Israel’s ‘Tent City’ Protesters Compared to Biblical Spies
After almost three weeks of non-stop media attention the protesters camped out in Tel Aviv’s “tent city” have been called many things, good and bad. But likening them to the Biblical spies is a new one.
In this interview firebrand grandmother Daniella Weiss, leader of radical settlers, appears to present the protesters as the modern version of the ten spies who famously gave the Children of Israel a negative report about the Land of Israel. The protesters’ negativity echoes the negativity of the spies, she claims. They “are lamenting, people are complaining, people see all the bad sides of life instead of seeing the prosperity of the Land of Israel.”
Amazingly, in her analysis the country’s political leadership against which the protesters are demonstrating is also a modern incarnation of the spies. “Today we have a beautiful land,” she said. “Everything is prosperous, we have a good economy and all the reasons in the world to be satisfied. Yet the leaders want to cut the land in two and this influences many people.” Weiss was referring to fact that some government ministers are in favor of a two-state solution.
And how, in her view, should the government help the protesters to find cheap housing. Simple! Mass settlement in the region of the West Bank where she lives, Samaria. “Let’s come from the planes of Tel Aviv to the mountains of Saramria,” she said. “You’ll have beautiful apartments, a beautiful climate, and you will live in an entirely different atmosphere in the fullest sense of the word.’”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
