The problem with Zionist ideal is that Judaism was never intended to be a normal religion. As described in the Hebrew Bible, the foundational idea of “chosenness” by God and the God-given right to the Land of Israel were part of a contract with God that stipulated that Israel be “a light unto the nations,” distinguished by acceptance of hundreds of divinely sanctioned laws and the moral-ethical system they represented.

The paradox of Ariel Sharon’s life, beliefs, and policies was perhaps most ingeniously captured by Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi’s 1997 mockumentary titled “How I learned to overcome my fear and love Arik Sharon.” I was living in Israel when this film came out, and I’ll never forget the intense reaction among liberal Israelis to Mograbi’s narrative of his odyssey from Israeli “refusenik” (he refused to serve in the Lebanon war launched by Sharon) to grudging Sharon admirer, shown at a rally at the end of the film.

Progressive Israelis condemned Sharon because the 1990s was the age of post-Zionism. This was a time when Israelis became confident in their identity and place in the world to move beyond their founding myths and the powerful nationalist impulses that defined their identity.

Pundits predicted that Israelis would embrace the post-nationalist, cosmopolitan identity associated with the liberal, Ashkenazi elite, and help build the “New Middle East” championed by Labour Party leader Shimon Peres. — Beliefnet.com