Accusations of Žemaitaitis Being Stretched Too Thin

 "Last Thursday, Gintaras Paluckas presented the Lithuanian Government program to the Seimas, and its approval is expected this Thursday. After that, the cabinet led by him will be sworn in and begin its duties, although it is not known whether it will be fully formed. The time has come to push R. Žemaitaitis's statements to the background and allow law enforcement agencies to conduct their investigations. It is much more important to allow the newly elected government to start doing its job, because there are quite a few challenges that need to be addressed immediately.

 

The new ruling coalition, like all others, has positive and negative qualities. A big advantage is its size: as many as 86 members. It will be able to easily make the necessary decisions, even if a relatively large number of deputies will not be in the Seimas hall for various reasons. It is important to treat the deputies of "Nemuno aušra" with respect, assign them appropriate places in commissions and other positions, and not consider them to be some kind of outsiders who constantly have to prove its value. No less important is how the other two coalition partners will react to the reproaches leveled at the "Nemunas aušra" by the opposition and abroad.

 

It is a mistake to defend what cannot be justified, and no less a mistake to remain silent when the criticism is completely unfounded. Israeli Minister for the Diaspora and the Fight against Anti-Semitism Amichai Chikli accused Žemaitaitis of spreading blood libel against the Israeli armed forces fighting Hamas terrorism. Blood libel is the claim that Jews killed Christians so that they could use their blood to perform religious rituals. By accusing Žemaitaitis of blood libel, Chikli portrayed him as an extreme anti-Semite, inclined to believe the most disgusting lies about Jews.

 

Just a week after Chikli’s accusations, the international human rights organization Amnesty International published a report: there is “sufficient evidence to believe” that Israel’s behavior during the war in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians. “Month after month, Israel has treated the Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group, unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intention to physically destroy them,” Amnesty International said in a statement. The US and Germany have rejected Amnesty’s accusations, but the killing of about 40,000 civilians, most of whom are children and women, cannot be random.

 

Paluckas himself, convicted and unelected, does not fit the image of a flawless prime minister, quite the opposite. However, he has been in a leading position in his party for almost a decade and, despite several controversial decisions as party leader, has maintained the trust of his comrades, and no one has challenged G. Paluckas’s claims to the post of prime minister. This is no small achievement and shows leadership skills. However, as prime minister, he will have to find a way to get along with the president and S. Skvernelis – two powerful politicians with big egos and limited willingness to compromise.

 

During the election campaign, Nausėda was a patron of the social democrats and their leader, openly and consistently supporting them, hoping that they would implement his wishes through legislation. Support for the new ruling coalition faltered when Žemaitaitis’ anti-Semitism came into the spotlight. The President distanced himself from the "Nemuno aušra", announced urbi et orbi that he would not approve any party member as a minister, and emphasized his detachment by deciding to reject two candidates for ministers, non-party specialists, although he supported weaker candidates from other parties. Here he is partly following the scenario of President D. Grybauskaitė after the 2012 elections, when she sought to prevent the Labor Party from participating in government.

 

It is not known how long the honeymoon will last, but historically the relationship between the President and the Government is tense. Nausėda will not be inclined to seek compromises, and Paluckas will not always be able to give in, as if he were an obedient schoolboy. Nausėda’s views are much more right-wing than in the sphere of social democratic values, and one can doubt how firmly he intends to create a “welfare state”. 

 

If the national defense budget is increased to 4.5 or 5.0 percent. GDP, there will be crumbs left for social needs.

 

In 2017, Paluckas said he would not support proposals to allocate more than 2 percent of GDP to defense, saying that the funds should be directed to reducing social exclusion. Today, the situation is different. The Social Democrats are determined to allocate more than 3.5 percent of GDP to national defense, but if the perceived threats were to decrease, would they remember their roots and values?

 

I think Lithuania and Lithuanians have done enough to prove that anti-Semitism is alien to them, that far more people condemn it than support it. I am an absolutist of freedom of speech, convinced that a case can be filed for incitement to hatred only in cases where the statement is direct, convincing, and unavoidable, and causes or may cause specific, objectively determined, serious harm. Žemaitaitis's remarks did not pose such a danger, it would be more effective to oppose them by publicly condemning them and demonstratively supporting Lithuanian Jews, emphasizing that they are no worse citizens and patriots than ethnic Lithuanians.

 

The accusations against Žemaitaitis are exaggerated. It is proposed to add to the accusations his private letter to Litvak Liovas Kaplan, in which the parliamentarian urged Kaplan to "save his pennies for both food and treatment, because Biden will bring the state to bankruptcy!" And he also added a link to the database, which stores the calculation "A Jew climbed a ladder" recorded in 1975. Perhaps some of Žemaitaitis's classmates from the first grade will report that they heard Žemaitaitis repeating the calculation then. Everything would be clear - Žemaitaitis was already in the first grade a condemned hardened anti-Semite. QED.

 

I don't know whether Žemaitaitis will control his tongue, realizing that artificial confrontations will harm the work of the Government, or whether he will repeat them, convinced that it increases his and the party's popularity. It's good that he reminded the Seimas' saints of the killings in Gaza, it's bad that he called Netanyahu an animal. I hope that in March the work of the Government, and not Žemaitaitis' words, will attract the attention of the people and the media."