The funeral bells are ringing for Israeli democracy - opinion

I am a British immigrant to Israel. I am secular, I read Haaretz, I go to the opera and, worst of all, I am left-wing. According to the mindset of Israel’s minister of national security, I am a guilty party and these are all good reasons for issuing me a one-way ticket to go back where I came from. But he should know that I am not going anywhere, at least not for long. I am guilty of participating in peaceful protests to preserve the soul of the country I love, and if I take a break to renew my energy, I will be back to continue the fight in whatever way is required to combat attempts to rewrite Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

For that is exactly what the present government’s so-called legal reform agenda is attempting to do. I spent many years of my professional life promoting an image of Israel based on its being the only genuine democracy in the Middle East, on its declared belief in the rights of all its citizens, their equality before the law, the freedoms every democracy embraces, of speech, of movement, of worship and yes, to demonstrate and to be different.

Israel only has its judicial system to keep its democracy functioning

Like all other democracies, Israel’s has not always been able to live up to the ideals it set for itself; but unlike other democracies, which may rely on a written constitution and/or a second level of governmental authority to restrict or ameliorate such failings, Israel has only the judiciary system to act as an essential check on the legislature and executive branches of government. And it is this very judicial system that the proposed reform plan aims to reform in such a way as to rid it of any teeth. If all the proposed legislation is passed, an Israeli’s way of life will be in the hands of a few elected officials with no legal restrictions, no curbs on abuse of their power, no obligation to protect minority rights or human rights in general.

The claim being made by senior sponsors of this plan that it is actually in defense of democracy is such a gross misunderstanding of what democracy means as to be laughable, except that it is so serious and dangerous that it has brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis out into the streets week after week, joined in a howl of protest by representatives of professional groups including some not known for political activism. Senior officials from all walks of Israeli life, including the IDF, the Diplomatic Corps, the security and intelligence establishments, not to mention foreign governments, have added their voices, calling for an end to what looks like madness.

While the government plows on heedless, a recent poll indicates that 70% of adult Israelis do not support the reform plan. It appears that the public is not as gullible as politicians seem to think. To quote Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool all the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

Our people are getting better at recognizing the lies we are meant to believe. For instance, a huge poster featuring the faces of Yariv Levin and Simcha Rothman, the main architects of the reform plan, informs us that 2, 304, 964 people voted for it. No, they voted for the parties which form the coalition without having much idea that a reform plan was in the making and certainly nothing of the details. No wonder the posters are being defaced, no doubt by the protesters whose anger, fear, and distress at what could happen to their society remain expressed at the level of peaceful protest.

This is more than can be said for the reactions of supporters of the plan. It is chilling to hear the hatred in the accusations hurled at the protesters. Death threats aimed at representatives of the law are a regular occurrence. Physical attacks against people holding the Israeli flag, the symbol of the resistance, are increasing. And now, the prime minister who, in a previous incarnation swore never to allow any interference in the power of the Supreme Court, pursues a plan to do exactly that and, presented by the president with a possible way to prevent a constitutional crisis, turns it down with barely a thought.

I am reminded of a famous Meditation by John Donne: “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Very sadly, the bells are tolling loud and clear in my country.  ■

The writer is an author and former head of the British Desk at the Jerusalem Foundation.