KLAIDMAN: Israeli papers are full of scandal and corruption stories, from allegations that the publisher of a major newspaper plotted to assassinate his rivals to orthodox groups’ defrauding the government. What’s happening in Israel? BEN-AMI: In spite of the inevitable centrality of the peace process in our lives, Israel is moving to the post-peace agenda. Social issues, economic problems and questions of law and order are becoming more central in the anxieties and preoccupations of Israelis. On the other hand, there is a change in the collective behavior in the society. We remember Israeli society as a cohesive, highly ideological and Zionistic society, with a pioneering ethos. This has been changing in recent years. The loss of the centrality of the Zionistic ethos and the injection of modern liberal capitalistic values have all brought us to share many of the problems of normal society. Israel is becoming a normal society.
You’ve talked about getting the police involved in social-conflict resolution. Is that Israel’s version of community policing? My philosophy is basically community policing. The police system in this country is in a crisis of identity. The police [traditionally] dealt with the Palestinians, dealt with terrorism and abandoned the natural mission of the police system in any society. So now I say to them: Listen, we are already in a postpeace agenda. The border between us and the Palestinians is going to be a border of crime, not of security. So, as I see it today, the major objective is to civilize the police system. Civilianize it, as it were.
Do you foresee the Israeli police training Palestinian police? Absolutely. In my recent visit to America, I was approached by somebody in the State Department who asked me about [the possibility of] cooperation between the two police systems financed by an American foundation.
What’s your assessment today of the threat of millennial violence in Israel? Well, frankly I think that this issue has been overdramatized. It is the anxiety of academics, not of politicians or security establishments. The millennium is a thrilling subject, and the message that I try to bring home to the police is be very, very careful. Even lunatics have the right to celebrate the millennium. In fact, the millennium even calls for lunatics, it doesn’t exclude them. Israel should convey the message to the world that it admits people. We are not in the business of expelling people.
The Israeli police have been accused of being overly aggressive with some Christian millennial groups. Have they overreacted? Maybe we overreacted. And we need to get cooler in this business.
An attempt to mediate between Christian and Muslims over the building of a mosque in Nazareth led to the Vatican’s publicly rebuking Israel. What happened? We had to build on a previous decision by the Netanyahu government. The Israeli government does not build mosques, it doesn’t even build synagogues. It creates the conditions. For the last two or three years there was a very ugly tent covering the whole square. We removed it. We established a police station against the will of the Muslims. But it will never be our intention to harm the legitimate interests of the Christian community in this country. We needed, however, to take a decision in a very delicate situation. We will not allow the Muslims in Nazareth to disrespect the decision of the government in its letter or spirit. We need peace, security, safety for everybody. They will have to behave. We will be very careful to respect all sensibilities.
What’s the importance of the pope’s visit to Israel? The visit of the pope to this land is of almost metahistorical meaning. It is one more vital step in the historical re-encounter between Jerusalem Christians. We all [have an] obligation–Israelis, Jews, Christians, Muslims–to control our rhetoric because religious rhetoric and religious conflict may have a dynamic that nobody wants. And it is up to the leaders to set an example. [The situation] doesn’t need to get out of hand.
Your attempts to open a second safety exit in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been criticized. Are you going forward with the plan? We are not going to do anything against the will of the communities. If they want it, we will do it. If they don’t want it, we will present to them an alternative system of safety.
