Three out of four Israeli citizens of Russian extraction support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel – and sadly they are not alone
Well over a million of Israel's population come from the former Soviet Union (FSU), representing more than 15% of the total population – hence the political views of the Russian immigrant community are not easily brushed under the carpet. Their collective stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is credited with sweeping Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party into the upper echelons of power at the last election, and on the strength of the latest poll from the Israel Democracy Institute, it's not hard to see why Lieberman has become the poster boy of the Russian right.
According to the survey, three out of four citizens of Russian extraction support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, an overwhelming display of hostility towards the original inhabitants of the state in which the Russians arrived a mere 20 years ago. On the face of it, their antipathy towards their Arab neighbours could be chalked up to the same inter-minority tensions prevalent around the world, such as African-American resentment of Koreans and Mexicans in the US, or even intra-minority antagonism, such as the shunning of Jewish immigrants to Britain in the first half of the 20th century by those Jews already long-established in the UK. In both cases, one group's feelings of insecurity about their own status in society foments bitterness towards others in a similar situation, and given the discrimination Russian immigrants have suffered at the hands of the wider Israeli populace, it isn't hard to apply the same logic here.
However, when viewed in the context of the attitudes of non-Russian Israelis, it becomes clear that while the FSU immigrants' opinions are undoubtedly hardline, the rest of Israel doesn't lag far behind – revealing just how wide the gulf is between mainstream Israeli public opinion and any kind of equitable and just settlement with the Palestinians. Over half of the Israeli Jews polled support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, while 48% oppose any kind of retreat from settlements (compared with 64% of Russian interviewees). Such figures throw a spanner in the works of peace negotiations, since such ingrained nationalism gives carte blanche to Israeli leaders to take unyielding positions on the conflict if anything short of total acquiescence is offered by the Palestinian side.
There are those on the Palestinian side who display equally intransigent and unpalatable views on a final resolution, demanding Israel be rid of its Jewish presence and handed back to the Palestinians, and they deserve to be castigated just as much as the pro-transfer majority in Israel. However, their direct impact on the political process is minimal, since by and large all major decisions taken by Israel are enacted on a unilateral basis, despite opposition from either the Palestinian authorities or foreign governments.
The longer such unreconstructed attitudes persist in Israeli society, the harder it becomes to remove the calcified layer of mistrust and hostility so prevalent in Israeli minds. In a country where over half of the dominant ethnic group wishes to expel those of a different racial profile, the goalposts have shifted so far as to render standard political groupings almost irrelevant. What would pass as rightwing thinking in western countries is deemed simply middle-of-the-road in Israel; anyone who would occupy the centre ground in more enlightened countries is portrayed as a radical leftist here, sidelined to the point of obscurity and their party's views paid not the slightest heed by the man on the street.
On one level, it appears insane that a group of straight-off-the-boat immigrants such as the FSU olim should call overwhelmingly for displacing a group of fellow citizens who've been here for generations – but when considered against the raison d'etre of the Jewish state, their position becomes far easier to understand. However, to understand is not to excuse, and the core malaise at the heart of Israeli society is the unswerving belief that Israel has to be forever populated by a Jewish majority, and that only those of the right extraction qualify to stand at the state's helm and chart its course.
It is wholly immoral to demand that any racial group willingly roll over, play dead, and allow themselves to be subjugated by another people – as we Jews know firsthand, and have railed against throughout our history. Yet that is exactly what Israel's leaders assert must happen here and they have massive support from the electorate thanks to their ability to whip up the masses into a decades-old nationalistic frenzy.
Thus, the phenomenon of the racist Russian sector is deplorable, but not wildly out of kilter with the popular attitudes among Israel's Jewish population. Headlines might have focused on the Russian response to the poll, but missing the wood for the trees just perpetuates the underlying erosion taking place throughout Israeli society.
Likewise, blaming the Palestinians for simply refusing to accept that they deserve to be transferred, trampled and traded out of their heritage is a shameful path to tread. Their extremists aren't blameless for exacerbating the hostilities between the two sides, but that doesn't reduce in the slightest the validity of their claims to their homeland.
The only solution is for sectarianism to be sidelined and for all people of the region to be dealt with on a level playing field; whether that means one state or two depends on the terms of the settlement, but whatever settlement is reached must treat every concerned party as equal. However, given the dominant thinking on the Israeli street, such pipe dreams are as unlikely to become reality as ever before – Russians or no Russians, Israeli society is dooming itself and its neighbours to a future of conflict while such rank prejudice prevails.