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The gospel according to Eli Ben Dahan - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz
1/18/14, 10:52 PM
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The gospel according to Eli Ben Dahan
The deputy religious services minister is the operational definition of the problem of mixing
religion and government.
Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 30, 2013 | 12:51 AM |
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Is Israel actually a Jewish state?
With binational and multinational possibilities
becoming more of a reality, we need a more
comprehensive discussion around what Israel is, and
what Israel wants to be.
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Yair Lapid, center, with Yuval Steinitz, left and Eli Ben-Dahan.
Photo by Emil Salman
To understand why the State of Israel mercilessly mistreats asylum
seekers, why Bedouin are being asked to vacate land they’ve lived on for
decades without anyone bothering to consult them, why Arab citizens of
Israel face discrimination in nearly every aspect of life and why conversion
to Judaism is such an arduous and insulting process, one need only hear
the worldview of Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli Ben Dahan.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.566109
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The gospel according to Eli Ben Dahan - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz
1/18/14, 10:52 PM
In an interview published in the Friday edition of Maariv, Ben Dahan
(Habayit Hayehudi) explained that “a Jew always has a much higher soul
than a non-Jew.” He also described himself as “making sure the state
remains Jewish” and said “Things that contradict [Jewish] values, culture
or tradition will not get legal sanction.” The remarks were in connection to
a bill that would give same-sex couples with children the same tax benefits
enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts. Although the Knesset
approved the bill in its first reading, Habayit Hayehudi reached a deal with
Yesh Atid that will shelve the draft law and arrange for its provision to be
granted in the tax code, thus avoiding official, legislative recognition of gay
and lesbian couples.
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But during the debate over institutional recognition of
the choice to share own’s life with a person of the same
sex, recognition that should be self-evident in a state
that aspires to be enlightened and progressive, Ben
Dahan actually exposed the distorted foundation that
gives rise to cruelty against non-Jews, especially
asylum seekers and members of religious minorities.
The idea that Jews are superior to all non-Jews is
racist. Qualitative distinctions according to criteria
such as religion, nationality, gender or race have no
legitimacy. The fact of an Israeli deputy cabinet
minister expressing such positions is a disgrace to the
government and the state. The fact of a member of a
party that championed “new politics” expressing such
positions only exposes how deeply the old politics flows
through its veins.
Ben Dahan expresses, in the saddest possible way, the
problem of mixing religion and state. A democratic
state is meant to treat all its citizens, Jews and nonJews alike, fairly and equally. It is not supposed to
accept, much less allow representation in the cabinet
and the legislature, benighted positions that confer
legitimacy on the mistreatment of anyone not a
member of the majority population.
It would behoove MKs who hold liberal positions to
renounce Ben Dahan’s remarks and, more important,
to work toward the separation of religion and state.
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The gospel according to Eli Ben Dahan - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz
1/18/14, 10:52 PM
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of Mr Dahan flies over the Himalaya
08 ByTheIs itSoul
true? 30 Dec 2013 05:42PM
0
07
Ignorance by Tradition
By What else ? 30 Dec 2013
0
06
No love lost between Haaretz and traditional Judaism,
same sex marriage is not traditional Judaism
By Jerremy Barnes
05:22PM
30 Dec 2013
0
05:17PM
05
There's no difference between Israeli and South African
apartheid.
By Tony Silver - Kopenhagen 30 Dec 2013 04:49PM
1
04
Thank you for making clear who Ben Dahan is and his
politics
By Shoshi 30 Dec 2013 03:15PM
2
03
As anyone can convert, the Leftist mantra that his
statement is racist has no basis. Not at all like they
treated the Mizrachim ...
By Binyamin Dissen 30 Dec 2013 02:19PM
0
02
In other words, Orthodox Jewish religion as very
similar to Islam
By Yonatan 30 Dec 2013 01:43PM
2
Racism pure and simple
1
01
By Hannah
30 Dec 2013
02:45AM
And you forgot: They carpet bomb Lebanon back
to the stone ages and they badly mistreat blacks
in Israel.
1
0
Are You Prepared to Repudiate the World View of
Racist Imams First
By Gianni 30 Dec 2013 05:35PM
0
0
As anyone can convert, any charge of racism
0
1
By Tony Silver - Kopenhagen
30 Dec 2013
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.566109
04:51PM
Page 4 of 5
The gospel according to Eli Ben Dahan - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz
1/18/14, 10:52 PM
speaks volumes about the Leftist education
system
By Binyamin Dissen 30 Dec 2013 05:48PM
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