Caroline Davis sets out the difficulties in
finding a solution to the current problems
The standoff between the protesters and the government is as vigorous as it has been as the government presses ahead with a watered down judicial reform. The “reasonableness” clause has passed its first reading in the Knesset. This will have the effect of preventing the Supreme Court from throwing out amendments or laws it deems unreasonable.
The anger among the protestors is much increased and the protests are less peaceful causing severe disruption to people’s lives and even threaten lives as the emergency services are struggling to pass through the crowds that have blocked the highways in Tel Aviv this week.
To the outside world it must seem as if the whole of Israel is on fire, but it should be remembered that there are over 10 million people in the country, so the protests, although they are numbering in their 100’s of thousands do not represent the whole country.
It would be true to say the whole country is disturbed and worried by the political unrest. Many are worried that fiddling with a justice system that has mostly worked well for years may just be the tip of the iceberg for draconian laws to be enacted that would curtail people’s freedoms.
Others are worried that this government’s make up is so unpopular that the country could descend into civil war. Others are worried that the government cannot survive and the left wing secular parties will take power and dilute the Jewish essence of the country and even dismantle their homes on the West Bank. Others are worried about the economy and the cost of living and the lack of confidence globally in Israel.
The demographic make up of Israel among the Jewish population is very varied and it tends to dictate their political preferences. This current internal strife is mostly Jew against Jew. The Arab communities have their own problems and a solution has not even been scratched at regardless of who is in power, so for them the split can only help their cause as it weakens the State generally.
As they say a Divided House cannot stand and the House of Israel is very divided and even if the government shelved the justice reforms the protests will not stop. As with the Arab/Israeli conflict which in essence is not about land, (so many offers of land in exchange for peace have been made and rejected) we must accept it is a religious/secular conflict.
Israel itself is a bit of an oxymoron, as so much of its existence defies logic and it is totally unique.
Even the term : Jewish democratic state does not sense, as a democracy must be the will of the people: This can only work if the majority identify as Jewish .
The modern day state of Israel was re-claimed as a Jewish State via the United Nations, but built by secular Ashkenazi Jews who dreamt of making the desert bloom. The Rabbinate were given control over hatch, match and dispatch without any secular alternatives. A lot of concessions were granted to the minority ultra religious, but the early pioneers that built today’s modern Israel were anything but religious, but nevertheless, still regarded themselves as Jewish.
As time moved on, cities were built and the agricultural basis of what was a socialist state moved into an industrialised, hi-tech capitalist based society. The Ashkenazi elite held the top jobs for decades and ruled the country while it absorbed the poorer Mizrachim and Safadim.
Five decades on the new immigrants from Arabs lands have had big families and are totally absorbed into Israeli society and they form a solid vote for Bibi’s Likud party. They have little sympathy for the Arabs, as it is in their living memory to having been driven penniless into the night from their homes in those Islamic lands. They see the displaced Palestinians as a population swap and it is not their problem that the Arab countries that host refugees from Pre ‘48 and ‘67 Israel refuse them both citizenship and absorption.
We have the so called settlers who view the whole of greater Israel as Jewish land and they are prepared to set up home, even if surrounded by hostile Arab villages and claim back their ancestral and spiritual home. We have the Ultra Orthodox, who are generally poor living in large families, who recognise no civil law and are guided only by Torah or the word of their individual Rabbi. They don’t care who is in power as long as the government facilitate their yeshivot and institutions.
Then we have the middle class Tel Avivians, who can afford to spend more on their dogs than many families have for food. They want and demand a liberal secular state, they do not support the haredim or the settlers and they believe in a two state solution.
We have a huge block of Russians. Many are not Jewish according to halacha . They have limited civil rights vis a vis marriage and burial, as they are not recognised as Jewish by the Rabbinate but become citizens as their ethnicity is recognised by the state. They support a right wing government but not the religious parties.
This is all before we even talk about the Israeli Arabs or the Arabs living under the corrupt Palestinian Authority!
With so many different factions within Israeli society coupled together with the proportional representation system, we have a recipe for civil disaster. The IDF is one of the only unifying concepts that sits in the hearts of it all. Even the Ultra religious who refuse to serve benefit from their protection even if they do not recognise the protection it affords.
It is becoming clear that the corruption charges against Bibi will result in a plea bargain and certain judicial reforms will be enacted. What is not clear is how the country will bridge its differences and start to heal.
I do not believe we will descend into civil war but the unrest is not over but perhaps we need to return to ballot box now everyone knows what is at stake. The divisions have allowed extremists to find their way into government and the majority are not extremists. We must unite and find a way forward.