25 March 2023
In about a week, the Israeli Knesset will finalize enactment of some of its laws intended to eviscerate the judiciary and give itself unchecked power. And this unchecked power will fall into the hands of the current coalition that includes a significant pack of misogynists, homophobes, Arab-haters, and Orthodox Jews who wish to establish a theocracy in Israel.
The current Israeli government is scary and has already caused internal turbulence and soured relations with other countries: International conferences in Israel have been canceled. Professors, scientists, and businesspeople are speaking of leaving – a brain drain in the works? Economically, the stock market is plunging, significant investments have been pulled out of Israeli banks, several major high-tech companies have already moved out, and the shekel has plummeted in value. Security-wise, the ultra-aggressive policies in the Occupied Territories have spilled even more blood, further deepening hatred and a desire for revenge, leading to more terrorism inside Israel.
And the so-called “regime coup” on judicial matters is only one of the crazy new laws. To mention a few other bills recently tabled in the Knesset: making Christian missionary work in Israel punishable by jail time; allowing the re-establishment of settlements in the Occupied Territories that had previously been outlawed; banning bread from hospitals during the week-long Passover holiday, even from non-Jews or non-observant Jews; allowing public officials to accept donations for legal or medical bills – which would allow Netanyahu to keep $270,000 that the courts had previously ruled he had to return. Can this get any more troubling?
Oh, it can: One law that just passed makes it impossible to declare the Prime Minister incapacitated, even if s/he would be in a coma, for example. Just to ensure Netanyahu’s power, no matter what. And did I mention that he is on trial for corruption? The trial is now in a hiatus due to well-paid lawyers and Covid-19. How convenient. So now Netanyahu is safe from conflict-of-interest activity as he works to legislate the laws that will prevent the court from throwing him into prison. “Mr. Crime Minister” is a favorite slogan in these parts.
Then there’s the incredible, mass protest that has taken place in Israel over the past eleven weeks. Today they declared a “Day of National Paralysis”, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis mobbed and blocked major intersections around the country, bearing aloft Israeli flags so that no one could call them traitors or anarchists – though Netanyahu did call them that. The main signs read “Democracy!” or “Shame on you!” The police were particularly rough today, thanks to the new National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, but that did not seem to hold the demonstrators back.
Even more amazing were the masses of protesters from specialized groups, holding signs indicating who they were: doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, labor leaders, and – most surprisingly – military men in the reserves. Indeed, the current Minister of Defense was so alarmed at the anger that permeates the ranks of the military – senior officers, pilots, intelligence staff, and even conscripts – threatening to undermine military operations that he scheduled a press conference to declare his opposition to expediting the legal coup. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Netanyahu gave him a private dressing down and the much-anticipated speech by the Minister was cancelled. Adding to the bitterness of the military was that Netanyahu increased the living stipends of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, who are not required to do military service. Poignantly moving was the protest of Israeli families who lost loved ones in wars or acts of terrorism.
I took out my anger by attending a demonstration in the far north at the Kabri junction, near our home in Nahariya, just south of the border with Lebanon. It’s a rural area and yet I estimate we were about 2,000 people there the other day, a number that has grown from week to week. It’s quite a law-abiding and reserved crowd, farmers and kibbutz members, and many brought their children. There were the usual signs – “Democracy,” “Shame on you!” It was the rare sign that said “Dai Lakibush” – End the occupation. One woman held a small sign reading “There is no democracy with occupation,” and told me as I photographed it, “I’m afraid to stand with this sign.” I think most people in this northern region would agree with ending the occupation, but the unwritten rule of these demonstrations is to keep the occupation out of them in the hopes of attracting right-wing supporters of occupation, but opposers of the radical judicial bills.
There was also some singing at our demonstration, kind of the “We-shall-overcome” genre, Israeli style. The lyric of the one I liked the most was taken from the writing of Nachman Breslov, a Hassidic rabbi in the late 1700s. It goes, “The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The important thing is to have no fear.” The singing was quiet.
And then, suddenly, a part of the crowd surged onto the highway. It felt spontaneous, inspired and we surged with them. Suddenly, standing in the middle of the highway, I felt hopeful and elated. No fear at all. Perhaps we were there for 60 seconds, no more, and then the police tore into the crowd, pushing, shoving, no words, just brute strength, forcing everyone back out of the road. They had not been gentle. But lots of us, me included, felt that moment of light in the darkness.
I don’t know how this will end. But there is a country full of people with whom I could build a sane and democratic society. I wonder where we could go.