Six Comments

By Paul Shaviv 

Netanyahu announcing a delay in the vote (Chronicle)

Prime Minister Netanyahu may have just spared his country from yet another new election if not a disaster of unprecedented proportion. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he has shelved his government’s judicial reform bill until the next Knesset session after Pesach which will take place sometime in May. 

He finally realized that he cannot ignore the scope of the protest nor the large numbes of people protesting all over the country. Even though a large number of Israelis actually support his reforms, far too many oppose them vehemently.It was the right thing to do regardless of which side of the debate one is on. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that Benny Gantz, one of the opposition leaders (an a true patriot) has agreed to negotiate a compromise reform package that will replace this controversial one. And if President Biden’s comments about a likely compromise has any merit, things are indeed going in the right direction. Hopefully the President is privy to inside information not available to the rest of us.

 As a result, protests seem to be calming down. Although a few diehards are still protesting – I believe they are from voters that want to overthrow the last election in the belief that the current government is  an extremist right wing dictatorship. 

YEs, it is extremist. But it is not a  dictatorship. They were duly elected in a fair and free election by a majority of Israeli voters who voted on the right. That they didn’t vote for the extremist coalition that resuted does not invalidate the election.  

All that being said, the underlying problems have not gone away. They are still simmiering beneath the surface. 

Paul Shaviv, an ocasional and  vluableblae contributor to this blog  submitted a few of his own comments on the situation in Israel. Even though there have been some dramatic changes since then, His comments are still relevant. They follow in their entirety. 

1. Rapidly changing events may make every word of what follows irrelevant… in which case apologies for taking up space on the screen and in our brains…

2. This whole parashah is astonishing.  It is unprecedented in the history of Israel, and in relative size and lack of violence (compare what is happening on the streets of Paris at the same time).

3. There is wide agreement – even among the moderates – that the Israel Supreme Court, including the process of judicial selections, needs reform.  However, not this way. If you listen/watch to Israel TV, and read the Ivrit press (both possible on the internet), you hear today even Likud voters saying “We didn’t vote for this”.  

There are several issues: first is that this whole package – judicial reform, chametz in the hospitals, the ‘Deri law’, the proposed punishment of jail for non-Orthodox davenning at the Kotel, the widening of the imposition of religious authority and the increase of budgets etc etc – was not in the Likud manifesto.  It was suddenly foisted on the nation immediately after the election.  

Second is that the idea that you can overturn ANY legal decision – including the most fundamental - by a simple majority of one vote in the Knesset is absurd. 

Thirdly, Bibi handed the keys to the kingdom to a motley crew of wackos whom no-one trusts. Fourthly, the sacking of the Defense minister because he asked for a Cabinet meeting aroused huge anger. The suspicion – or more than that – that all of this is a maneuver by Bibi to protect himself from his own legal troubles, and to do that he is even happy to imperil national security, infuriates the populace,

4. In a way, this has also been Israel at its finest.  The loyalty and attachment of the demonstrators to Medinat Yisrael has been heartwarming.  Over and over again, interviewees on the Israeli media stress that they love the country.  There are also frequent references to national unity, and the spirit of the upcoming Chagim – Pesach, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut.  

If I had to choose two ‘magic moments’, I would choose the reception of the demonstrators in Bnei Brak; and the Israel Philharmonic who went onto the street and, as an orchestra, lead thousands of demonstrators in Hatikva.

5. As I write (06:30 Monday), it looks as though Bibi’s coalition is beginning to crack in the face of reality.  Ben-Gvir is threatening to resign; Yariv Levin is making conciliatory noises; Deri has asked to delay or drop the proposed legislation relating to his personal legal status….. Silence of the Haredi and Arab politicians is deafening.

6. The fallout from all of this is difficult – if not impossible – to predict.  At the next elections, whenever they are, I believe the political map will be completely different.  Some – including some of the religious parties – will pay a heavy price for what is perceived as their rush to collude in, and exploit, a hijack of legal authority.  The Likud will have to work hard to reclaim its credibility, even among its own devotees. (“Vote Likud, but get Goldknopf, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, Rothman….”).  The call for a properly-negotiated Constitution will be very strong.   The left-of-Centre has to find leadership.