Turmoil in Israel, trepidation in Palestine

Soon after the fascists and fanatics took the reins of power in Israel and began transforming the Jewish state into an autocratic state bordering on a theocracy, secular and liberal forces took to the streets. It was a desperate attempt to stop the new government from fast-tracking legislation that curtails the powers of the judiciary and subordinates the country’s Supreme Court to the whims of the ruling coalition’s slim majority in parliament.

They soon were joined by segments of the Israeli military occupation establishment, with former generals condemning the dangerous devolution towards authoritarianism. Likewise, segments of the powerful American Jewish community that long supported Israel as the “Jewish democracy”, warned against its descent into autocracy.

Indeed, Israeli headlines read like guidelines for future autocracy, with the justice minister working to strip power away from the judiciary, the communications minister threatening to defund Israel’s public broadcaster to funnel money to a channel favourable to the government, and the minister of heritage accusing organisations representing Reform Jews of endangering Jewish identity.

Fearing a tailspin into turmoil, President Isaac Herzog stepped in, with tacit support from President Joe Biden, to facilitate a compromise between the government and the protesters. But what seems like a well-intentioned effort to build consensus, is, in fact, an ill-advised attempt at appeasing fascists and pandering to evil.

Any compromise offered by Herzog would be skewed towards the ruling majority, which holds the power to interpret its articles at will. A compromise will also whitewash and empower the ruling fascists, presenting them as responsible and pragmatic actors, as they pursue their extremist agenda, and as the street opposition loses momentum and disintegrates, slowly but surely.

As Haaretz put it succinctly under the headline, Herzog, No Plan and No Compromise, “The plans were born in sin to whitewash a government led by a criminal defendant, who is in a conflict of interest in everything regarding changes in the judicial system and certainly regarding such a radical ‘reform’.”

But the more sinister and dangerous ramification of such compromise lies in it focusing on Israel’s liberal democracy for the Jews while ignoring its tyranny towards the Palestinians. In fact, reaching any sort of compromise on domestic affairs is sure to free the government’s hand to widen its oppression, deepen its occupation and multiply its illegal settlement.

Why?

Because neither the protesters nor the former generals and the current ranking military clamouring to lead them have shown any interest in reversing or curtailing the government’s expansionist and segregationist policies in Palestine. They don’t or won’t recognise the synergy between the expanding appeal of Jewish supremacy and the sprawling apartheid in Palestine they helped create.

That’s hypocritical and dangerous. As some among the earlier generation of security and intelligence chiefs recognised a dozen years ago, Israel has no security solutions in Palestine. And as highlighted by former Intelligence Service chief Ami Ayalon in his biography, Friendly Fire, because of its occupation, Israel’s democracy will devolve into tyranny.