Can fascism be resisted, repulsed and restrained in America and Israel?

I returned to Bibiland from Trumpland last week quite depressed after two months in the USA under the dystopian reign of King Donald and his lunatic cabinet of useless idiots and irrational Republican majorities in the House and Senate of the American Congress. His avalanche of attack on the foundations of American democracy during his first 100 days in office — on the courts, the free press, higher education, science, medicine, scientific research, and culture—are scaring liberal Americans to the core. The damage that he and his cronies have done already in the first few months in all these areas may be irrevocable. Many commentators (Timothy Snyder, Rachel Maddow, Jason Stanley, Robert Reich and others) in America have already labeled Trump as a fascist and they are sounding the alarm that this process and this person must somehow be resisted, repulsed and restrained. In a recent interview, Rachel Maddow went as far to say that this generation will not allow this to happen in America—they will fight back and succeed. (Her book called Sequel, about fascism in America in the 1930s and 1940s, which just came out in paperback, gives her support for her claim that fascism was and will be defeated in America.)

Upon return to Israel, I found similar alarming developments. PM Netanyahu has yet to accept responsibility and resign (even though I wrote a great final speech for him last week). On the contrary, he continues to dominate the political scene in Israel, along with his super extremist partners—Smotrich and Ben Gvir and others—promoting the politics of cruelty, destruction, war, oppression, occupation, economic ruin, incitement, hatred, vilification of all internal opponents, international isolation and more. He and his minions are on a wild rampage, dismissing totally the will of more than 70 percent of the citizens of Israel who want the hostages redeemed, the war to end, and the Israeli economy to be stabilized. Every day their statements and actions are more unbridled, immoral, and insane than the day before, so that they have become the norm now in Israel, which presents to the outside world an isolationist and anti-humanistic world view that is shocking to most observers, much like the phenomenon of Trumpian/Orwellian America. They want to take over the Gaza Strip, forcibly remove two million Palestinians (to where?), rebuild settlements, re-establish military occupation for the foreseeable future, all apparently with the approval of the wild man in the White House (unless he suddenly changes his mind again when he is in the region this week. Maybe he will be motivated by the Saudis and other “moderate” Arab states to return to the path of peace, mostly for economic reasons)?

Can the forces of fascism in these two countries be repelled before it is too late? This is the question at hand!

In both countries, the resistance has begun. In the USA, more and more millions of people have been demonstrating against Trump and Trumpism in cities across the country each week. The courts are fighting back, with many court cases going against the president’s dictatorial edicts.  Some of the Supreme Court Justices –like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Justice Sonia Sotomayor–are speaking out forthrightly. Justice Brown Jackson forcefully condemned attacks by President Donald Trump and his allies on judges who have blocked Trump administration policies, warning recently that the increasingly hostile rhetoric poses a dire threat to the country’s political fabric. Justice Sotomayor, speaking to hundreds of lawyers at an American Bar Association event last Thursday night, urged the legal profession to toughen up. “If you’re not used to fighting, and losing battles, then don’t become a lawyer,” she said. “Our job is to stand up for people who can’t do it themselves.”

But will any of this stop Trump? He continues to ignore court decisions and to incite to hatred and division every day, every hour. He appears to be above the law—he has no regard for the rule of law! After his military parade in June, will he declare martial law? Do we have time until the midterms in a year and a half, or will America already be a fully fascist country by then?  Will he allow elections ever again?

In Israel, the resistance to Bibi, Ben Gvir and Smotrich and their ilk is growing too. Every Saturday night, hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens take to the streets to demonstrate against this extremist government. Most of the citizens want the tragedy of the Gaza War to end already, for the sake of both Israelis and Palestinians. We want the war to be finished, the hostages to be brought home, and the Gaza strip to be rehabilitated and rebuilt.

Last Friday, I attended the People’s Conference for Peace at the Jerusalem Conference Center, along with 3000 citizens of Israel, Jews and Arabs alike, from all over Israel. It was an impressive event. The movement is growing. Sixty non-profit organizations have banded together under the banner of “It’s time”. Indeed, it is time to end the war in Gaza! This was the clarion call to the government of Israel (and America) at this conference. Enough suffering on both sides. Enough killing and getting killed. There is another way, the path of dialogue and negotiations, which will end this war and seek political/diplomatic agreements to prevent future wars.

The organizers of the peace movement in Israel are promising to enlarge their forces and to seek to have an influence on the public in Israel. Will they succeed? Perhaps. Because the majority of the people of Israel are sick and tired of this war and this government.

Yet, the fascist forces in the government are very strong, even if they don’t represent most of the citizens of Israel. They are hard at work every day, every hour, like the Trumpists in America. Telling lies, creating false narratives, inciting to hatred and violence. And currently they hold the power.

On the other hand, the pro-democracy voices are growing in Israel all the time. Actually, they are the majority, but they are not dictating government policy at this time. There is a desperate need for elections in Israel, the sooner the better. Only through elections will those political parties with fascist tendencies and policies be voted out of office and replaced by a sane responsible group of leaders. I am told—and I read in the press here—that there is a good chance that this government may fall soon, due to internal political disagreements, and that new elections could be called. I hope that this happens very soon.

In the meantime, the pro-democracy and pro-peace coalitions will keep up the pressure in the public square and even increase it. It is time, not only to end the war, bring the hostages home, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and restore some sense of normal life to Israel and Palestine. It is also time to seek peace and pursue it, before it is too late. And it is time to elect responsible leaders (on both sides), who will resist fascism and return us to a path of democracy, diplomacy and hope.