Reflections on the Flag March on Jerusalem Day – A View from the Right (Column 714)

With God’s help

Disclaimer: This post was translated from Hebrew using AI (ChatGPT 5 Thinking), so there may be inaccuracies or nuances lost. If something seems unclear, please refer to the Hebrew original or contact us for clarification.

I’m taking a break from the question of ta’ama de-kra and dedicating one short column to the Flag March in Jerusalem that will take place (though may it not be God’s will) tomorrow.

In recent days, voices have been heard—even from within the religious public—pointing to problematic public conduct, especially among the youth, during the Flag Dance. In response, accusations arise that this is left-wing influence and that we ought to be proud of our Judaism and rejoice over the conquest of Jerusalem, particularly its holy places. This reminds me of a personal experience I had at the Flag Dance, and perhaps I’ll start with that.

In my youth, like everyone, I came almost every year to Jerusalem on the eve of Jerusalem Day and joined the dancing from Merkaz HaRav on the way to the Western Wall. It was a good experience (and there were also girls, which didn’t hurt), and I don’t recall any difficult feelings. From then until today I’ve been there only once, about twenty-five years ago, together with my students from the Hesder Yeshiva in Yeruham. I remember that experience as a real trauma. I left shocked by what I saw and experienced there.

The march began in Kiryat Moshe, and along the way there were songs and dancing, and everything was fine. From some point on, when we reached the Old City, a rampage began with the flags and amid the dancing. Throngs of flushed and fired-up youths kicked property, smashed cars and shops, and of course harassed people—Arab residents who were standing on the sides. It was downright nauseating, and it did not stop. Every moment felt like a punch to the gut, and when I tried to rebuke the rioters my words fell on deaf ears. There was no one to talk to. Go try to admonish hundreds and thousands of rampaging people. I am far from being soft-hearted or especially sensitive, but I clearly felt I could not continue to be present at the atrocity unfolding there. My feeling was like that of someone witnessing a fascist riot, and in order not to arouse harsh associations I won’t detail historical examples.

It was evident that most of this crowd was made up of entirely normative boys and girls who were automatically swept up by the fascist-nationalist surge around them, like the dances around the Golden Calf. I must say these phenomena did not characterize a small minority. I didn’t check throughout the entire march, but from what I saw it was happening all the time and by many of the “dancers,” and of course with the tacit consent of all the rest. It was more a dance on the blood and on the head than a dance with flags. It reminds me of the “hate wedding” events (which took place many years later) that only sharpened the broader phenomenon that occurs every year at the Flag March, and my impression is that it is even worsening. I was very frustrated and refused to accept that I am part of this phenomenon and of the public that perpetrates (in both senses) it.

Since then I keep wondering whether, in my youth, I saw the same things but they didn’t bother me because I too was swept along, or whether there truly has been deterioration over the years. I think masterpieces like “May your village burn” hadn’t yet appeared then, and my sense is that indeed the situation is deteriorating. But perhaps not…

Since then, every year I recall that harsh trauma, and from time to time I write about it. Each time I wrote, I received responses saying I’m describing the conduct of a small minority, unjustifiably generalizing, and besmirching the entire event. But nothing has changed. What I saw with my own eyes was not a small minority. Far from it. And I’m not feeding off reports by antisemitic left-wing journalists. My own eyes saw it; it wasn’t secondhand.

Let me add a few necessary words of background. I’m sure the straightforward reader now accuses me of leftism, of succumbing to anti-religious and anti-Zionist media brainwashing, of progressivism, and other ills. This is the common division in our circles, and it’s also the ultimate way to avoid criticism. Still, I feel it’s worth adding some background that refutes the above. In my views I lean to the right, and in some cases even far to the right. I advocate a heavy hand toward terrorists and their helpers, and in my view, when necessary, we should not spare even non-combatants (obviously not arbitrarily). I’m against a hostage deal, for those interested, and I also advocate continuing the war until victory (and I also believe that’s possible, though of course I don’t have full information—who does?!). I also oppose many of the ideas labeled progressive. In addition, I’m definitely not among those who constantly lament that “the occupation corrupts.” One can’t deny there’s something to that claim, but I oppose drawing conclusions from that simplistic assertion. Indeed, occupation can corrupt, and sometimes it also leads us to do problematic things (though many accusations are false). But even if occupation corrupts, the question is what the alternative is. I don’t see a reasonable alternative without occupation. Thus much for the right-winger in me.

On the other hand, a right-wing, sober, moral person must understand that even if necessity is not to be condemned, we must not increase this corruption beyond what is necessary. There is certainly value in showing sovereignty in Jerusalem, and there’s nothing wrong with rejoicing over its liberation. Does that require wild condescension and abuse of everyone around? Even if there’s a need to occupy, is there value in rejoicing over the occupation and behaving like inconsiderate occupiers? Is breaking Arabs’ property part of the need for occupation? I’m not talking about the use of force when force needs to be used. There the debate between right and left takes place (why?). I’m talking here about ordinary, day-to-day conduct, such as rejoicing over the liberation of Jerusalem. In short, occupation corrupts, and therefore, although we should use it without hesitation, it should be done in as small a dose as possible.

Beyond the moral matter of proper and humane treatment of the stranger and the “other,” even if he is an enemy—and beyond the moral rot that improper treatment creates in our own souls and in those of our students—there’s also a tactical question here: does anyone really think this rampage will bring any benefit? Suppose we’re all right-wing; why do all this at all? Will the frustration and insult suffered by the Arab population bring us to a better situation? Has the attitude of the rest of Israel’s population toward a united Jerusalem and its liberation—and of course toward right-wing ideas generally—improved due to these riots? Go and see who even celebrates Jerusalem Day today. Who is present at that wild dance, apart from the religious public? No one. A few days ago, school principals issued a letter not to send students to this march. For many years now, secular youth hardly come to celebrate Jerusalem Day in any form, and certainly not at the march. And let’s not delude ourselves—it’s not only due to a lack of spiritual connection to the city. There is something very off-putting in these events, even for those who live within the religious public and certainly for those looking from the outside. For my part, I do not understand the religious parents and educators who do want that spiritual connection to Jerusalem yet abandon their children and send them to participate in such a terrible event. We have lost most of the public in Israel, who today see Jerusalem as a security problem, a place that arouses ultranationalism—a breeding ground for fascist-messianic rampage. A wondrous fusion of Haredi exploitation with religious-Zionist fascism. Even if these descriptions are sometimes exaggerated, the Flag March does nothing to disprove them or to reconnect the general public to Jerusalem.

I’ll ask it on a more basic level: even if we assume the answers to all the questions I raised are positive—this will indeed improve our situation, it is morally justified, and it will bring with it the identification of the entire public in Israel with Jerusalem and its liberation—my question is whether those who are rampaging there have even made this calculation. Is this conduct the product of judgment, or are we talking about a rampage and venting of nationalist-fascist urges? To me the answer is clear. It is clear to me that this outburst, at least in part, stems from anger over the atrocities inflicted on us by the brothers of those same Palestinians (in the style of that Simchat Torah a year and a half ago), and also from the impotence of the authorities and security forces in dealing with them. There may also be here a release valve for millennia-old frustration over the absence of sovereignty. And still, even if this phenomenon can be somewhat understood, I think the educational and moral damage of what happens in that Flag March is terrible and ghastly. I must say that precisely from the perspective of someone who advocates continuing the occupation and a tough stance toward those who seek our lives and their helpers, I feel it is our duty to stop this corrupting affair.

Some will say it’s better to repair from within: to participate in the march and try to restrain the rioters. Various calls have now been issued by rabbis and educators for proper conduct at the march (apparently they too share my alleged over-generalizations), but I very much doubt it will help. From my experience then, it’s very hard to gain a hearing during such a riot. We’re talking about a large, unbridled crowd that truly cannot and is not willing to listen to ethical talks amidst the rampage. Moreover, these admonitions are immediately branded “leftism,” heaven forfend. Well, if judgment, minimal morality, and opposition to fascism are leftism, and if “right” means unbridled fascism, then I too am a leftist.

Our sages taught us that there are things whose purification is by breaking them, and there are oxen for whom the only guarding is a knife. The Flag March should be annulled as dust of the earth, and whoever values his life should stay far from it. Only afterward can we perhaps think about a more balanced and sane version of it. Counselors, teachers, and rabbis who lead their students to that march, as well as public figures who participate in it, bear a large share of responsibility for these horrific phenomena. My feeling is that even the sensitivity threshold to such phenomena—even among those who don’t identify with them—has become very dulled. This march is a badge of shame for religious-Zionist education, though of course it does not encompass all of it.