One of the perils of being a Jew in America is being constantly, painfully attuned to our place in the international consciousness. Any news or pop cultural event is run through the filter of “Is it good for the Jews?” And being a Jew in America means fretting about Israel. Some of us are rabidly hawkish; some of us are naively left-ish, some of us are somewhere in the middle, and some of us put our fingers in our ears and sing LALALALALALA whenever Israel is in the news, but anyone with a brain cell knows that the way Israel behaves and the way Israel is portrayed (not the same thing) affect how we Jews are perceived in the world.

SO: I am acutely aware that the only post we’ve done about Israel was negative. Furthermore, many of the readers of my column in a certain Jewish publication think I am a liberal clueless spineless dickweed who hates Israel. So in an atypically sardonicism-free way, I want to say that I do not hate Israel; I believe in Israel’s right to exist; I do not think enough attention is paid to other people’s stated intentions to push Israel into the sea or blow it off the map; I wish more people were attuned to the huge diversity of political opinion within Israel and the amount of innovation and creativity that thrives in Israel; and now I am going to write another post that is negative about Israel. #sorrynotsorry.

Yesterday a new video appeared on Youtube. Here’s the Hebrew you have to know to understand it: “Slikha” means “excuse me” and “ani mitnatzel” means “I apologize.” Now, look at this fucking hipster, in his stupid beard and stupid plaid and stupid jewelry, hipstering around the hipster liberal nabe of Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. He even has a pug, for God’s sake.

At the end, he de-Clark-Kents, and the wuss is suddenly transformed into Naftali Bennett, leader of Israel’s right-wing Habayit Hayhudi (Jewish Home) party! He goes from apologizing hither and yon for things that are obviously not his fault to firmly saying, “Starting today, we stop apologizing. Join HaBayit Hayehudi.” I think we all know who Bennett doesn’t want living in his house.

But let’s leave the political analysis to others. We’re here to talk apologies. As my employer Tablet points out, “While in the United States these apologies might be seen as just being overly polite, in Israel it is the clear mark of a spineless lefty.” (Saying “excuse me” is frowned upon, too. Here is a famous joke.) Bennett’s character is seen reading Israel’s liberal newspaper, Haaretz, its headline (a reprint of a NYT editorial) calling for Israel to apologize for its role in the 2011 flotilla incident.

Look, for an Israeli right-wing politician to mock the people of Tel Aviv is as safe and reliable as a Midwest Republican mocking Hollywood or San Francisco or Manhattan. With Israel headed into a wide-open election, it’s an easy way to look tough. And right-wingers aren’t generally as successful with the comedy japery as lefties, so bravo to Bennett. But is it really necessary to equate apologizing with spinelessness? As we keep pointing out here at SorryWatch, it takes a lot of bravery to apologize and apologize well! Sure, a reflexive “sorry” when you bump into someone may not mean much — it’s only a tiny bit of civility in a brutish world — but a thoughtful, elaborate, personalized, artisanal, hand-crafted “I’m sorry” is rare and exquisite and praiseworthy.

Take it from someone who has tried to board a bus in Israel: A little more “I’m sorry” and “excuse me” wouldn’t go awry, no matter what your politics.

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