Day 87 Of The War: “Removal Now”

Since the war began, we haven’t been back to our house in Mitzpe Ramon. Part of the reason was that, until recently, a family of evacuees from Ofakim stayed in our home. Last weekend, we finally returned. Currently, there are around 3000 evacuees in Mitzpe, including a whole kibbutz from the western Negev (Erez) that chose to relocate there for the upcoming year. in recent years, friction has arisen in the small town of Mitzpe (with about 5000 people) between the newcomers,  an ultra-Orthodox,  group that arrived  with their rabbi to town, and the rest of the population.https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/pride-parade-in-divided-mitzpe-rramon/ I  had hoped that in the upcoming municipal elections, the evacuees would be able to vote to maintain Mitzpe’s liberal stance. However, from conversations I had at the local bakery last Friday, I learned that since the evacuees, especially those from the Kibbutz, aren’t planning to change their registered address in their documents, they won’t be able to vote and influence the outcome of the election. It seems that once again, on a local level, we face the same problem we encounter on a national level: leaders who neither represent the voters nor do they reflect the wishes of the Israeli public.

Back in Tel Aviv, on Saturday night, we attended the first demonstration, after October 7th  against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his corrupt extremist government. Thousands of us gathered at Habima Square, demanding Netanyahu’s immediate removal from office. The atmosphere was markedly different from the demonstrations last year, when we still had hopes for imminent change.

Yet here we stand again, post the worst catastrophe in the history of the state. We were furious and saddened. On stage, family members of the October 7th victims continually reminded us of the callousness of this government. We repeatedly shouted “removal now.”  After this demonstration concluded, many of us moved on to the Kidnapped Circle protest, reiterating our demand for this heartless government to immediately bring back the hostages.”

And still, to end on a more optimistic note, as I write these lines, I read that the High Court of Israel  decided to strike down the reasonableness limitation law,    such good news.