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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: frankw1900 who wrote (12943)	12/6/2001 1:58:38 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

It appears the theocratists don't have the numbers but in some instances do seem to have fanatic focus and are not averse to violence where they can get away with it. The big difference is that the Israelis have a functioning, if fractious, democracy, so the theocrats have learned to work within in the system in Shas and the other religious parties. They have usually been successful in gaining political clout beyond the weight of their numbers, much to the resentment of other Israelis. While the Jewish extremists as you say might not be averse to violence where they can get away with it, the point is, in the Israeli system they cannot get away with violence. (The assisation of Rabin being the one horrible counter-example, and it shocked Israel deeply) The government does not allow freelancers to carry out their own policies. Think about this. The settlers, who have a high number of extremists among them, have been living in a war zone since the start of this intifada. They are shot at in their homes and on the roads, and many have been killed. The settlers are all armed to the teeth. Where are the reports of settlers avenging their dead with massive reprisals among the neighboring Arab towns? There aren't any; there has been some property damage, that's all. These settlers do not believe in turning the other cheek! The extremists are being kept on a short leash by the IDF.