Simon Says, June 11, 2021

This is an auspicious time to read Parshat Korach.  The Parashah tells the story of the failed rebellion brought by Korach and others.  Today, we are witnessing a successful rebellion against Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party.

If all goes as expected, the Knesset will approve the Bennett-Lapid coalition on Sunday.  The coalition will be joined by the United Arab List, called Ra’am in Hebrew; it is the Southern Branch of the Islamist Movement.  It as though the Amalekites and Canaanites in last week’s Parashah joined the Israelites.

Ra’am champions Israeli Palestinian rights, and pundits suggest that Ra’am’s views and the right-wing party’s views in the coalition (Yamina, Naftali Bennett’s party) will clash.  In the last two weeks, Bennett lavished praise on Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra’am.

History is written by the winners, and Moses was victorious.  Years in the future, we will assess the success of the instant coalition.  Maybe, it will be successful in championing Israeli Palestinian citizens’ rights, and maybe, there will be Palestinian-Israeli relations.