Tag: Menachem Begin

Albert Einstein, along with other Jewish luminaries, including Hannah Arendt, had a letter published in The New York Times on December 4, 1948. That was only a few months after Israel had declared its independence and as hundreds of Palestinian villages were being demolished after their inhabitants were expelled. The letter denounced Israel’s newly founded Herut party and its young leader, Menachem Begin… In the letter, Einstein and his co-signatories described Herut (“Freedom”) as a “political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to Nazi and fascist parties.”

… On April 19, Israel celebrated its independence day. The “Nazi and fascist” mentality that defined Herut in 1948 now defines the most powerful ruling class in Israel. Israel’s leaders speak openly of genocide and murder, yet they celebrate and promote Israel as if it was an icon of civilization, democracy and human rights.