Did You Sit Back When They ~Tried to Destroy the State?

By Emanuel Shilo, Editor-in-Chief of the Besheva weekly Hebrew newspaper.

1. The parties of the coalition government – the nationalist/right-wing/religious/haredi coalition – cannot really afford to give up seeking to reform the judicial system. Despite the temptation to say, as some of us are saying, "We tried, it didn't work, oh well; let's turn to other challenges," the fact is that this is untenable. If the current situation continues, our very large camp, the camp of the majority, will be stricken again and again, as will the values it holds holy and precious.

If the composition of the High Court, and consequently its attitude and spirit, do not change – the ongoing erosion of any national or religious issue will simply continue, and the judicial system's intolerable takeover of the powers of the Knesset and the government will only intensify. If the legal establishment comes out of this confrontation with a resounding victory, its leaders will continue to trample us, knowing that any threat from the political system to restrain them no longer exists.

2. As of now, the justices of the Supreme Court, both past and present, show no signs of willingness to soften their stance. As if they have no responsibility for what is happening! As if it were not they who caused the entire problem by adopting such a forceful and trampling activist approach. All indications show that there is a broad public consensus that changes are needed in the judicial system, and that the question is just how much. But our Chief Justice, Esther Chayut, Attorney General Gali Bahrav-Miara, and their colleagues are totally apathetic, and show no signs of willingness to compromise.

The Knesset and government and at least half the nation are groaning under their heavy yoke, but the courts' response is like that of the Biblical King Rehavam: "Former Chief Justice Aharon Barak flogged you with whips, and we will flog you with scorpions. Barak claimed that he is authorized to abolish laws that he believes stand in opposition to Basic Laws, but we will take the authority to nullify Basic Laws themselves!”

And then when we complain that they are selectively enforcing the law, dealing with the left-wing protestors infinitely more leniently than they treated the Gush Katif protestors 18 years ago, they roll their eyes and say they don’t know what we're talking about. When we compare the kid gloves of today and the draconian measures against the "orange" protestors then, they either lie and deny; explain with impressive pilpul why the two can't be compared; or ask self-righteously, "Two wrongs don't make a right! Should we repeat today the injustices of yesteryear?!"

As if there are only two options! As if we must either extend "until the end of the proceedings" the custody of masses of teenage protestors for having tried to block a road somewhere for a few minutes as the police did in 2005, or totally ignore the adults who now block the main highway in Tel Aviv for hours at a time, with police officers marching in their ranks! Did they never consider that the correct approach might run somewhere in the middle? How about arresting the leaders of the protest and the adult road-blockers for 2-3 days and handing down serious indictments against them?

3. It's true that given the paltry gains we have made so far, and given the tremendous damage the unrestrained, anarchistic, criminal, fight-picking protestors have caused the State, it is definitely worthwhile to ask whether our stubborn insistence on improving the judicial system is actually worth it. But the damage that can be expected from a long-term suspension of our efforts in this area – as opposed to a limited, tactical suspension – will be no less grave.

It must also be remembered that the other side likes to exaggerate, and this must not intimidate us. Just as they constantly overstate the number of demonstrators in Tel Aviv, so too do they embellish the threats to the country's security and economy, and constantly warn of civil war. This psychological warfare has served them well until now, so why shouldn't they continue? In actuality, however, the economy is holding up, and the IDF's readiness has not declined as they would have us believe.

4. Why is there a sense of helplessness in the right-wing public and in the government? It is because we seem to believe we are facing forces that are much stronger than we are. Yes, they have extensive resources and much money, including significant amounts from abroad. And just like in Gush Katif 18 years ago, there are those who seek to have us "make peace" with our failure, and to take comfort in the fact that our influence and numbers are growing and that very soon in the future we will be more successful.

But is it really true that we are so weak? Are we truly not yet sufficiently represented in the various power centers of the country for us to have practical influence today?

In Gush Katif, we were told that we should not even try to win – for if a group of protestors would defeat the government and army of Israel, that would be the end of our democracy, not to mention the end of the IDF's deterrence power against our enemies! Yet, that is exactly what is happening today, except even more so: We ourselves are the government! We ourselves are the majority! And still we're being told that we are too weak – while at the same time, the left-wing is doing exactly what we were told we should not do! If the left's protest is successful, would that not be the end of our democracy?!

5. I would like, with all modesty, to propose here a new approach. We are simply not doing enough. The other side is totally enlisted for the struggle, and each one does what he can to make a difference. But us? Every two months we come out for a giant demonstration, and then go home. This is not the way to win a public struggle.

The fact is this: The religious-nationalist public is already sufficiently integrated into the various sectors of the State – academia, the army, the economy, public service, and even the media – but simply does not dare to stand up for its rights and to struggle for what it believes!

It's not that each of us has to be an avid supporter of every aspect of the judicial reform package. All that is needed is to strongly oppose the politicization of institutions that are supposed to be apolitical! Why should the many right-wingers in hi-tech not stand up and oppose the hijacking of some of their companies for clearly political purposes? The poor excuses provided for the companies' political stances clearly do not camouflage their obvious political motives. The same is true for academia, the doctors, the media, and the army – where is everyone?!

Of course, it's easier to leave the hard work to the government. After all, we voted for them precisely so that they can work for us. This is true in normal times, but behold – we clearly see that the government cannot do the work by itself! It needs a home-front backbone for the civilian struggle. The other side is enlisted totally and disproportionately – and we must respond in kind. Are we too busy with "meetings of the minds" and looking for dialogue? Not that these aren't important; I've been to some of those get-togethers myself. But when the other side has no restraints and is not willing to budge even a millimeter, we have to be willing to fight as well.

The anti-reform campaign has a giant budget and over 100 (!) organizations and associations devoted to toppling the government and perpetuating the continued control of the elites over the democratic majority. Even if we don't have the hundreds of millions in funding that they have, we most certainly do have manpower and the spirit of volunteerism. We are lacking in leadership, initiative, and organization. It is easier to sit on the fence – but will we think the same after we lose the battle??

What will we answer in a few years when we ask ourselves, or our children ask us, "Where were you when they destroyed the State? What were you doing when they disintegrated the IDF? Did you lift a finger when the attempt to restore to the democratic majority the authority that was stolen from them scored a decisive defeat at the hands of an anarchistic, irresponsible, unrestrained minority?”

Where are our pilots?

Why do I know of only one IDF pilot – Shai Kelach is his name – who runs from studio to studio to protest against his refusenik colleagues, those who are willing to abandon their critical roles in our military for political purposes? I am working hard to restrain myself from mentioning the names of senior and admired pilots in our circles, whose silence is enabling the refusals in the Israel Air Force to become a threat to the security of the State of Israel.

Why are our senior army officers in the reserves, from the rank of Lt.-Col. and up, – aside from isolated individuals, such as Gen. Yaakov Amidror – not making the effort to make their voices heard and organize themselves into a contra force opposing those who are willing to dangerously politicize our precious army? They don't even have to publicly support the judicial reform; all they have to do is fight against the phenomenon of desertion in the IDF. Do we not have sufficient courage to express this elementary message?

And where are our doctors? Why aren't they demanding the resignation of the Chairman of the Israeli Medical Association, who took full, shameful advantage of his position to call a wildcat strike and thus abandon the patients for whom he and they are responsible?

Here are two exceptions: Veteran journalist and broadcaster Kalman Liebskind announced today that he is suspending his purchases of Strauss products, after Strauss announced that it was boycotting the right-wing Channel 14. "I am ending my monthly subscription for Tami-4 water [produced by Strauss]," Liebskind tweeted. "We want to drink water, not politics."

In this week's edition of Besheva, you can read an interview with a young and promising holder of a doctorate engaged in cancer research who is endangering her future advancement in order to call out Haifa University's entry into politics.

If the examples of these two were replicated a hundred-fold or more, the chances are overwhelming that sanity would return to our country, and the State run by the Knesset and government that were democratically elected precisely for that purpose.

As long as we have not tried this method, it is still way too early to declare defeat.

Translated from the Hebrew Besheva newspaper by Hillel Fendel.