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RubinReports | By Barry Rubin

“The evil that men do is remembered after their deaths, but the good is often buried with them.”
— William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”

Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, seen here on a billboard, died at a Jerusalem hospital, aged 93 on monday october 7, 2013.

It is amazing how much Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (ZTL) has been slandered or obviously misrepresented after he died at the age of 93 in Jerusalem a few days ago.

It is symbolic nowadays of the demeaning and libel of Judaism by others — not just Zionism — but just Judaism, or of the media misrepresentations due either to partisanship or ignorance among many who know they will not be caught or corrected.

But it is also amazing about how many Jews, particularly outside Israel, try to use Ovadia Yosef in their suicidal naivete.

Let me briefly explain.

Born in Baghdad in 1920 (how long ago and what a distant world that was!) Rabbi Yosef was recognized as a genius from an early age. He was a great teacher and jurisprudent. But he was far more than that.

I will summarize his achievements in five points.

First, Yosef gave peace a chance. At a certain point he was really willing to take a dovish stance politically. But then when it was clear that the Palestinian Arabs didn’t want peace, like the majority of others in Israel — including Sephardic Jews me and many of my friends — he realized it wasn’t going to work.

This is the most interesting point and concluded by many Israelis — though the Western media keep it a big secret so that there is not sympathy or understanding for their position.

In 2003 Rabbi Yosef wrote:

“I want to clarify my position with regard to Yesha [the West Bank settlements). Not once have I thought that the Halachic [Jewish religious law] ruling which I issued at the time regarding “territories in exchange for peace” is not valid and does not apply to the current situation. I had intended only a true peace, one in which Jerusalem and it surrounding neighborhoods would rest secure, in peace and harmony. But now we see that on the contrary handing over territory from our holy land endangers lives. We never intended such a peace. Therefore the Oslo agreement is null and void. For I am for peace and they are for war and we have no one to rely on but on our Father in Heaven….”

“With much love, and one who seeks you well being with all my heart and soul.” — Ovadia Yosef

Thats’ the obvious experience that changed millions of Israelis minds, making them sure that peace isn’t going to happen. That handing over territory will not bring peace, that Arab states will not accept Israel (or really Iran or Turkey). It is not valid and does not apply to the current situation. Or at least it can and will be reversed by Islamists.

Second, he developed a Sephardic (or Mizrahi) Jewish (Middle East) pride, identity and community and political institutions.

Third, toward the nation as a whole, he did much to integrate Sephardim into a successful national identity to produce a united people. In the 1980s there was a really potentially explosive conflict between Jews of Eastern and Western origins such that you cannot conceive of such a thing today.

Fourth, compared to Jews of European origin, he was very successful in preventing a wall from developing between more and less pious Sephardic Jews. It was a huge achievement that many take for granted.

A European-origin Jew will be relatively either secular, Modern Orthodox, or Haredi (“ultra-Orthodox,” which is a meaningless term). Sephardic Jews are most probably far more open. My son compares them to a spectrum like Conservative (Masorti, traditional) and “ConservOdox (Conservative-Orthodox blend).

Fifth, he integrated the Sephardim into the country rather than sitting in isolation. Most of the Haredim try to avoid army service and paid jobs. This is unthinkable for the Sephardim.

Now, what are the negatives? The first was that the political party he created, Shas, was very corrupt. Yousef trusted bad people to lead it. The defense was that it was the Sephardim, the last historically to get that chance, were just getting their fair share. The result was that there was a lot of corruption.

The second was that in his late 80s, Rabbi Yosef became impatient and angrier. He made statements that were intemperate at times toward his Israeli opponents and the Arabs. I might point out, without excusing those words, that the Arabs deliberately murdered thousands of Jewish children, women, and men in terrorism (with fewer than ten reciprocations?); yet Israel was ready to agree to a two-state solution in 2000. Jewish terrorists, very few in numbers, were punished by law; Palestinian terrorists were never punished by their groups or their government; indeed, they were not even delegitimized. On the contrary, they were held up as positive role models, as heroes.

Yosef never endorsed violence or terrorism. And also as I said he was just as verbally tough against his Jewish opponents at times.

Now, the punch-line. What characteristic did the Western and Israeli medias highlight after 93 years of a near-saintly life?

Of course, anti-Arab racism! (He also championed the immigration of Ethiopian Jews.)

And what does the mass media say about another famous religious leader, Shaykh Yosef Qaradawi, who has praised Hitler, advocated terrorism, genocide, violence, and revolution? He is often described as a moderate.

And what does the left-wing parts of the Israeli media do?

They pretend that Yosef never learned the lessons he voiced in his 2003 letter when he and many other Israelis realized that while they had wanted “true peace,” handing over land for peace didn’t work.

That, dear readers, is unfortunately why Israeli voters must act as they do. And that is why they are, unfortunately correct.

Israel was ready for a compromise peace but concluded correctly that it wasn’t possible because of the other side. It is the biggest secret in the Middle East — something the left tells lies about; the Arabs reject; and well-intentioned doves cannot admit.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His next book, “Nazis, Islamists and the Making of the Modern Middle East,” written with Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, will be published by Yale University Press in January 2014. His latest book is “Israel: An Introduction,” also published by Yale. Thirteen of his books can be read and downloaded for free at the website of the GLORIA Center including “The Arab States and the Palestine Conflict,” “The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East” and “The Truth About Syria.” His blog is Rubin Reports. His original articles are published at PJMedia.