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'''"Israel's Next War"''' is an episode of the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] series ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' that aired on 5 April 2005. The episode, by [[Israel]]i director [[Dan Setton]], investigated the rise of the religious right in Israel and the role it could play as a "spoiler" in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.<ref name=interview>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/etc/setton.html Frontline: Israel's Next War: An Interview with Dan Setton]</ref> |
'''"Israel's Next War"''' is an episode of the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] series ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' that aired on 5 April 2005. The episode, by [[Israel]]i director [[Dan Setton]], investigated the rise of the religious right in Israel and the role it could play as a "spoiler" in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.<ref name=interview>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/etc/setton.html Frontline: Israel's Next War: An Interview with Dan Setton]</ref> It was Setton's second documentary film for PBS: his previous film, "Shattered Dreams of Peace,"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oslo/ Frontline: Shattered Dreams of Peace, the Road from Oslo]</ref> won him a [[Peabody Award]].<ref>[http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=1327 Peabody Awards].</ref> |
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Setton explains that the inspiration for his project came from his previous film, ''In the Name of God'' ([[HBO]]), an investigation of [[fundamentalist Islam]] and [[suicide bomber]]s, for which he received an Emmy Award.<ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,699722,00.html Time Warner].</ref> Having investigated radical religion in [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[South Lebanon]], Setton decided to take his investigation closer to home and investigate how rightwing religious fundamentalism was impacting [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] in Israel.<ref name=interview/> The phenomenon of the radical right had already made an enormous impact on Israeli society following the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]] in 1994 by [[Baruch Goldstein]]<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,980291,00.html G.J. Church et al., "When Fury Rules", Time, March 7, 1994]</ref> and the assassination of prime minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] by [[Yigal Amir]] the following year. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_2514000/2514437.stm BBC] On This Day.</ref> Two groups associated with these events, [[Kach and Kahane Chai]] were declared terrorist organizations by the Israeli and U.S. governments respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021216072525/library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm |title=Kach and Kahane Chai}}.</ref> While Setton found that the activist core of these groups was small, some 30 percent of Israelis identified with their ideology of establishing an exclusively Jewish state.<ref name=interview/> To better understand the phenomenon, he decided to investigate a lesser-known incident that had failed—a plot to bomb a girls' school in the [[East Jerusalem]] neighborhood of [[At-Tur]]. |
Setton explains that the inspiration for his project came from his previous film, ''In the Name of God'' ([[HBO]]), an investigation of [[fundamentalist Islam]] and [[suicide bomber]]s, for which he received an Emmy Award.<ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,699722,00.html Time Warner].</ref> Having investigated radical religion in [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[South Lebanon]], Setton decided to take his investigation closer to home and investigate how rightwing religious fundamentalism was impacting [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] in Israel.<ref name=interview/> The phenomenon of the radical right had already made an enormous impact on Israeli society following the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]] in 1994 by [[Baruch Goldstein]]<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,980291,00.html G.J. Church et al., "When Fury Rules", Time, March 7, 1994]</ref> and the assassination of prime minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] by [[Yigal Amir]] the following year. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_2514000/2514437.stm BBC] On This Day.</ref> Two groups associated with these events, [[Kach and Kahane Chai]] were declared terrorist organizations by the Israeli and U.S. governments respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021216072525/library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm |title=Kach and Kahane Chai}}.</ref> While Setton found that the activist core of these groups was small, some 30 percent of Israelis identified with their ideology of establishing an exclusively Jewish state.<ref name=interview/> To better understand the phenomenon, he decided to investigate a lesser-known incident that had failed—a plot to bomb a girls' school in the [[East Jerusalem]] neighborhood of [[At-Tur]]. |
Revision as of 19:03, 13 March 2010
"Israel's Next War" is an episode of the PBS series Frontline that aired on 5 April 2005. The episode, by Israeli director Dan Setton, investigated the rise of the religious right in Israel and the role it could play as a "spoiler" in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.[1] It was Setton's second documentary film for PBS: his previous film, "Shattered Dreams of Peace,"[2] won him a Peabody Award.[3]
Setton explains that the inspiration for his project came from his previous film, In the Name of God (HBO), an investigation of fundamentalist Islam and suicide bombers, for which he received an Emmy Award.[4] Having investigated radical religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Lebanon, Setton decided to take his investigation closer to home and investigate how rightwing religious fundamentalism was impacting Orthodox Jews in Israel.[1] The phenomenon of the radical right had already made an enormous impact on Israeli society following the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein[5] and the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by Yigal Amir the following year. [6] Two groups associated with these events, Kach and Kahane Chai were declared terrorist organizations by the Israeli and U.S. governments respectively.[7] While Setton found that the activist core of these groups was small, some 30 percent of Israelis identified with their ideology of establishing an exclusively Jewish state.[1] To better understand the phenomenon, he decided to investigate a lesser-known incident that had failed—a plot to bomb a girls' school in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of At-Tur.
During the film, Setton interviews the two perpetrators, Shlomo Dvir and Yarden Morag, in prison, and visits the settlement of Bat Ayin, where they lived.[8] Dvir admits to the camera that it was his idea, saying, "Whoever gets hurt gets hurt."[8] These interviews serve as a hook, leading Setton to various other settlers, who supported Dvir and Morag. Some are very explicit about the motivations for the attack: "Revenge," says Noam Federman, "is an important value. The Talmud says that it is one of the greatest things. Revenge is great."[9]. He believes that revenge is the motive for people like Yitzhak Paz,[10] formerly of the Jewish settlement in Hebron, whose 10-month-old daughter Shalhevet was killed by a sniper while he and his wife were walking with her in the street.[1] Paz's arrest for the possession of explosives helped the police to unravel the case against Dvir and Morag.[9]
As the film unfolds, however, Setton discovers that the extremists' motives extend far beyond acts of personal revenge against the Palestinians. Shmuel Ben Yishai, a follower of Meir Kahane now living in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, is no less antagonistic toward the State of Israel in its current configuration: "The Israeli secular entity has to be destroyed," he says. "God can't reveal himself until it's all wiped out. As long as the state of Israel stays as it is, there will be no redemption."[9] An Israeli editorial on the series noted that "Words like 'redemption,' 'sanctify,' and 'revenge' marble the vocabulary of these people."[11] On the other hand, the extremists believe that this will one day change. Mike Guzovsky says: "I think the day will come when the Secret Service and the government will look for Jews who are willing to go into the Arab villages and kick them out, kill them …"
External links
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Frontline: Israel's Next War: An Interview with Dan Setton
- ^ Frontline: Shattered Dreams of Peace, the Road from Oslo
- ^ Peabody Awards.
- ^ Time Warner.
- ^ G.J. Church et al., "When Fury Rules", Time, March 7, 1994
- ^ BBC On This Day.
- ^ "Kach and Kahane Chai"..
- ^ a b Frontline: Israel's Next War.
- ^ a b c Frontline: Israel's Next War: Transcript
- ^ This is the spelling of the name as given in the transcript of the film here. Note that in the interview with Setton here, the name is given as Yitshak Pass.
- ^ Sam Allis. "Frontline takes an unsettling look at extremist Israeli settlers,' in the Jerusalem Post, April 5, 2005.