab schoolchild. However, far from eradicating Arab fundamentalism, computers are more likely to disseminate it.
The main weapon of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), a Saudi fundamentalist group operating from London, is electronics, "penetrating the walls of tyranny,"
as one of the group's leaders, Saad al-Faqih, puts it, "through technology."
But CDLR's activities may not be limited to
(Continued on p.12)
Outpost
is published by
Americans for A Safe Israel
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tel (212) 628-9400 / fax (212) 988-4065
Editor: David Isaac
Editorial Board: Ruth King, George Rubin, Herbert Zweibon. Outpost is distributed free of charge to members of Americans for A Safe Israel. Annual membership: $50.
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