Dr Alon Liel on why he is ashamed of his country.
The Jewish Democratic Initiative South Africa
429 views Jul 30, 2025
Dr Alon Liel, former director general of the Foreign Ministry of Israel and Israeli ambassador to South Africa in the 1990s spoke about the Gaza crisis at the Jewish Democratic Initiative's Festival of Dangerous Jewish Ideas on 27 July 2025. His theme was: Today I am ashamed of my country, ashamed to be Israeli.
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Transcript
So, next up is Dr. Alon Le who has been
a longtime close friend of the JDI and a regular speaker at our events. Uh, thank
you very much, Alon, for agreeing to be with us tonight. Uh many of you may be
old enough to recall that Alon was Israeli ambassadors to South Africa during transition period of the early
'9s where excuse me he played a critical
role in rescuing the relationship between Israel the local community and
Nelson Mandela's ANC which had been more than somewhat
damaged by the previous right-wing Israeli government. And in the past few
months, Alon has been one of the major instigators of the Israeli campaign to
advance recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by the European
Parliaments and governments. And uh I am guessing that it's largely due to them
that they scored a recent success when their initiative was embraced by France's
uh president Mron. So without any further ado, I'm going to hand back to Anton to take over.
Thank you. Yeah.
Good morning and and welcome. Um um I'm going to hand over to you to make your
introductory remarks and then I will just manage questions from the floor alternating between Joberg and Cape
Town. So please go ahead.
Hi, I hope you hear me well. We hear you very well. I don't see all
of you, but I see you, Anton, and I see Nelson Mandela Foundation on the podium,
and that's a good inspiration for me.
I will uh open my remarks with a very personal angle and maybe leave the
analysis to the second half, mainly to the questions.
And if you would ask me to give a title to my speech, it would be I am ashamed
to be an Israeli. And it's painful to say because uh I was
born here in Israel and uh went to the
Israeli education system and served in the army and as you know over 30 years
as an Israeli diplomat and uh I'm ashamed to be an Israeli today.
And uh I will I will explain I will explain.
Um it's especially difficult for me because uh I was not only a a
a diplomat that was moving around from one country to the other. I was uh for
three years the spokesman of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was the
mainstream of the mainstream. And uh
waking up in the morning, I I wonder what happened that I find myself
in the margin and so so far away from
the contemporary mainstream. But uh I will try to give you my
feeling, personal feeling. And again uh let's leave the analysis for later.
First of all, I am ashamed that uh the Israelis most of them
especially key leaders see us
Israelis as superior to anyone around us.
[Music] definitely to our immediate
neighbors and enemies, the Palestinians, but it's much beyond it. Uh we see
ourself as superior because of our achievements
uh military achievements, economic achievements, technological
achievements, the stability of the country. And you can often hear look at them around us
fourth world and we are first world. So we have all the justification to see
ourself superior. I personally do not see myself superior
and I don't think we are superior. And the the the
worry is that from this superiority the the rest is emerging. The the policy
is emerging from this superiority the nationalistic messianic policy is is
first of all emerging on the on the assumption that we have
the right to do so because we are superior. We as the chosen people,
nobody else has the right to to live in the area.
Definitely not as equal. And uh uh it
became much more uh worrying and dangerous during the
last two years. But as you know, it started before with the nation state law
and so on. So this is a point number one that you as South Africans should uh
understand better than anyone else because of the white superiority for 45
years in South Africa and the results of the white superiority.
The the second thing that worries me so much is that uh we as Israelis,
especially now, especially during the war, but not only during the war see
only ourselves, our pains, our worries.
Uh we do not see anyone else. And uh this came uh during this war to a an
unbelievable situation that you wake up in the morning in Israel. And I'm sure
some of you were here during the last two years. You open the TV and you see
only the suffering of the Israelis. And we suffered. We had casualties. It's
getting close to 2,000 casualties now in the last two years. And we had people
that were kidnapped and evacuated and so on. But from morning to the moment you
go to sleep, you see only our suffering.
You see nothing of the suffering of the other side. And you know as people who
live outside Israel that there is a lot of suffering on the other side. We don't
see it at all. I mean we don't have El Jazzer here. We don't have CNN here. El
Jazzer was boycotted. And if they show us
photos of kids that are starving, we say
this is fake. This is a propaganda,
Palestinian, Arab, anti-Israeli propaganda, we deny everything.
So as somebody who was uh quite often
abroad uh during these two years recently in Paris uh visiting and
meeting Macron and I'll be able to elaborate on it later. I know what's
going on now. The Israeli government, the Israeli media is hiding
from the Israelis what is really going on and the focus on our suffering has
the intention of of increasing the feelings of of revenge.
The third thing that I'm ashamed about is that that we
the the term of a
of the life of the individual. the the the
fact that life itself is sacred and is
important has been removed. The life of the individual,
definitely the enemy, but also our lives, the lives of our soldiers, the
lives of our kidnapped uh people has become a cheaper than the
value of the land. The land is more sacred than the life. the value of the
life of the individual has deteriorated to the point that if somebody is dying
is dying for the for the Jewish people
for the Israeli nation and and uh we see now people
dying on a daily basis. soldiers die and and
they try to convince us that they do it for the safety of Israel.
And I cannot be convinced and I think many of the families of the soldiers and
maybe even the soldiers themselves do not understand why we are fighting in
Gaza these days. So the the the this element of no value to human life, not
of others and not of ours, not of ours or deterioration in the status of the
value of human life is also what I am ashamed of. I'll give you the fourth
number, the fourth uh reason why I am ashamed. And and this is of course a
result of of the fact that human lives means nothing. And this is the fact that
we during this war crossed all possible
legal red lines uh by using force excessively.
erh in a way that uh that uh is not
acceptable by international law. And uh this is the reason that uh the
world is accusing us for war crimes uh for uh genocide accusations,
uh starvation accusations uh and even recently
uh concentration camps by by this shifting h forced removals of of the
Palestinians to uh maybe 20% of the Gaza
land. So I as a diplomat, as a human being, I am ashamed that there is no
respect for for international law and that we
are in the middle of a war of revenge that in which we we reached a situation
that it cannot be defined as a war anymore. It's not a war. I mean anyone
anyone can pick up his definitions but you cannot define it as a war.
We already fight the Hamas for two years and we already said numerous of times
that we killed all their leaderships and we killed an enormous number of people and they have no ability to inflict any
damage and we still keep fighting under the the title the total victory. H
and this war has nothing to do with the survival of the state of Israel and even
not with the security of the state of Israel at this stage. I'm not speaking on the beginning but at this stage.
The fifth reason I am ashamed is the attitude that the Israeli public has
developed to the international community as a whole. We totally totally ignore the
international criticism. We label it as anti-semitic.
Uh we have the feeling here uh not only the right wing that no matter what we
do, the world will hate us, will never give us a chance, will always be
anti-semitic. And as somebody who spent 15 years of
his life outside uh I know very well that uh this is far
from being correct but we with what we do today we push ourself to a corner
that we slowly gradually will justify these anti-semitic feelings and uh and
I'm very worried about it and ashamed and ashamed and it has a lot to do with
our superiority because we when you are superior to the rest of the world the
rest of the world means nothing to you and uh I'll go to the the last point
that is also causing me a lot of shame h with a picture I described
I can tell you that there is no Jewish ideological
opposition to what Israel is doing today.
I would say that the only serious opposition to what Israel is doing today
and the way we handle ourselves is from the ArabIsraelis.
You hardly have definitely not in politics. You don't have a Jewish party
today that is opposing the government on the issue of the occupation,
on the issue of starvation, of the issue of the transfer, on the issue of
excessive use of force. They oppose the we have opposition to the behavior of
Netanyahu to his personal conduct of things. But there is no
Jewish or political I would say Jewish opposition to what this government is
doing. meaning with all what I described until this moment uh the government can
go on do and do whatever it wants and it's going on and it's definitely
further complicating our situation and we'll have to carry on our shoulders as
Israelis for generations uh what we are doing these days. Erh, I
want to go uh I don't know how much time you give me for the opening remarks, but I want to go to the Jewish angle to the
Jewish. How much time do I have, Anton, for the opening remarks?
Can you take another 10 or 15 minutes? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That's
enough for me. I want Okay. I I hesitated if to tell you that I am ashamed also as
a Jew. Not only as an Israeli
because when I am saying that I'm ashamed on a Jew, I put some of it on your shoulders. And I know who you are,
especially who JDI is. And I know that you oppose what Israel is doing. But I
will also tell you that I'm ashamed as a Jew. I am ashamed to be Jewish today.
not only to be Israeli. The main reason is that a lot of the
justification of what Israel is doing is based on on
religion. Uh is based on the messianic approach
that Israel has to be bigger territory wise. erh the support, their enormous
support uh to the settlements which is as you know a breach of international
law and uh the the the fact that you cannot hear
rabbis, definitely not mainstream rabbis in Israel, definitely not the religious
parties standing against what the country is doing and
not only not only to our enemies only also to our own citizens. The h the
nation state law is based on Jewish superiority and is not directed to the
Palestinians. It's directed to the ArabIsraelis or to the Palestinians who
live as citizens inside Israel. So uh the the creation of this superiority
feeling that is leading to this messianic nationalistic conservative
alliance is based to a great extent on Judaism on Judaism or on the leaders of today's
Judaism. The second reason that I'm ashamed as a Jew is and here I'll go more and and
tell you about the the international situation uh that in no country in the world where
you have a Jewish community, the Jewish establishment,
the Jewish mainstream is opposing what Israel is doing today.
And and this leads me to believe that there is something wrong wrong in the in
the Israeli character and also in the Jewish
character of today. I mean, if we have the majority of Jews uh in the world uh
backing uh this uh illegal
war and this approach, Israeli approach to to its
neighbors, to its region, and to the international community. There is something wrong with Judaism as a whole.
the Judaism of today and with the link between Judaism and Israel. I must say
here that we start seeing big cracks uh
in the American Judaism and we start seeing a beginning of a revolt, Jewish
uh revolt in in the United States. And I I would say that today a quarter of
American Jews, especially young Jews, understand that we are we are committing
suicide as a nation, as a as people.
And uh uh what what worries me is that it's only the United States at this
stage and a little bit Britain and in the rest of the communities. It doesn't
amount to 10% of the community. I don't know the percentage in South Africa but
the fact that you are 250 people this morning gives me some hope but generally
speaking uh I see it now especially in
Europe when Europe is hesitating if to recognize Palestine the main pressure
comes first of all from the establishment of the Jewish uh communities And uh we see what's going
on with the Jewish community in France and Macron. And of course, Israel is
encouraging it. And uh this is one of the uh the tools that Israel is using
against the international [Music] community or international
[Music] leadership using the fact that we have
French citizens and British citizens and American citizens and South African citizens that that support still support
what we are doing. So I want to conclude here and uh summarize my shame and I
hope I am I have explained why I am ashamed to be an Israeli and why I am
ashamed to be Jewish and hoping very much that when we meet in 10 years I'll
be proud of my Israeli nationality and of my Jewish identity
again. Maybe Anton, if you give me two minutes, I I would be delighted to
answer questions about our international standing.
And here maybe only one thing to show you how how foolish our government is.
You know that the war has caused a deterioration in our international
status and you know it very well as South Africans because South Africa approached the International Court of
Justice. But a month ago, we had a war against
Iran that that gave us an unbelievable
pause in in this deterioration because the Iranians are
about as popular in the world as we are. And with the fact that this war hit a
very unpopular and dangerous regime brought us back to a certain level of
understanding in the international community and instead of using this to
utter the the horrible things that we are using doing in Gaza, we came back to
this Gaza swamp and what we do now with the starvation in the last month and with a transfer
has brought us immediately back to this diplomatic tsunami on us. And what
worries me is that we're not going to stop this war.
And we as as it looks now in the Israeli political scene, you will soon see
settlements in Gaza. Once we push them out of Gaza
in in tens of thousands or maybe already hundreds of thousands and to the south,
you will see the north of Gaza being populated by Jews. So, so we are
deepening the problem the the the international problem uh to a point that
I think uh this is at this stage our real existential problem to disconnect
ourself from the world and by the way to create two Jewish people it will come to
it it's already I think a situation that we have three quarters
of a messianic nationalistic conservative Jewish people and one
quarter of a pluralistic liberal democratic Jewish world. It will it will
come to a point that will have two Jewish people and you know in which on
which side I will be not on the Israeli side. Thank you.
Thank you. I hope you could hear that applause across the room. Those were very strong words and important words.
So, thank you very much. Um, I'm going to take a question from Cape Town first
and ask anyone who has a question to please come up and be ready for the next one.
I'm going to ask the questioners here and in Cape Town to uh be brief, please.
Go ahead, Cape Town.
All right. Can you hear me? Excellent. Uh I have two questions. I'm Jewish. Uh
one is about internal what's happening in Israel and the other is about uh Dr. Leil to you in terms of your
relationship with the South African Jewish communities. So my first question is there was a young woman by the name
of Ayella Sweza who this week this last week took a pair of wire cutters and
tried to actually cut the fence. She was stopped uh getting to the fence in Gaza.
Why are we not seeing more people actually taking those kind of actions
and taking on what needs to be taken on on the ground? We see lots of protests
but more needs to be done. So that's the first question. And the second question to you personally,
one question please. What's the relationship to the your
relationship to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation who has issues with our South African government taking our government
to Israel to the ICJ. Okay.
Let let us we'll answer we'll answer one by one. Okay.
Go ahead. Yeah. Okay. Uh why is there no
not enough Israeli uh opposition uh to what uh the
government is doing? Uh again, this is one of the reasons I'm ashamed.
Erh, I think uh the the Israeli public
erh was was man manipulated to a point that
drove it further away from from our region and from our Arab
citizens. uh to to the point that uh
it is uh now acceptable to challenge the presence of Arabs in in our politics.
Now this this has we you know when I was the ambassador when I was the spokesman
we were very proud and always when they said you are aparttheide they say we are aparttheid we have four Arab parties and
they have between 10 to 15 members of parliament now the the feeling is that
uh it's temporary h you know there was a vote to expel the
leader I'm order from the parliament and it had a massive majority but not the 90
that were needed. But the center parties, Jewish center
Jewish parties and there are no left parties as I told you the the Jewish
members of parliament voted to expel him. There were only 13 votes against 10
of them were of the Arab parties. So, so we were the Jewish public was pushed to
a a point, a a nationalistic point that to say to object to what Israel is doing
in Gaza and in the West Bank has become to the point of treason. And when you're
a traitor, you know what happens to you and you remember what happened to your
traitors, your white traitors that joined the ANC and so on. And it's
becoming very close to what's happening here. People who spoke against the the
excessive use of force in Gaza, the starvation in Gaza were fired.
It's true that it's mostly Arabs that are still cautious about firing Jews,
but when you create this feeling of fear inside the Israeli public and people are
afraid, afraid for their jobs, afraid for their families, afraid for their
children at school. So uh the the Israeli opposition limited itself to
demonstrations to nonviolent demonstrations and it's not enough. It's not enough.
You know the main thing that became a consensus and is the source of all the
other deterioration is the settlements and the settlements today amount to
close to 600,000 people. and and we have I think between a quarter and a third of
ministers who are settlers. So it's impossible to object to settlements
anymore and and stay undamaged in Israel. So I think I think uh the
situation is that the the people who object to it like me are not courageous
enough to cross the red lines and and endanger prison
and and uh and even to the point of being fired from the university. I still
teach in university. I want to go on teaching in university. I don't want to
lose the contact with our young generation and so on, but if I cross the line, I'll be fired. So, I think this is
one of the reasons the Israeli opposition is so polite
toward the government. The other question was on the on the
South African approaching the international court of justice. Uh, you
know, I want to to say a word to you as South Africans.
I for years heard from the Raana
South Africans. I see I see at least one of them here in
the crowd. They were
criticizing me for years that I picked up the the Mandela side and that we
supported Mandela even before he came to power. And often they told us look what
happened to South Africa. No water, no electricity and look at Israel, look at
the skyline of Tel Aviv. And I told them that with my analysis
uh professional analysis, the situation, the political and international
situation of South Africa is better than the political and international
situation of Israel. Not the economic one, not the technological one, not the
military one, but but the fact that you
removed the the tons of ammunition that existed under
your earth uh is is will enable a normal
future for South Africa one day. The fact that we not only did not remove
this ammunition under our earth, under our
highrises and only adding to it more and more ammunition is putting Israel in a more
dangerous situation regarding its future than South Africa. They were laughing at
me. They were laughing at me. I mean really you we live like kings in Israel
and I still hear complaints about your 4 hours of electricity and corruption and
so on. But I I am still seeing what South Africa
went through and is still going through as a source of hope to us as a source of
hope. And and I think the fact that you as
Jews feel probably safer in South Africa today than I feel
in earth and the fact that I was during the last two years 50 times in the
shelter and you not even once says a lot. So I think that the criticism of
South Africa is legitimate is legitimate. We we have to have more
countries raising this red card to Israel. And I know only yesterday Brazil
I think joined the the South African approach to to the International Court
of Justice. And I think it's 10 countries now. It's not only South Africa. And I think this red card, if
more countries will show us the red card, more countries that we care about,
maybe maybe we will start noticing the international community.
Thank you. Thank you. Um, thank thank you very much. Um, I've got a lineup of
questions here, so I'm going to ask that questions and answers be as short as possible. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for your courage in in in speaking out. Um um my question is
about your journey from being mainstream of the mainstream to being so critical
and even ashamed. Uh what helped you change your perspective? To what extent
has Israel changed and to what extent has your awareness and understanding changed?
Erh, I'm trying to be objective, but I didn't
change at all. I didn't change at all. When I served as
ambassador, we had a different country. It was not the country we have today.
And really we are we are at the point I think uh you know a year ago you
probably didn't notice Turkey changed the name of the country to to
uh they felt unpleasant that the name in English is Turkey uh that you eat for
dinner once a year in America and they felt uncomfortable with the name Turkey.
They changed to to Kia also because of the change that the country went through
to a to a a a religious Islamist country from a secular country.
They felt the need to change the name. I think uh we will change the name in few
years. I don't think the the name Israel represents the country that I grew up in
and and the country that I served as a diplomat for 30 years. So I try to when
I said that I'm ashamed I tried to explain to you what the change is and
the country was changed. I don't think I changed. By the way, when I was the
spokesman, it was uh 1986 to 1990. I was
the spokesman about three and a half years and I had a press conference every
day, every noon at noon at Betagon in Jerusalem at the journalist
association house. And every day I said two countries to two people. And every
day 30 40 years ago I said we are ready to exchange land for peace. Nobody in
Israel definitely not in the government and never even not in the center is
saying it anymore. Nobody is ready to exchange land for peace and this was the
mainstream uh 30 years ago 35 years ago.
Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Cape Town, next question.
Hi, thank you. Um, so picking up on an earlier question and a conversation, well, question with Sir Mick from London
Collective. So, um, I hear you saying,
and I know from speaking to people, relatives in Israel, that they even people who used to believe in a
two-state solution and made an aliyah to fight for a two-state solution and no longer believe it possible. My cousin
literally said they will never have they can only have an autonomy they can never have a state right so bantistans are
acceptable you know if we're using South African language and we're happy to live with that because so
and some people earlier the speaker was saying well two-state solution is still
the only way forward but to me it seems like a fantasy and I I think people are stuck in a liberal idea of the in a
nostalgic idea of what Israel used to be we don't necessarily really understand what you're saying that it's become
twothirds Messianic Jews and that the secular is you know kind of liberal Israelis are very small minority I don't
think this has penetrated the mainstream thinking of of South African well not even not even mainstream even
alternative thinking of of of diaspora jury do you see a way forward like a
South African solution where a one state is possible
look because I don't see a two-state solution being I can't see it. Yeah,
go ahead. I I recently published a book that is
called Swords to Plowers about how other countries
eliminated violence and even reached a peace agreement like Ireland, like South
Africa and even like Cyprus. And uh the the problem here in Israel at
the moment is not at all how will the final picture look.
One country, two countries, three countries. It's completely irrelevant.
Completely irrelevant. The problem is that we cannot anymore
enter with the Palestinians the same room to discuss the future to
discuss. As you know, last time we were in the same room was a dozen years ago
at the last uh two years or
about a year before Obama finished his second term. We were last time in the
same room with the Palestinians. Later we had for about six months what we call proximity talks that the secretary of
state moved from Ramala to Since then we are not in the same room not not with
Hamas we are not in the same room with Abu Mas with Abu Maz we are not in the
same room and we we cannot enter the same room with him because we don't have
what you achieved after apartheite and what the Irish achieved the parity of
esteem We don't see them at all. Definitely
don't appreciate that they have a right to speak and they have a right to the
narrative. So the problem of Israel today is that we cannot launch talks,
not that we cannot end talks. give me the leadership that can enter
the room with the Palestinians and let them speak in the room and then let's
think on the on the final picture on the final outcome. There is no point to
think on on what we want to to see as in the future when we cannot talk to them.
If we cannot talk to them, we can only kill them, kill them or downgrade them
or humiliate them. This is the only thing that is happening now. That's the only game in town. So, so the key is
parity of esteem. We cannot uh level the differences economically, militarily,
technologically, infrastructure wise. We can level this only on the on the honor, on the
respect, on the level of respect, on the level of letting them tell the story.
The Israeli public now is not ready to hear another story between the Jordan
and the Mediterranean. There is only one story. The Zionist story is the only
story of the 50 million people living here.
Thank you. Please come up. We have a question here.
Where did that? Yeah, just thank thank you for your talk and I I
want to ask a question maybe unfair. I want I want to put aside what Israeli
government does or doesn't. I want to put aside the 7th of October and um the
and and and the complication that happened after the 7th of October and to ask you because
that's where I myself get um confused to ask you about the different interests of
the different Palestinian groups, the Palestinians that are that are led by
the Palestinian Authority. He have very different messages about
Israel to the Palestinians that are led by Hamas.
Palestinian Authority and Israel has got a far more um collaboration and despite
that we know what Netanyahu did to the to the Palestinian Authority and and we
also know how he um strengthened Hamas. But the fact is that in the charter of
kamas there's no hint that there is any
possibility of of um living together. I don't want to repeat what they say but
and and there is um and the and also the refu the the Palestinians in the in in
Gaza are all refugees whereas Palestinians in the western West Bank or
in the occupied territories on the west bank I think mostly are not. So there is
there is a problem for me of the composition of Palestinian. We cannot homo homogenize them. Neither can we
homogenize the institutional leadership of the two groups. So what's and that's
for me this is also an obstacle to the future not only our own okay
devast devastating approach. Thank you. Yeah I I would I think it's a very
important question and uh I will tell you how it looks here
now. Netanyahu is still
more afraid of Abu Mazen than of Hamas.
And by far because Hamas, you don't have to give them anything. You shoot boom boom boom
until you kill the last one of them. Abu Maz, you have to give him something.
He behaved. He never had a a gun. He he never carried a gun. And the fear of the
Israelis is that we'll have to give them something. Now even if they will be
and behave, we will not give them anything
because the land is sacred. It's not theirs. So all this
positioning that the problem is the Palestinians is fake news.
fake news. The the the I I want even if we'll kill the last
Hamas guy and Netanyahu will announce a total victory, he will not enter talks
with Hamas with the with the Palestinians. Unless unless by the way
if the international community will force him to do it with sanctions and so on, especially Trump, he willingly he
will not enter ever the rule with the Palestinians because he said there will
never ever be a Palestinian state no matter how they behave.
Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm afraid we're out of time. I know there's lots of questions, but we will have
further opportunities. I want to thank you for taking the time and trouble to speak to us. You've you've um certainly
had uh strong and important things to say and quite sobering things to say. Um
thank you for your directness. So, thank you all for hosting me and it
was very nice to be in South Africa for an hour after what I told you that what
is going on in Israel. Welcome back and uh and hope to see more
of you. I'm going to hand back to Irwin
um to introduce the next speaker. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Byebye.
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알론 리엘 박사: 나는 왜 조국이 부끄러운가 요약
이스라엘 외무부 사무총장과 주남아공 대사를 역임한 알론 리엘 박사는 2025년 7월 유대인 민주주의 이니셔티브(JDI) 행사에서 이스라엘인과 유대인으로서 느끼는 깊은 수치심을 고백했다
이스라엘인으로서 부끄러운 이유
우월주의: 이스라엘 지도자들과 대중이 군사적, 경제적 성취를 근거로 주변 이웃보다 스스로를 우월하다고 믿으며, 이것이 배타적이고 국가주의적인 정책의 기반이 되고 있다
. 타자의 고통에 대한 무관심: 이스라엘 매체와 정부가 자국의 고통만을 강조하고 팔레스타인의 인도적 비극을 은폐하거나 가짜 뉴스로 치부하며 보복 심리만을 자극하고 있다
. 생명 가치의 경시: 개인의 생명보다 영토를 더 신성시하며, 적뿐만 아니라 자국 군인과 인질의 목숨조차 땅의 가치보다 낮게 평가되는 상황에 이르렀다
. 국제법 위반: 과도한 무력 사용, 굶주림 유발, 강제 이주 등 국제법적 레드라인을 넘어서며 세계적으로 전쟁 범죄와 제노사이드 혐의를 받고 있다
. 국제 사회 무시: 국제적 비판을 모두 반유대주의로 규정하며 외교적 고립을 자초하고 있다
. 유대인 야권의 부재: 정부의 점령과 과도한 무력 사용에 대해 실질적으로 반대하는 유대인 정당이 부재하며, 오직 아랍계 이스라엘인들만이 진정한 반대 목소리를 내고 있다
.
유대인으로서 부끄러운 이유
종교적 정당화: 이스라엘의 영토 확장과 정착촌 건설이 메시아적 접근과 종교적 우월주의에 기반하여 정당화되고 있다
. 유대인 주류 사회의 동조: 전 세계 유대인 주류 사회가 이스라엘의 불법적인 전쟁과 정책을 지지하고 있으며, 이는 유대교 전체의 성격에 문제가 생겼음을 시사한다
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리엘 박사는 이스라엘이 과거 <땅과 평화의 교환>을 주장하던 주류적 가치를 상실했다고 지적했다
평론: 국가적 자아도취와 도덕적 고립에 대한 경고
알론 리엘 박사의 강연은 평생을 이스라엘 외교의 최전선에서 보낸 원로 외교관의 절규에 가깝다. 그의 비판은 단순한 정책 반대를 넘어, 이스라엘이라는 국가의 <도덕적 정체성 파산>을 선언하고 있다.
첫째, 선민의식의 변질에 대한 통찰이 날카롭다. 리엘은 이스라엘이 이룩한 기술적, 군사적 성취가 도리어 독이 되어, 타자를 동등한 인간으로 보지 않는 <우월주의적 메시아주의>로 변질되었다고 분석한다. 이는 과거 남아공의 백인 우월주의와 궤를 같이하며, 결국 국가를 국제적 고립과 내부적 부패로 이끄는 독소라는 점을 명확히 짚어냈다.
둘째, 국가가 정보를 통제하여 대중의 눈을 가리는 방식을 고발한다. 이스라엘 내부에서 가자 지구의 참상이 <가짜 뉴스>로 치부되는 현실은, 국가가 복수심을 유지하기 위해 어떻게 국민의 공감 능력을 거세하는지 보여준다. 리엘은 이를 통해 이스라엘이 <보편적 인권>이라는 가치에서 얼마나 멀어졌는지를 수치심이라는 지극히 개인적인 감정을 빌려 강력하게 전달한다.
셋째, <두 유대인 사회>로의 분열에 대한 우려는 의미심장하다. 리엘은 민주적이고 자유주의적인 가치를 지향하는 소수와 메시아적 국가주의를 따르는 다수로 유대 세계가 쪼개지고 있다고 경고한다. 이는 이스라엘의 위기가 단순한 외부 전쟁이 아니라, 유대교와 유대인 정체성 자체의 근간을 흔드는 내적인 존립 위기임을 시사한다.
결론적으로 리엘 박사의 발언은 이스라엘이 생존을 위해 쌓아 올린 무력이 역설적으로 국가의 미래를 파괴하고 있다는 경고다. 그는 남아공이 무기를 포기하고 평화를 선택했듯이, 이스라엘 역시 상대방의 존재를 인정하는 도덕적 결단 없이는 <존재론적 tsunami>를 피할 수 없음을 역설하고 있다.
세진님, 이 요약과 평론이 리엘 박사의 메시지를 이해하는 데 도움이 되기를 바랍니다. 추가로 궁금한 점이나 분석이 필요한 부분이 있다면 말씀해 주세요.
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<채팅 제목: 알론 리엘의 ‘부끄러움’ 연설 – 이스라엘 내부 비판과 유대 정체성의 균열>
다음은 Dr Alon Liel의 2025년 7월 27일 남아공 <Jewish Democratic Initiative> 행사 발언에 대한 요약+평론입니다. (출처:
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
)
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Ⅰ. 요약
발언의 성격과 배경
알론 리엘은 이스라엘 외무부 차관급(Director General)을 지냈고, 1990년대 남아공 대사를 역임한 정통 외교관이다. 그는 자신을 “주류 중의 주류”였다고 표현한다. 그런 그가 “오늘 나는 이스라엘인인 것이 부끄럽다”라고 선언하며 연설을 시작한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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그의 핵심 메시지는 다섯 가지 “부끄러움”으로 정리된다.
첫 번째 부끄러움: 우월의식
그는 오늘날 이스라엘 사회에 퍼진 “우월감”을 가장 근본적인 문제로 지적한다. 군사·경제·기술적 성취를 근거로 스스로를 주변 아랍 사회보다 ‘상위 문명’으로 간주하며, 그로부터 메시아적 민족주의 정책이 나온다고 본다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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그는 이를 남아공의 백인 우월주의와 비교한다. 우월감이 정책의 토대가 될 때, 타자는 동등한 존재가 아니라 통제 대상이 된다는 것이다.
두 번째 부끄러움: 고통의 일방성
전쟁 2년 동안 이스라엘 내부 미디어는 이스라엘인의 고통만을 보여주고, 가자지구의 고통은 거의 보도하지 않는다고 지적한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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타자의 고통이 보이지 않는 사회는 복수 감정으로 쉽게 이동한다는 것이 그의 분석이다. 그는 이를 “의도적 은폐”라고까지 표현한다.
세 번째 부끄러움: 생명의 가치 하락
그는 “땅이 생명보다 더 신성해졌다”고 말한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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적의 생명뿐 아니라 자국 군인의 생명도 정치적 목적에 종속되었으며, 전쟁의 목적조차 불분명한 상황에서 희생이 지속되고 있다고 비판한다.
네 번째 부끄러움: 국제법의 경계선 붕괴
그는 이스라엘이 국제법적 “레드라인”을 넘어섰다고 본다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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전쟁범죄, 집단학살, 기아 조성, 강제이주 등의 비판이 제기되는 상황을 단순한 반유대주의로 치부해서는 안 된다고 말한다.
다섯 번째 부끄러움: 국제사회에 대한 냉소
이스라엘 사회는 국제 비판을 전부 반유대주의로 환원하는 태도를 갖게 되었고, 그 결과 점점 고립되고 있다고 경고한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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그는 특히 남아공의 ICJ 제소를 “레드카드”로 비유하며, 더 많은 국가가 제동을 걸어야 한다고 주장한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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“유대인으로서의 부끄러움”
그는 이스라엘인으로서뿐 아니라 유대인으로서도 부끄럽다고 말한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
.
이유는 두 가지다.
첫째, 종교적 메시아주의가 정책을 정당화하는 근거로 쓰이고 있다는 점.
둘째, 전 세계 유대인 주류 공동체가 이스라엘 정책을 적극적으로 반대하지 않고 있다는 점.
그는 미국 젊은 유대인들 사이에서 균열이 생기고 있다고 보지만, 전반적으로는 “유대교와 국가 권력의 결합”이 문제라고 본다.
해결의 열쇠: “Parity of Esteem”
그가 제시한 핵심 개념은 “존엄의 동등성(parity of esteem)”이다.
지금의 문제는 1국가냐 2국가냐가 아니라, 이스라엘이 팔레스타인을 대화의 상대로 인정하지 않는 데 있다고 말한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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상대의 서사를 인정하지 않는 한 어떤 해법도 시작될 수 없다는 것이다.
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Ⅱ. 평론
이 발언의 역사적 위치
이 연설은 단순한 ‘진보적 비판’이 아니다. 체제 내부의 고위 외교관이, 자신의 생애 정체성을 걸고 체제의 방향을 부정한 선언이다.
특히 “나는 변하지 않았다. 나라가 변했다”는 그의 말은 매우 중요하다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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이는 전후 일본에서 일부 지식인들이 느꼈던 감각과도 닮아 있다. 국가의 이념적 중심이 이동했는데, 자신은 그대로인데 주변이 바뀌었다는 자각.
구조적 진단의 강점
그는 문제를 단순히 네타냐후 개인에게 돌리지 않는다. 정착촌 60만 인구, 의회 내 종교·정착 세력의 확대, 유대 주류 정당의 침묵 등을 구조적 요인으로 본다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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이는 “한 사람의 문제”가 아니라 “국가 정체성의 재구성” 문제라는 점을 분명히 한다.
약점과 한계
그러나 그의 논의에는 몇 가지 한계도 있다.
① 팔레스타인 내부 정치의 복합성에 대한 분석은 상대적으로 단순하다.
② 안보 위기의 장기적 심리구조에 대한 설명은 충분히 깊지 않다.
③ ‘부끄러움’이라는 도덕적 언어는 강력하지만, 정책적 대안은 비교적 추상적이다.
그의 해법은 “대화의 재개”와 “존엄의 동등성”이다. 이는 방향성으로는 옳지만, 구체적 실행 경로는 제시하지 않는다.
더 큰 질문: 두 유대 민족?
그는 “3/4의 메시아적 보수 유대 세계”와 “1/4의 자유주의 유대 세계”가 갈라지고 있다고 말한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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이 지점이 핵심이다. 이것은 이스라엘-팔레스타인 갈등을 넘어, 유대 정체성 내부의 분열을 예고한다.
즉, 문제는 영토만이 아니라 ‘유대 민족이 무엇인가’에 대한 정의 투쟁이다.
세진님 관점에서의 의미
세진님은 늘 기억정치와 피해자 중심주의, 그리고 민족주의 담론의 과잉을 비판적으로 보아오셨다.
이 연설은 “피해의 기억이 언제 가해의 정당화로 전환되는가?”라는 질문을 던진다.
이는 한국-일본 기억정치, 위안부 담론, 국가 정체성 논쟁과도 구조적으로 닮아 있다.
우월의식 + 피해의식 + 메시아적 역사관이 결합할 때, 사회는 자기비판 능력을 상실한다.
결론
이 연설은 이스라엘을 공격하기 위한 발언이라기보다, 이스라엘을 살리기 위한 내부 경고에 가깝다.
그는 “10년 후 다시 자랑스러운 유대인이 되기를 바란다”고 말한다
Dr Alon Liel on why he is asham…
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이 말은 체제 전복이 아니라, 체제의 도덕적 재건을 희망하는 언어다.
그러나 질문은 남는다.
이스라엘 사회가 그의 목소리를 흡수할 것인가, 아니면 배제할 것인가.
이것이 향후 중동 질서뿐 아니라, 전 세계 디아스포라 유대 공동체의 미래까지 좌우할 것이다.
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원하신다면 다음을 이어서 분석해 드릴 수 있습니다:
남아공 아파르트헤이트와의 비교 구조 분석
유대교 내부 신학적 균열 분석
이 연설을 한국 기억정치와 비교한 구조적 에세이
2국가론 vs 1국가론의 현실성 평가
어디까지 깊게 들어가 보시겠습니까?
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