1️⃣ What is democracy?
We recently learned of the “democratic” vision of Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party.
He declared that upon entering the government, he would work to dismiss Shin Bet Director David Zini and shut down Channel 14, claiming that “it is not a media outlet.”
Beyond the obvious question of how someone who waves the banner of democracy seeks to use governmental power to silence voices and remove professionals who do not toe his line, a far more disturbing depth of consciousness is revealed here.
For Golan and his colleagues on the radical left, “democracy” is not majority rule. It is not the rule of the people through their elected representatives. For them, democracy is a specific and rigid set of values, as perceived solely through their own eyes.
Anyone outside this set of values, even if they represent the majority of the public, is not legitimate.
But the real story is not just this distorted definition of democracy, but the new-old concept that has surfaced since the outbreak of the war: the "alliance of those who serve".
2️⃣ The Servant, the Master, and What Lies Between Them
The concept of the "alliance of those who serve" sounds, on the surface, moral and just. It seeks to create a partnership among those who bear the burden, those who fight and make sacrifices. It pits the “servants” against the draft dodgers who “suck up the funds.”
But when we examine this concept in depth, we must ask the fundamental question: Who are we serving? And who is the master we serve?
In the past, the concept of “serving” was clear—we served the state and the people. The state was the supreme value, the collective Jewish contentment expressed by many generations. But today, in the discourse produced by the old elite, the concept of “serving” has come to define a social status.
It is meant to tell the religious and traditional public: “We accept you as fighters; we love you when you die for the sanctification of G-d’s name, but you will always remain at the level of servants. We will be the masters, we will lead, and you will be the ones who carry out the orders.”
This is a modern “red book” policy. (The ‘Red Book’ of the Mapai party was an internal registry documenting party loyalists, used, among other things, to allocate jobs, benefits, and political influence exclusively to those loyal to the party.”).
The secular-Ashkenazi-liberal elite sees itself as the natural owner of the centers of power: the security establishment, the judiciary, academia, and the media.
The secular-Ashkenazi-liberal elite sees itself as the natural owner of the centers of power: the security establishment, the judiciary, academia, and the media.
From their perspective, David Zini can be head of the Shin Bet as long as he “serves” the old system, but the moment he is perceived by them as representing a different mindset, he becomes a target for dismissal.
3️⃣ Case Study: Rabbi Zarbiv and the False Consensus
The most striking example of this is the uproar surrounding Rabbi Zarbiv’s lighting of the beacon.
The rabbi, who fought for hundreds of days, left his family, and developed life-saving combat techniques, faced fierce opposition from elements on the radical left and the religious-liberal spectrum. The claim was that he was “not part of the consensus.”
The message was clear and unambiguous: Rabbi Zarbib can fight and bleed for us—that’s where he “serves” excellently. But the moment someone seeks to grant him public recognition, the moment he stands at the forefront as a representative figure, he becomes “controversial.”
In the election for Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, one of the candidates was Rabbi Algazi, a learned scholar, a retired lieutenant colonel who had served hundreds of reserve duty days, but all the “miluimnik” organizations and parties that had made the “alliance of those who serve” their banner succumbed to political deals in which military service suddenly ceased to be a factor in their support.
Once again, they prefer rabbis in the rank of servants and not, heaven forfend, in key positions.
4️⃣ The Draft Campaign as a Tool for Preserving the Elite
We are in a historic period of elite turnover.
A natural process that unfolds in every nation. The old structure of Mapai, which controlled all the centers of influence, is crumbling. The aggressive campaign surrounding the conscription of the Haredim and the “Alliance of Those who Serve” is, in fact, a survival campaign for the old elite.
They take an argument that is correct and justified in itself—the need for the Haredim to share the burden—and use it as a tool to keep the religious in the mindset of “servants.”
They tell the Dati-Leumi: “Look, the Haredim don’t serve like you do; let’s form an alliance against them.”
Instead of the religious person saying, “I want to be a partner in leading the country,” they are made to say, “I’ll be a wheel, and the Haredi must be a wheel too.”
But no one asks, “Who’s the driver?”
The answer from Yair Golan and his friends is: “We are the driver!
The current struggle is for the right of the believing, religious, and traditional public not only to serve in the army, but to lead the country.
You will continue to serve, continue to fight, but we will decide which TV channel you watch, who will be the head of the Shin Bet, and which values will be considered democratic.”
They are trying to create a narrative in which if a religious person becomes a “master” (i.e., a leader), the result will inevitably be “settler violence” or “messianic extremism.”
They label religious leadership as immoral from the outset to keep it in the position of the eternal servant.
5️⃣ Summary: National Operating System Update!
The time has come to lift the veil on the concept of the “alliance of those who serve.”
A true alliance is an alliance of equals, not one where one side provides the blood and the other provides the orders and the ideology.
If there were sincerity in this struggle, we would have seen entire campaigns promoting the worldview of religious people who serve in the army and seek to participate in leadership. But that is not the case.
The current struggle is for the right of the believing, religious, and traditional public not only to serve in the army, but to lead the country.
Not just to be the fighters on the ground, but also the Supreme Court justices, the academic administrators, and the editors of leading media outlets.
The days of slavery and submission are over.
We will not accept a reality in which we are only wanted when we hold the rank of “servants.”
The replacement of elites is an inevitable process.
This process will unfold naturally, with the courage and humility of those who proudly carry the nation on their shoulders and revere its heritage and future.
It is in our hands!
‘Path Pavers’
