Protests are a hallmark of democracy. Intimidation isn’t
In the last few years, from the days of the judicial reform to the hostages’ crisis, Israel has seen more than its fair share of protests. As a leader in the Zionist Movement, the right to protest and protests are to be celebrated. They are a true reflection of Zionism – and not just because the specific protests I mentioned have been in support of core Zionist and Jewish values like democracy, the redeeming of captives and mutual responsibility, but because protest is in itself a continuation of Zionism’s legacy of being one of the few, if any, political movements that has been democratic from its very beginnings.
But in recent weeks, we’ve seen a new phenomenon take hold here in Israel. One that has turned new faces into household names. People like Mordechai David, Roi Star, and others. Right-wing agitators who circulate at anti-government demonstrations harassing participants. Just recently, we all saw David block the vehicle of Aharon Barak, a former chief justice and physically unwell 89-year-old Holocaust survivor. While some Israelis may disagree with his judicial philosophy, this is the same jurist who, despite being a fierce critic of Prime Minister Netanyahu, was the one Netanyahu himself chose to represent Israel as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice as the country faced charges of genocide in Gaza. After all, Barak is a world-renowned legal scholar, and if there were a Nobel Prize in Law, he would’ve won it years ago.
These agitators claim to simply be mirroring the tactics of anti-government demonstrators: If they can block traffic, why can’t we? If they can protest opposite a senior official, why can’t we? They claim to be highlighting hypocrisy.
I will put aside the moral obtuseness required to believe it’s the same thing to block a major highway for media attention for a defined cause or to protest opposite a serving official as it is to block the car of an unwell 89-year-old Holocaust survivor who hasn’t held any public office for decades. I will put aside the obvious difference between one organizing their own demonstration versus coming to harass others at their gatherings.
Beyond all this, these far-right agitators are making a mockery of what protest in a democracy is: a tool to change policy. Harassing Aharon Barak, who is no longer in public life, doesn’t change policy – it is just that: harassment. What policy are David and others even trying to change? How are their protests part of a strategy to bring about that outcome? After all, as we’ve seen, David is welcomed with open arms by coalition members at the Knesset: he’s been photographed smiling alongside Itamar Ben Gvir, Yariv Levin, and others. His friends are in power. Why is he not pushing those who hold positions of power to make the change he so desires to bring?
The answer is clear. Because these figures aren’t trying to make any constructive change. They’re trying to scare off the majority of Israelis who want this country to remain a vibrant and diverse Jewish and democratic state. They see those of us in that clear majority not as partners who disagree on issues, but as an enemy to be defeated. And in an election year where they know polls show that their allies stand to lose in a fair election, the only chance they have is to make it unfair. To try to scare us.
And make no mistake: Mordechai David and his friends won’t be harassing former judges on election day. They’ll be standing outside polling stations trying to intimidate those who disagree with them from casting their ballots – in essence, being the military wing of the Likud Party and Ben Gvir’s party. They’ll do so with the glowing support of coalition politicians, and likely, without intervention from the police, who have shown themselves unwilling, unable, or both to stop this worrying trend before it transforms into outright voter intimidation and likely, violence. Perhaps Mordechai David, 24, is too young to remember where such acts lead – but those of us who lived through November 1994 do.
Unfortunately, liberal forces in Israel must prepare for this eventuality. We may even be able to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world who have been engaged in voter rights’ and protection efforts. But beyond election day, the next government here will need to have nerves of steel to tackle these phenomena, and the best way to do so will be by having a real “constitutional moment” where we settle the questions regarding the nature and structure of Israel’s democracy that have hounded us for years.
