Strike, don’t just demonstrate against the judicial coup, and don’t relent

The ultra-right starts to realize it lost, has built on melting ice, and fatigues

They expect less resistance than they encountered in March, but why?

A right-wing outgoing ex-deputy AG wants a Bibi plea bargain because the trial against Netanyahu can’t coincide with the overhaul. He forgets Bibi’d be insane (and he isn’t) if he’d agree to a plea bargain if he’s innocent. He still lies like a charm claiming he only forgot to drink on an outing during a heatwave. I don’t think his judgment is that severely impaired.

The brains behind the coup attempt are getting tired and desperate.

Also the riffraff is getting frantic, even in the Knesset.

Some new cracks appear in the coalition, including in the Likud.

They try to intimidate the President out of neutrality into submission.

Netanyahu plays chicken with striking reservists. Who’s the attacker here? The IDF trains soldiers that ‘It’s the law’ doesn’t justify following unjust commands. But Gantz needed to side with Bibi not to seem unreasonable.

Ben Gevir is getting more isolated and indefensible by the day. His attempts to bully the demonstrators via the police will backfire.

The ultra-right ‘press’ continues with false (outlying) poll numbers as if the Likud and Netanyahu would stay the largest. No other outlet finds this.

Beware: The government tries passing the backbone of the coup, not a thin slice, as part of salami tactics. NB: We oppose ideas, not people. The ultra-right lies nothing drastic will be done and preferring negotiations. Never believe the coalition claiming this is exactly what the Justices want. And distrust opposition leaders claiming negotiation may still happen.

Parents surely should take their kids to demonstrations that are not expected to be violent, like in Jerusalem. It’s part of educating them.

Here are two new examples of why Israel needs a High Court to strike down majority decisions and laws that harm vulnerable minorities since we lack a Basic Law that would enable every Israeli judge to do so.

The coalition’s mantra is false. It goes roughly like: ‘Non-elected officials cannot override a freely elected government.’ That depends. There’s no democratic right to violate minorities or equality. No majority may use the courts, police, or army to stifle the People. Unelected heads of hospitals or universities do not need to do science such that it pleases the majority. Neither are artists, religious leaders, or laborers slaves of the PM. Etc.

The Saturday night demonstrations and weekday upheaval are relentless.

I say that demonstrations don’t suffice anymore. We need nationwide strikes at hospitals and health fonds, the IDF, harbors, airports, shops, industry, courts, transportation, freezing preparations for the new school and academic year for schools and universities, interruptions of electricity, TV, and internet access, etc. with exception of news reports. All workers can do this maximally responsibly while causing maximal discomfort.

I admit it’s hard to disrupt trains or interrupt the electricity supply when there are power outages because of technical problems or a heatwave.

All this public protest will not persuade the government. It might convince a few coalition MKs. But their most important aim is at the High Court. These Justices were too weak/confused to stop Ben Gevir and his cohorts from standing for election and entering the government. They must know all of Israeli society will come to a halt if they fail yet again to do their job.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, an almost daily blog contributor to the Times of Israel, and previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is (partly) generated by AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. He doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit about what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and education contribute to his visions. * If you don't know the Dutch, get an American peek behind the scenes here: https://youtu.be/QMPp6h6r72M * To find less-recent posts on subject XXX among his 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. Yet, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people who don't deserve that. He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust, and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * His most influential teachers (chronologically) are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. * One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. He loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, anti-elitism, anti-bigotry and supremacy, for Zionism, Intersectionality, and non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, empowering therapist. 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