The Dulling of Israel's Sense of Justness

The former director of the Yesha Council, Naftali Bennet, was invited to a panel discussion at the Presidents' Conference Convention here in Israel.

He sent me a clip of his presentation remarks (I don't have the discussion portion) and here it is:

The poem that Naftali quoted from is written by Natan Alterman and here is one translation:

Satan then said:
How do I overcome
This besieged one?
He has courage
And talent,
And implements of war
And resourcefulness.
…only this shall I do,
I’ll dull his mind
And cause him to forget
The justness of his cause.

Another version:

“Then said Satan: This besieged one, how shall I overcome him? / He has courage and ability, he has weapons and imagination. / So he said: I shall not take his strength, nor muzzle nor bridle him. / Nor soften nor weaken his hands, only one thing I shall do; / I shall dull his brain and he will forget that he is in the right.”

And here is another.

By the way, there is an earlier, unedited version in Hebrew that was found by his daughter among his papers following his death:

כה אמר השטן

" …אז אמר השטן: הנצור הזה

איך אוכל לו.

איתו האומץ וכשרון המעשה

וכלי מלחמה ותושיה עצה לו.

ואמר: לא אטול את כוחו

ולא רסן אשים ומתג

ולא מורך אביא בתוכו

ולא ידיו ארפה כמקדם,

רק זאת אעשה: אכהה מוחו

ושכח שאיתו הצדק.

כה דיבר השטן וכמו

חוורו שמים מאימה

בראותם את השטן בקומו

לבצע המזימה" .

In any case, if you want more information on those NGOs and on the New Israel Fund, start here.

^