Theocracy moves forward! Orthodox Israel and the Far-Right in the USA

History is not necessarily progressive, and when we believe to have reached a new peak of liberty and democracy, suddenly a theocratic backlash can take us back decades, if not centuries. The new debate about abortion rules in this country is only one of many examples especially because the Supreme Court has abdicated its own responsibilities buckling under pressure from the religious right to let every state make up its own rules. According to the latest political reports, the new incoming government of Israel might bode badly for democracy in the West overall, consisting of ultra-orthodox parties that firmly support the expansion of Israeli settlements at the cost of the Palestinians and thus indirectly promote the continued violence between both sides in this dire conflict.

Much worse, however, proves to be the intention of the religious coalition parties to advocate and push through anti-LGBTQ legislation allowing doctors and hospitals to refuse to take in patients from that group for religious reasons. This is very similar to the endeavor by the religious right in the USA making every possible effort to ban books with themes addressing homosexuality, and if that does not work, to close libraries and schools that hold those books, such as in Iowa and Michigan. The Nazis did the same when they burned books they objected to in 1933. From there, they swiftly moved toward creating concentration camps, first for their political opponents, then for homosexuals, and ultimately for Jews. Ominously, the German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine had already formulated in his tragedy Almansor from 1823, ‘where they burn books, they soon burn also people.’

A large swath of the Israeli population is vehemently opposed to this new government and its severe hostility against all LGBTQ people, but the latest election swept the former prime minister Netanyahu back into power after his removal from office only a year ago amidst charges of corruption, bribery, and worse (actually, this happened only because of a complex coalition of various parties, with Netanyahu having struck a devil’s deal with those religious groups). Again, this sounds very familiar to US ears. Israeli intellectuals are horrified about this development and no longer recognize their own country, as documented recently by a public statement by the representatives of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (https://www.bfhu.org/2023/01/04/important-announcements-from-the-hebrew-university/), but the chaotic Israeli political structure allows tiny minority parties to determine the outcome of coalition negotiations.

Theocracy is marching forward again, not only in Iran but in many other countries as well. Ironically, both fundamental Christians (Evangelicals) and fundamental Muslims, and now Orthodox Jews, find themselves as strange bedfellows, all three sides vehemently fighting against liberalism and the basic democratic principles in the name of their respective God and their Scripture.

After three months in Egypt during the Fall of 2022, I cannot help but point out that virtually all Muslim women there are veiled, completely submitted under the rule of their faith. Showing any hair amounts to sacrilege. The call to prayer by the muezzin is heard all over the city, being blasted by loudspeakers drowning out all other noises. Sure, there are also Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, but they seem to be just fig leaves for an allegedly tolerant system. However, Coptic and other women wear their hair openly. Though homosexuality is officially not a crime, morality laws make it a severe sin, and this with the full support of Egyptian society, so it seems (ca. 95%).

Granted, Egypt is a country with much more freedom than, say Iraq or Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Somalia. I was warmly welcomed and treated with much respect, but still, there are strong tensions in that country, the reasons for which are multifold and complex, such as the fear of the Muslim Brotherhood, hence the ubiquitous presence of soldiers and guards at almost every public building. Fear is the mother of repression, and it facilitates dictatorship. I wonder whether Israel might now slip into the same conditions despite its strong democratic tradition.

Radical Jews, Christians, and Muslims all pursue the same goal, whether in Iran, Israel, Egypt, or the USA: to establish their faith as the only valid and accepted one, meaning a profound pushback against democratic principles and tolerance. The fight against LGBTQ people has only begun, and what we observe in Israel right now might be a menetekel for other western countries, including our own.  If this continues, democracy in Israel is in danger, and the conflicts with the Palestinians will continue forever. But now, the Israeli government is about to open a new violent front, against their own LGBTQ people. They find, not surprisingly, many supporters amongst the Evangelists and other fundamentalist Christians and Jews in the USA. Where is love? Where is compassion? Where is the respect for the fellow human being?