Mizrahi Israelis struggle to gain equal representation in elite power centers because “not all Ashkenazim are racists, but almost all racists are Ashkenazi,” Ministerial Liaison to the Knesset Dudi Amsalem (Likud) claimed in an interview with KAN Reshet Bet on Wednesday.
Amsalem, who also serves as Regional Cooperation Minister and as a minister in the Justice Ministry, said his argument was based on representation in state institutions, citing the absence of Moroccan judges on the Supreme Court, the lack of a Sephardi state attorney since Israel’s founding, and limited Mizrahi representation in senior academic roles, particularly in law faculties.
Mizrahi (Eastern) refers to descendants of local Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa. Sephardi (Spanish) refers to Jews of Mediterranean descent, and Ashkenazi refers to Jews of northern and eastern European descent.
“When I see numbers that do not make sense, I understand that someone is arranging the numbers,” Amsalem said.
“I am happy that you think all Mizrahim have money, that we are all truly equal in this country, and everything is fine,” Amsalem said, noting that while Mizrahi Israelis succeed in business and other fields, they do not hold real positions of power.
Amsalem said Mizrahim should lead Likud because, according to him, most Likud voters are Mizrahi.
“The Mizrahim should hold the most senior portfolios in Likud, unequivocally,” he said.
He added that he would not allow the number of Mizrahi representatives in Likud to be reduced. “Nothing will be given to us on a silver platter without a struggle,” he said. “Mizrahim will receive nothing without fighting for it.”
He also rejected the claim that Likud and its voters had controlled the state since 1977, saying that “we have not ruled, not even for 15 minutes,” saying this was why the government sought judicial reform, claiming that protests against the overhaul began only when the coalition tried to change the balance of power.
According to Amsalem, if the government had truly held power, there would have been no need for such reforms.
Amsalem: United States limiting how Israel can respond to Hezbollah
When asked to respond to criticism from residents of northern Israel over Hezbollah fire and recent IDF casualties near the Lebanese border, Amsalem said the United States was limiting Israel’s capabilities to attack Hezbollah, and that Israel was operating “wisely” within those constraints.
Amsalem said Washington had joined Israel in a significant way, but added that the US was acting according to its own interests. “We are ultimately on our own here,” he said.
The minister said Israel needed the United States in order to remove the Iranian nuclear threat, which he described as a matter of national survival. He said that if Washington could secure the removal of enriched uranium through negotiations with Iran, “that is the holy grail.”
“In my assessment, if there were no nuclear issue, we would not listen to the Americans, and we would destroy half of Lebanon until Hezbollah stopped firing on our residents,” Amsalem said. “But the nuclear issue is an existential question for the State of Israel.”