Sheera Frankel
NY Times, Dec. 10, 2023
“If the left has lost mainstream support, Israel’s peace camp has been driven virtually underground.”
Maya Mizrachi grimaced at the group of eight Israelis calling for peace with Palestinians in front of Israel’s military headquarters this month in Tel Aviv.
A year ago, Ms. Mizrachi, 25, had protested alongside them, carrying a sign that called for Israel to end its military occupation of the West Bank. Now, she had bumped into them by accident, on her way home from a nearby rally calling for the return of Israeli citizens held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
“I don’t think there are more than eight people in all of Israel who would protest against the army right now,” said Ms. Mizrachi, who is a student. “I can’t even bring myself to do it.”
She is one of a growing number of Israeli citizens eschewing the politics of the left — ideas that include promoting peace talks with the Palestinians, ending Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and supporting a two-state solution — since Oct. 7, when Hamas gunmen crossed into Israel in a surprise attack and killed roughly 1,200 people.
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