Let me preface by saying I don’t have the answers and don’t know if the Jewish terror suspects were responsible for the Duma attack. I

believe this is only a small part of a bigger issue, however, that issue being that the extreme Right’s victim mentality, political nearsightedness, and reactionary response to any perceived threat is hurting everyone–and giving the “thinking” Right an extremely bad name.

There’s a lot to say for both sides in the State/Shabbak vs. Jewish terror suspects case that has captured the imagination of so many, especially on the Right. Some of those claiming the suspects have been unfairly treated and the authorities shouldn’t interrogate fellow Jews even under otherwise fitting circumstances have made valid points. Most are claiming half truths they strongly hope end up proven right. These are mostly short-sighted TalkBacks emanating from people who’ve already made up their minds.

Following a Facebook exchange in which a friend compared the Duma suspects to former PM and Irgun leader Menachem Begin and former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky, I was challenged to name 5 differences between the two leaders and the Duma suspects.

This comparison serves to distinguish between two of the most selfless, noble leaders in modern Jewish history who dedicated their lives to the cause of Aliya and Jewish self-determination and a violent-for-the-purpose-of-violence-alone, politically-insignificant group of brainwashed individuals mistakenly looked upon as “slighted youngsters” who see no other way of effecting change. (How many people live in Judea and Samaria, face the same problems as the suspects, but don’t resort to blind violence?)

1. Both Begin and Sharansky fought for the best interests of the Jewish nation, and while many of their contemporaries disagreed, both have been vindicated by the outcome of history. In the case of the Duma suspects, guilty or not, they represent a group whose stated goal is to bring about the destruction of the State of Israel as we know it. There’s no need to expound on why this, even if it’s meant as a revolution that would change the mindsets of Israel’s public and direction of the government, would be suicidal and definitely not in the best interests of anyone–themselves included.
2. Both realized they weren’t playing games, but trying to effect a paradigm shift in the British/Soviet government policy. They knew they were risking their lives and were willing to suffer the circumstances. While Sharansky and his wife Avital appealed for help and attention from the world community, they accepted responsibility for their actions and suffered the consequences like worthy leaders.
3. Unlike of Mendelevich, Sharansky didn’t resort to violence to meet his goals (and this proved much more effective). Begin led the underground Irgun group in Mandate Palestine that fought the British and Arabs, but never went out of his way to target civilians. The Duma suspects, even if proven innocent of this particular attack, have targeted Arab civilians.
4. Begin and Sharansky were accomplished in their professional fields before taking up the cause of uprising. They had direction and purpose. They didn’t fight simply for fighting’s sake. Both were forced into doing what they did by circumstance. The Duma youths may be young, but they’re even younger from a political perspective. They have no purpose of action and have been brainwashed (it pains me to say) as much as Arab kids trained by Hamas to carry out terrorist attacks on Israel.
5. The fact that the terrorist group’s stated purpose is overthrow of the Israeli government, indicates they’re acting purely out of hatred and a victim mentality and that this has less to do with changing the country than it does with their anger and psychological instability.

The Israeli Right needs to learn to think for itself. While both Hamas and ISIS have voiced their intentions of staging a mass terrorist attack in Israel, our own leaders (while we may not always agree with their policies and they may not, in fact, always be right, they’ve more than earned our respect) are the ones getting death threats.

If we’re not prepared to see Jewish terror suspects interrogated and held without warrant, we shouldn’t expect Arab terror suspects to be nabbed overnight and held for months if not years with no access to a lawyer or their families. In addition, those who claim the Shabbak treats Jewish terror suspects the same as it does their Arab counterparts, are wrong. These claims are factually incorrect.

Bennett is right: we’re not living in the Diaspora. We have a state of our own and we’re in charge. The Right in Israel is much stronger than the Left in both numbers and influence. We’re doing ourselves a tremendous disservice by siding with fringe factors in our society who openly call for our own destruction.