The sounds of the people

The mass protests of early 2023 in Israel have definitely been a thing. Whether a good thing or not depends, of course, on your view of the government’s proposed judicial reform – or just your view of the Netanyahu government itself.

There was a clash of ideologies, but many of the slogans resembled each other. Some were even chanted to the same beat. While anti-reform protesters chorused “Demokratia o mered” (Democracy or rebellion) to the notes of “Seven Nation Army,” reform supporters countered to the same rhythm: “Shishim ve’arbaa mandatim” (64 seats), referring to the number of coalition members in the Knesset. Both sides talked of a coup by the other.

Some members of elite army units refused to turn up for reserve duty or to train. War veterans carried out attention-grabbing operations. Women dressed in the style of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale became an international media sensation. Altogether, there were a lot of theatrics, many based on imagined horrors should the reform go ahead, rather than on reality.

Last Thursday’s provocative demonstration in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak was greeted by residents in their own way. Locals brought out offerings of cholent and hamentashen pastries. While anti-reform mass protests were noisy affairs with vuvuzelas and drums, Bnei Brak blasted them with love – loudspeakers were blaring the traditional song “Shalom Aleichem,” used to greet the Sabbath angels. Footage of a protester taking off a protective helmet and bursting into tears as he joined in with the familiar song went viral. It made a welcome change. Like many of my friends – on both sides of the reform debate – I’ve spent much of the last few months close to tears watching the country being ripped apart.

This week things came to a head.

Something had to give. How many Days of Disruption and Paralysis could the country take before it lost the ability to function altogether?

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he was firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had publicly called for a halt to the legal reform legislation to engage in negotiations and to try to reach a compromise.

To some, Gallant was a hero, bravely speaking out about the dangers of the continuation of the current situation while others saw him as caving into pressure from the protesters and felt Netanyahu had no choice but to fire him for breaking ranks with the government’s line.

The threat of Gallant’s dismissal was galvanizing. Massive numbers of protesters took to the streets within minutes and blocked Tel Aviv’s major Ayalon highway for hours. If nothing else, 2023 has taught us that blocking roads is acceptable as long as those

doing it belong to the correct camp.

Haredim, the disabled, members of the Ethiopian community – and of course the right-wing protesters against the Oslo Accords and the disengagement from Gaza – were not permitted such acts. No wonder a prevalent sign at pro-reform rallies declared: “I’m not a second-class citizen.”

On Monday, in what was probably the decisive factor in persuading Netanyahu to agree to President Isaac Herzog’s offer of trying to facilitate a national consensus on the reform, Arnon Bar-David, the head of the Histadrut Labor Federation, announced a nationwide general strike. The Histadrut was swiftly joined by the nation’s health care providers; universities; local governments; some major business owners, including at least two major shopping mall chains; and others.

Significantly, minutes after Bar-David’s declaration, the Israel Aviation

Authority closed Ben-Gurion International Airport to departures, in effect bringing the airport to a halt. Stopping the operation of the airport with no advance warning is illegal; closing the airport for political purposes is illegitimate.

The scope of the strikes was frightening in its own way. For example, obviously not every student (or faculty member) at every university or college is against the reform, but what kind of academic freedom will they experience if those responsible for grading their work tell them what they should be thinking?

The sudden strike by banks was ironic. For weeks, there has been scaremongering concerning accounts being suddenly blocked. The widely-expressed fear is based not on any clause in the reform. It stems from a scene in Atwood’s book and the TV series. It’s not the government taking its cue from dystopian novels, it is a public that can no longer distinguish between the real world and the world it reads about on social media feeds.

On Monday morning, the head of the association of plumbers had had enough of the anti-reform protesters and released his own threat: A counter strike by members of his association would, he said, leave the country in deep you know what. Even pilots and officers living in expensive villas need the services of plumbers, he noted.

It was a plea from the depths. The ordinary man dared to speak out against those trying to bring the government down, particularly the perceived elites – even if it brings the country down with it.

Some gestures were more meaningful than others. The Israeli Opera, for instance, canceled some performances in sympathy with the protests, ignoring the fact that they don’t strike the same chord for all music lovers. And immensely popular singer, Shlomo Artzi – who had been criticized for not speaking out against the reform in public – this week changed his tune and turned down the prestigious Israel Prize, politicizing the honor instead of creating much-needed harmony.

Strangely, walking home from work with a friend on Monday night (the buses weren’t running because of the protests), we noticed the huge similarities between the two camps.

So many people were carrying blueand-white flags, it was hard to tell who was heading to the mass demonstration against the reform, and who was walking to the pro-reform rally. With Jerusalem’s streets bustling and the cafes full, there was a surprisingly festive atmosphere, almost as if Independence Day had arrived a month early. Although media attention naturally focused on the fringe elements who committed reprehensible violent acts, the general atmosphere was good spirited.

On Tuesday, negotiations on a compromise began at the President’s Residence. Calm returned to the streets. The doomsday scenarios belonged to yesterday. At least for now.

Without scrutiny or comment from the White House, riots were taking place in France and a megastrike was paralyzing Germany, but Israel could get back to what passes for normal.

The question remains where we go from here. While the demonstrators can rightly feel that their protests led to the change in the government’s approach, care must be taken that the fires lit on the Ayalon Highway don’t turn into a Pyrrhic victory. No government – Left or Right – will be able to effectively pass legislation and rule with the specter of mass demonstrations, threats to take financial assets out of the country and now that the ethos of leaving the IDF out of political battles has been broken. If the Supreme Court continues to be perceived as backing only one side, this is even more so.

There is no argument that the judicial system is in need of changes. There is also no argument that the current government won the majority vote in the November 1 election and was able to form a coalition. Both sides would do well to remember that we’re always judged by our response to challenging situations.

The proposed reform and the resulting mass demonstrations have weakened the country socially, financially, diplomatically, and – as Gallant pointed out – also from a security viewpoint. No less important than increasing the diversity on the Supreme Court benches, is ensuring diversity in academia, elite IDF units and elsewhere.

After the three months of turmoil we have just witnessed, there are no winners, but there are lessons to be learned. And at least the country has pulled back before losing almost everything we have built over the last 75 years.

In a vibrant democracy such as Israel there is no way – and no need – to all march to the same beat, but instead of the noise of protests, I’m looking forward next week to hearing the sounds of the Seder songs recalling the Exodus from Egypt. May our greatest argument be what tune to sing them to. And may we count our blessings as we recall the story of freedom.