Yossi Klein Halevi and the Extremism of Fear

Yossi Klein Halevi’s Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist offers a raw and unsettling glimpse into the complex psyche of a second-generation Holocaust survivor who grapples with radicalism. Halevi is an American-Israeli Jewish author and journalist, with several published books about Jewish identity, Israel and Palestine.

Halevi, the son of a man who escaped the Nazi horrors, recounts his tumultuous involvement with the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a group founded by the controversial Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose ideology centered on “protecting Jews by any means necessary.” This narrative serves as a potent exploration of the post-Holocaust Jewish experience, where the trauma of the past fuels a desperate quest for security, sometimes blurring the lines between self-defense and aggression.

The JDL was designated a terrorist organization by the US due to their actions which range from bombings and assassinations to violent protests against the Soviet Union’s treatment of Jews. JDL members believed that Jewish nationalism justified extreme measures such as terrorism.

Halevi, drawn to the JDL’s promise of protection, found himself in a world where the ends justified the means. Kahane’s obsession with forcibly transferring Palestinians out of Historic Palestine impacted Halevi; he struggled with the inherent contradiction of advocating for Jewish safety while acknowledging the displacement of another people.

Eventually, Halevi notices the parallels between Palestinian resistance and Jewish extremism. While he vehemently rejects comparisons between Nazi Germany and Israel, he cannot deny the Israeli occupation’s impact on Palestinians.

Repeating a common talking point that the Arabs “started it” Halevi states that “the Palestinians were victims of a war that they and their Arab allies initiated and maintained. . . Still, the fact that we hadn’t let them destroy us and now occupied them meant that we were no longer entirely innocent.” This acknowledgement of Israel’s role as occupier clashed with his fervent belief in the righteousness of Jewish self-defense.

He reveals his anxieties about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his memoir, stating that he has two nightmares: “The first is that there won’t be a Palestinian state. The second is that there will be a Palestinian state.” This duality indicates that he desires a secure Israel but also recognizes the inherent injustice of denying Palestinians their own homeland.

The shadow of the Holocaust looms large over Halevi’s narrative. His father, Zoltan, survived the Shoah by hiding in a hole, an experience that instilled in him a profound distrust of non-Jews (“Goyim”). For Jews like Halevi the world is divided into Jews and Goyim, and the Goyim are constantly plotting crimes against the Jews. It is the “us vs. them” mentality. Zoltan’s belief that the Holocaust occurred due to Jewish disunity fueled Halevi’s conviction in the need for Jewish solidarity and self-defense.

This belief, however, fostered a sense of separation and distrust, even towards those who had shown kindness to Jews. The fear of exclusion, the “wound that lingers in the Jewish psyche,” became a driving force, pushing individuals towards extremism in the name of self-preservation.

Halevi also briefly highlights the idea of Jewish Exceptionalism, whether or not that was his intention. For him, the Shoah “made death abstract” but at the same time gave all Jews a collective experience of genocide by association. He said that “Death had separated me from the rest of humanity: The unique way the Jews had died seemed to confirm our distinctiveness. . . I’d felt true solidarity only with other Jews, survivors by proxy of Auschwitz.”

This idea that Jews are separate from non-Jews and special or unique because of the way in which they died is exactly the phenomenon of Holocaust Uniqueness and Jewish Exceptionalism.

This idea, that all Jews are “survivors by proxy,” raises questions about the perpetuation of trauma and the potential for it to fuel a sense of superiority. He was proud of his survivor father, but ashamed of his mother who was not a survivor of the Holocaust, he thought of her as weak because she lacked trauma.

The inherited trauma of the Holocaust, both epigenetic and narrative, shaped Halevi’s worldview. He confesses to a deep-seated hatred of Germans, a hatred that extended beyond Nazis and their sympathizers to encompass all Germans. This blind hatred, he acknowledges, is the very foundation of extremism.

Halevi’s journey leads him to immigrate to Israel, a Zionist aspiration. He perpetuates a common Zionist narrative that the conflict stems from the Arab world’s refusal to accept Jewish indigeneity. This assertion, a straw man fallacy, simplifies a complex historical and political reality.

Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist is not an endorsement of radicalism. It is a nuanced exploration of the psychological impact of trauma and the dangerous allure of extremism in the face of fear. Halevi’s narrative serves as a cautionary tale, reminding readers that the pursuit of security, when fueled by fear and unchecked by moral reflection, can lead down a dark and destructive path.