Reply To: Practicality on the Palestinians

assurnet:

I think your mention of crimea actually strengthens my point rather than refute it. Putin took over crimea and davka didn’t suffer any consequences! The world made very vocal protests, but on a practical level sat by and didn’t actually lift a finger to stop him. The US and Europe did institute several economic sanctions but as you can see from how beligerant Russia continues to be the obviously can’t be defined as “crippling.”

That’s cause Russia has a much bigger economy and military than Israel does. If Israel tried that, and especially if they denied citizenship to the current residents,the consequences would be much more drastic.

And no – silicon valley is not always “where the crucial stuff comes from.” Have you noticed how every few months there are headlines about silicon valley firms like Google and Facebook buying up Israeli tech companies like Waze for deals in the tens of millions of dollars?

The only reason we read those headlines (which don’t actually appear all that often) is because it’s a “Jewish interest” story. For every popular app written in Israel there are thousands written in SV. (Where do you think Google and Facebook got all that money from in the first place?) Ask the average person in America or Europe to name the locations that have produced the most technological breakthroughs, and I doubt Israel would make the top ten.

And I concede the middle east isn’t a shining light of peace and prosperity but given the current moral atmosphere of America that’s not much of anything we should be emulating these days either.

Morally, no. But that has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

Rambam, Hilchos Melachim U’Milchamosayhem, Perek Aleph Halacha Daled:

??? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ????? ??? ??????. ????? ?? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ???? ???. ??? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ????? ???????. ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ????? ?? ?? ????. ????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????. ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??????. ????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????:

So it does indeed seem that the Rambam forbids appointing a non-Jew to any position of power. However, in Halacha Gimmel the Rambam says:

??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??? ?? ????. ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ????. ?????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ???? ????:

So it would seem that according to the Rambam, we aren’t allowed to appoint anyone to any public position today. In fact, the argument coud be made that according to this Rambam, one would not be allowed to vote in Israeli elections today.