Readers who trust the prime minister's motives and his decisions, who believe that Israel is heading in a good direction, or are convinced that we are a step from total victory and/or we are fast approaching messianic redemption - those readers are invited to skip this article.
Others, whom polls indicate are a majority of the public – why are you not all out in the streets, demonstrating? What will you tell yourselves when we hit rock bottom? How will you assuage your conscience for renouncing the possibility to influence, to salvage?
There is no shortage of excuses to stay at home. Take the purists who want a tailor-made protest. They are in favor of a hostage deal but oppose early elections, or they favor immediate polls but refuse to be seen at a demonstration in which others display signs against the occupation. If the protest does not answer their precise demands, if it deviates an iota from their agenda, count them out. At the same time, the parties that make up the current coalition avoid such purism. They all have each other's back, each making the compromises necessary to further what is dear to the other.
Some say, Israel is a democracy - the people have spoken. But democracy is not only elections every four years – Russia and other countries also conduct those, and who knows how much further we will deteriorate before 2026, when they are next scheduled. Democracy is also the rule of law and equality before it, minority rights, individual freedoms and more.
In a democracy, the police arrest armed invaders into an army base, but they have neglected to do so here. In a democracy, citizens are not brought before a judge for legal expressions of their opinions, as is increasingly happening.
A democracy does not threaten to fire a minister of defense who – surprise! - has firm opinions on security matters and does not toe the line dictated by the prime minister. Linguistic note: the similarity between "dictate" and "dictator" is no coincidence.
Then there are those who believe that "instead of protesting, it is to better spend time in dialogue with the other side". What is nobler than bridging gaps? As divisions grow, well-intentioned people establish more and more groups where religious meet secular or right talk to left. In their naivete, they oppose protests against the government as much as they are against protests by its supporters, ignoring that the latter do not require drums and placards to make their point – they have government power at their disposal, meaning authority and budgets to promote their agenda.
Tova HerzlThus, while groups chatting over lukewarm coffee and stale coffee attempt to agree on the big issues, the convicted minister of internal security is actively changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, which is arguably the most sensitive site on earth, the minister of finance willfully erases the Green Line, thus officially turning Israel into an apartheid state, the minister of communications continues his efforts to silence critical press and the judicial overhaul marches merrily along.
The classic argument against protesting now is: no demonstrations (or elections, or a commission of inquiry) during war, which leads to the top of this piece. Many are convinced that the war continues in order to serve the prime minister's political needs, while we the subjects pay the price in body and soul, security, finances, external relations and more.
No, there is no need to point the enemy to me, or describe their cruelty. But my leader is not whoever will replace Sinwar but Netanyahu, and the seat of my government is Jerusalem, not Teheran. The huge demonstrations that delayed the judicial "reform" prove that only determined multitudes cause this government to change is bad ways.
Any Israeli who understands that our regime poses a severe danger to our future is duty-bound to do everything possible to bring about change, before it is too late. Abstaining enables the government to continue on its destructive path, turning whoever remains silent into a collaborator in the ruin that is being brought upon us by the government and the man helming it.
- Tova Herzl is a former Israeli ambassador to South Africa and the Baltic countries, and served as liaison between the U.S. Congress at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: