WHY PROTESTS DRAW ISRAELIS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE
▶ Some of the people who have been demonstrating for weeks fear they have been marginalised, while others reject an inward-looking Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to limit the power of the judiciary has resulted in the biggest protest movement in the country’s history.
After weeks of demonstrations against the bill, Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government yesterday delayed the legal reform process until the next session of parliament after the Passover holiday.
Following the sacking of defence minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, after he urged Mr Netanyahu to pause the legislation, demonstrators threatened to launch more industrial action and more hunger strikes outside Mr Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.
They blocked access to the country’s airport, forcing authorities to stop all departing flights.
The National spoke to Israelis about why they have been turning out week after week, and why public anger escalated so quickly.
Anne, from the northern city of Netanya, who leads an assembly of hundreds of protesting grandmothers, said her group had “come together out of shared concern for the future of our grandchildren”.
“Old ladies with white hair are kind of passed by and ignored,” she said.
“No one thinks they have any energy left. But at least 1,500 grandmothers demonstrating as we just did, some with walking sticks, shows that that’s simply not true.
“The response to our protest has been overwhelmingly supportive. I don’t know of a single instance of people being rude.
“When young people saw us coming, they stopped whatever they were doing and stood at the side of the road and waved and clapped us on.”
Erel Margalit, one of Israel’s leading venture capitalists and a former politician, said the country belonged to the people.
“We don’t think the country belongs to the extreme right,” he said. “In the last 25 or 30 years, we built a very active, tech-heavy and vibrant economy which is completely different to the older economy.”
Mr Margalit, whose company experiences first hand the market jitters the reforms have caused in Israel, fears that this legacy is under threat.
“The struggle will be harsher before it gets resolved. I don’t think it will break Israeli society, but I do think that sometimes in the history of the making of the nation of Israel, a fundamental debate is needed to define not only the character of the country, but also something more fundamental within the Jewish people worldwide, Mr Margalit said.
“Do we want to be closed off? Do we want to be extremists? Or do we want Israel and the Jewish people to be open, creative and collaborative?”
He is worried that the government is damaging regional openness.
“The breakthrough of the Abraham Accords put Israel in a new chapter,” Mr Margalit said. “With our companies now in countries such as the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, we can reach countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia to an unprecedented extent today.”
The tech and start-up community, which Mr Margalit represents internationally on a daily basis, is one of the groups opposed to the legal reforms, which critics say could undermine the economy and bring an end to Israeli democracy.
But not all sectors of society are as united.
Mahmoud, an Israeli Arab who runs a cafe in Jerusalem, thought that it is “incredibly important” that his community engages with the protests to oppose the reforms.
“We live here, too,” he said. His colleagues, also Israeli Arabs, disagreed.
“I view these protests as nothing more than children crying,” one said.
And while some are finding hope in the hundreds of thousands of Israelis turning out to voice their opposition, none are forgetting how grave today’s political crisis is.
“I remember [Yitzhak] Rabin’s assassination as a very dark time,” Anne said.
“I felt tremendous polarisation in the country. That’s probably the only time that feels as dark as this.
“The wars Israel has had since I’ve been here have all been awful, but somehow people come together during them, whereas now there are these two fractured camps that are awful to witness.”
She hopes that her coalition can bring an important voice to Israel’s national debate.
“Young people, especially young men, are very often hotheaded, and their answer to things is to push and shove and shout. That’s not the answer of a group of grandmas.
“Our message is more to those who are educating those young men,” she said.
“To teach them tolerance, and ask them to step back and talk to people who don’t share their views.”
We are deeply concerned by today’s developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise
ADRIENNE WATSON
White House National Security Council spokeswoman
For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately
ISAAC HERZOG
President of Israel
People who have risked their lives many times, and lost colleagues, in the service of a democracy are not prepared to do so in the service of a dictatorship or a dictator
EHUD BARAK
Former prime minister of Israel
Our enemies must know that we are standing guard and nobody is deserting … every mission given to you will be aimed at defending the security of Israel
HERZI HALEVI
Chief of General Staff of Israeli military
We have been following the situation, but certainly with concern. … we are watching, but let them deal with it on their own
MIKHAIL BOGDANOV
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister