Michael Starr
Jerusalem Post, July 23, 2023
“… when the reform acts as a trigger for all the other aspects of the government’s agenda, it’s difficult to address the actual reform debate.”
The protests against the government’s judicial reform have been confusing from the beginning, with several complicated legal provisions at the crux of the debate. But even more perplexing and troubling for some is how ancillary issues, such as women’s rights or peace activism, are connected to the reform and lead to other controversial demonstrations, including the one at the Chief Rabbinate building in Tel Aviv last Tuesday.
Or on Saturday night, protesters hung a sign from a bridge in Tel Aviv declaring, “We don’t kill and we won’t die in service of the settlements.”
Religious Israelis rightly expressed concern that they are under attack, as those living beyond the Green Line feel targeted by such signs.
There is nothing in the current reform proposals that explicitly addresses disputed territory or settlements, and critics of the protest movements argue that such displays show that the protests are not just about the coalition’s policies to change the legal system but are a political challenge to the existence of the current coalition.
Coalition MKs have argued that the opposition was angered that it lost the election; the losing factions have been trying to unseat the government ever since, and fostering judicial reform protests is just a means to that end.
That all of the opposition is against the reform and all of the coalition supports the reform indicates that there is at least some realpolitik at play.
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