Israel’s Coming Aristocracy

The Failure of the post-Zionist Aristocracy and the Future of Israel

Every country has its aristocracy that in democratic polite society is now called “the establishment” or “the elite”.  In pre-modern times and often far into modernity the aristocracy was handed down from father to son and marriage was arranged only within the proper families.   Geo-politically, WWI was not supposed to happen because of all the connected marriages between Europe’s royal family and Napolean was supposed to befriend Italy due to his marriage to Josephine of the Italian royal family.  

In the enlightened post-modern, globalized era the aristocracies have used the commercial contract as opposed to the marriage contract in order to maintain a peaceful global order.  The more business one does with another the less chance that one side will disrupt the supply chain and use violence to dominate the other.  It worked as well as the inherited aristocracy theory.

Each country has an aristocracy and that aristocracy wants two things – to maintain and expand their power, prestige and money and to fit in with the aristocracies of other countries – specifically those that are more successful and more powerful than their own.  In the case of the most successful and powerful countries like the United States, the aristocracy needs the (moral) approval of their older, albeit less successful and less powerful allies.

Israel is of the former of course.  Here is a short, big-picture view of Israel’s aristocracies from the pre and early state era to today.

There was a comment on a recent post of mine that said that the revolt of the current establishment-aristocracy in Israel is the revolt of the newcomers to power against the old establishment that started even before the state was founded in 1948.   This is something I used to agree with but the current aristocratic move against the elected government is not of the founders against the new power brokers but of the second aristocracy desperately trying to make the changes they have made be permanent,  against the will of the people. 

The founding generation was about three things in this order:  Zionism, Socialism, Military power.  In a terribly flawed book, Yoram Hazony (The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel's Soul)    tried to connect today’s post-Zionist Left to the original intellectual Left of the 1920’s and 30’s that advocated for rapprochement with the Arabs.  His error was in not seeing the ardent Zionism of the likes of Gershom Scholem, Yehudah Magnes and others  - all of whom could have left pre-state Israel and attained positions in the United States.  None did.  They were Zionists and the building of Hebrew University for them was a Zionist undertaking of the first order.  They saw it, correctly in my view, as a compliment to the Labor Zionists on the Kibbutzim and the small and large businessmen of the cities. 

They may have opposed Ben-Gurion’s policies and been naïve about the need for military capabilities but that did not make them any less Zionist.  Let’s not forget that SY  Agnon was part of that intellectual circle as was, a bit later, the first Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, Rabbi Isaac Herzog.   As a matter of fact, the religious and intellectual leaders of Jerusalem at that time actually spoke to each other and respected each other, politics aside.   Gershom Scholem, in his book “Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism” called Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook – the first chief rabbi of Palestine and one of the most influential Zionist thinkers of his age (he died in 1935)  a “splendid type of Jewish mystic” and in a footnote called Kook’s major work Orot Hakodesh “a veritable ‘theologia mysica’ of Judaism equally distinguished by its originality and the richness of the author’s mind” – he called it “the last example of productive Kabbalistic thought that I know of”.    Rabbi Kook and his followers today are pilloried mercilessly in an attempt to delegitimize not only religious Zionism but the founding Zionists, too – even the pre-State “peaceniks” like Gershom Scholem.

Scholem and the circle of peaceniks were nothing if not Zionists.  They formed the intellectual part of the first aristocracy in pre-state and then early state Israel that included leaders of the Kibbutz movement and most importantly the Histadrut trade union.    While the economic failures of 1950’s Israel can be directed against this aristocracy they were Zionists and in their minds were building a Jewish state in Israel – as non or anti-religious as they were.  True, they hated Begin and his Jabotinsky revisionists and they condescended to the immigrants from Arab countries and made arrogant mistake after arrogant mistake – but they never threatened to leave the country or not serve in the army and dedicated their lives to trying to build it up.

The army, the IDF, formed the last part of the aristocracy.  The likes of Moshe Dayan for example were the heroes that the country looked to in times of trouble and their aggressive, innovative impulsive and improvisational natures were what the country wanted in its aristocracy as opposed to the “proper” behavior expected of aristocrats in Europe and America.  Most importantly, this aristocracy had what all aristocracies need most to survive – supreme self confidence not only in themselves but in what their circle represented.  They may have looked down at “the people” – the “amcha” in Hebrew – but they knew they were part of the same people.

That all changed with two events – the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the takeover of the legal system by Aharon Barak – first as Chief Legal Advisor to the government and then as Supreme Court Justice and finally as its Chief Justice.   The 1973 war was the first crack in the self-confidence of the aristocracy and therefore in the trust the people had for it.  Much like WWI in Europe, the near defeat in the early days of the war coming six years after the stunning 1967 victory shook the foundations of the  young intellectuals, writers and junior officers who, one after another, started to doubt the whole Zionist enterprise (interestingly this started after the 1967 war with some of the youth in kibbutzim     . ..   book ?????? ). 

While the two Labor party members who took over from the original Ben-Gurion crowd, Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres, remained confident of Zionism to the end as did many of the Oslo crowd like Yossi Beilin they were part of the original aristocracy and its idea.  The Right is mistaken in assigning blame to Oslo as the beginnings of post-Zionism, for all the security and other failures in the country as that was a bold, yet doomed attempt to make Yassir Arafat into Nelson Mandella.   It was not dedicated to the end of Zionism.  The failure of Oslo and of the Rabin-Peres policies  was in not recognizing that Arafat was no Mandella,  from the start.  But we are not here to discuss the Oslo process.

What the Oslo process allowed though, was the entry of the post-Zionists into Aristocratic mainstream.   With the trauma of the Yom Kippur War being replayed each year it was logical for the post-Zionists to ride on the coattails of the likes of Rabin and Peres in order to show the country that the Zionist ideals of settling and defending the country or building a Jewish as opposed to a multinational state was now passe. 

Ha’aretz’s old aristocracy writers like its main defense correspondent Ze’ev Schiff and others passed away and the remaining representatives were either fired or retired.  Post-Zionism became the flavor of the day as media slowly turned away from the founders excoriating those like Golda Meir and others for not solving the Palestinian issue, for not withdrawing from Sinai before 1973, etc, etc.

However, the media itself could not have turned the new aristocracy away from Zionism on their own.   They needed some intellectual heft from writers and professors to guide them, but more than that – they needed the civil government to lead the way.  The best way to do that is via the legal system and there was a man ready and willing to lead the country to its post-Zionist future - Aharon Barak.  He is the activist judge the activist judges blush about.  He has stated outright that the job of the judge is to make sure that “enlightened opinion” wins out and enlightened opinion was slowly turning away from the founders of Zionism.  

Barak used the judicial system to radically change the infrastructure of the country by not only legislating from the bench but in making sure that only the correct people be appointed to positions of power.  This started with senior bureaucratic positions, moved to vetoing army appointments and finally to interpreting the law such that they could also veto political appointments. 

The Aristocracy of the founders consisted of politicians, labor union official and officers of the IDF but now the power shifted to those who were most connected internationally with the new aristocracies of the Western countries – lawyers, judges, professors, media personalities and oddly enough, Hollywood.  Celebrity or expertise in one field now gave one carte blanche to dictate what happened in other fields.   Judges in Israel became experts in everything from Human Resources to Defense to foreign policy to economics.  They received backing from colleagues abroad since they published bold and radical papers and showed the rest of the democratic world what could be done with a little intellectual heft and a lot of ‘chutzpa’. 

The Aharon Barak revolution combined with amazing wealth being created in the country due to the privatization and ending of the Histadrut Trade Union economy and the start of hi-tech, bio-tech and finally the energy sector.  These industries are international by nature as they are science based and cannot develop without the interchange of ideas that happens not only in scientific journals and conferences but in venture capital events that drew Silicon Valley to Israel an Israel to Silicon Valley.  While some countries saw brain drains and mass exits to the US, Israel, which has its share of Silicon Valley residents was able to build companies and keep them local.  Israel’s family-oriented culture was probably the driving force behind keeping homegrown companies in Israel as young Israelis often want to live close to parents, siblings and school and army friends.

As money poured in so too was the pipe connecting the hi-tech industry with the IDF – mostly in the intelligence services where technology rules the day – but also in other areas.   A senior Intel manager was once quoted as saying that he would rather hire an Israeli ex-officer who led his soldiers into battle then a Stanford MBA – since he has the courage to do what the Stanford grad does not.  This served the country well as, instead of subsidies to profit-less Histadrut Trade Union owned companies, the country trained its hi-tech elite in the army.  Some stayed and some left to lucrative jobs and built the private sector.

Oddly enough, while they are the wealthiest sector in Israel, they, for the most part are not part of the new aristocracy. 

Which brings us to the man who has the most influence on the aristocracy after Aharon Barak – but the least influence on popular opinion and that is former IDF Chief of Staff, Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Ehud Barak.   Barak was the great white hope of the Labor Party as it looked to move beyond Rabin-Peres days.  He was everything Rabin was – strong on defense, very smart – although he lacked the charisma of Rabin.  Born a kibbutznik, father of three daughters and lived in a modest home about 20 miles northeast of Tel-Aviv. 

However, he wanted to live a life of luxury and divorced his wife shortly after loosing the election to Ariel Sharon and moved to Tel-Aviv.  He served as Defense Minister in Olmert’s and Netanyahu’s government and after realizing that he would never become a democratically elected Prime Minister turned to business pursuits and friendships with the international monied class.  He has been associated with Jeffrey Epstein (rumors are he will agree to an interview only on the condition that no questions be asked about that relationship) and Leslie Wexner.  It was with Wexner and the Wexner Foundation that Barak has had the most influence on the IDF and has made him the “go to guy” for all ex-officers who are looking for think tank,  foundation or business positions after retirement.   IDF officers and government officials have been given scholarships to attend Harvard’s Kennedy School and the international connections and ideologies that come from it, have dominated the entire legal, bureaucratic and defense sectors of the government. 

The new aristocracy has been educated for the past decade or more on the post-modernism that has dominates US universities.  In law we have seen the Barak revolution be assimilated and pushed to its logical conclusions which is a Supreme Court dominance of policy and personnel that even its founder never dreamed would happen.   Even critical race theory has entered the Israeli courts.  Here is an example from Israel’s military courts.

In the new moral pecking order race trumps sex crimes, it seems.   A judge in a case where a female soldier was sexually assaulted by an Arab solider, the judge said to the victim about the perpetrator,  “…you have to pity and forgive the man who hurt you just like Jews forgive terrorists”.   The only reason this came to light was that this judge, Lt Colonel Michal Amram Shachar, was brought up for promotion and the sex crime victim gave in interview detailing what she said.

What interests most people is the influence on the IDF.  For the past year and change the  Ehud Barak gang  has been in utter fear of the fall of the post-Zionist Aristocracy and its replacement by a Zionist one.   That is the source of the Kaplan protests that continue to this day and, in my opinion is the source of the failure of the IDF General Staff to inform their civilian superiors of what they knew in the hours leading up to the October 7 disaster.   Barak and Co. (I use his name as a symbol – no idea what he or anyone else actually said) have encouraged, either through words, hints or actions the heads of the IDF, Mossad and Shaback to ignore their civilian superiors calling them the guardians of the true Israel – meaning the post-Zionist future they plan for it. 

The demonization of Ben-Gvir (no hard task, I admit) and Smutruch and the constant attempt to move blame from the security chiefs to them follows closely the obsession with Benjamin Netanyahu.  

And what about Netanyahu?  Where does he stand in all of this?  Like with most things he sits on the fence trying to play both sides.  He is absolutely a member of the Israeli aristocracy.  For all his criticisms of the security services he has had a hand in appointing nearly all of them.  And if he didn’t appoint the current Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, he allowed him to get to where he could be appointed.  The same with the heads of the Mossad and Shaback who report directly to him and not through the Defense Minister.   With them he has no excuses.  Regarding the legal system he refused to initiate any reforms over the years until last year when he was backed to the wall and had no choice.  

But you ask, surely Netanyahu is no post-Zionist – how can he be part of the post-Zionist Aristocracy?   While he is a true blue Zionist and, I believe, cares deeply about Israel and the Jewish people, he is the one who has allowed and encouraged policies whose logical conclusion is the post-Zionist utopia that the Barak aristocrats dream about for Israel.  

Netanyahu’s sin was in allowing non-aristocrats, commoners, into the halls of power.  In the meanwhile Ehud Barak’s “gatekeepers”  - the Government Legal Advisor and heads of the security services have done a good job of creating a glass ceiling preventing the commoners from reaching the top but as he knows, that too, will end if they keep on loosing elections.

Due to that, the  post-Zionist aristocracy will not give up easily, no matter the election results.   While the people are overwhelmingly Zionists and even Meretz, who before October 7 when they chased the Arab vote stated emphatically that they were no longer a Zionist party, have declared themselves Zionists after October 7 (Yair Golan, who ran previously with Meretz and then took over the old Labor Party has combined the two parties into the “Democratic Party” – so you know where they are headed now, Zionist or not) the total dominance of Zionism (especially after October 7!) in the electorate means that something other than elections needs to be used to maintain power.   

The goal of the post-Zionist aristocracy is to put Israel into a dependent situation where the country is more and more tied to the interests of the post-modern global Davos based order.  That seems to be the goal also of the current Biden and a future Harris administration.  They have both stated their determination to give Israel what it needs to defend itself but we all know now that defense to them has no relations to offense.   Stalemate is a win and victory is not an option.  A Palestinian state, the goal of the post-Zionists and the western post-Modernists, can only be viable if Israel no longer has to take responsibility to defend itself.  The only way that can happen is if Israel becomes a vassal of the United States. 

Domestically, the dominance of the post-modern global agenda on everything from gender to climate to race to the family to the moral order itself is the goal as that is where enlightened opinion is.  

When will the third aristocracy rise and who will it be made up of?  My own guess is that it will come from the reservists now in the 20’s 30’s and 40’s that will, in the very near future (if not in the next election, in the one after that) take power and re-infuse the entire system with Zionism – not one based on the older left wing type or the newer right wing type but one based on the experiences of the current war. 

In these very, very difficult times Israel is the one country where the younger generation making their way in the world, after making sacrifices and seeing the failure of the current generation (mine!) in power will come to make the changes necessary for a bright, strong, vibrant and prosperous future.

Ehud Barak thinks he can continue to dominate the Aristocracy and prevent a new one from appearing and Benjamin Netanyahu thinks he can play one off against the other in perpetuity – but neither they nor any of the current legal, military or political leadership have the moral integrity and grit of this generation.

One thing my failure of a generation has done well is to raise great children.  But as my grandmother used to say (in Yiddish) –“ when your children turn out good you are a genius, when they don’t, you didn’t have any luck”.

The West could do worse than to look at the Israeli family for guidance. We parents are geniuses.