Is Israel Heading Into a Civil War?

Nobody asked President Biden for his 2 cents worth, but here it is -

"Public consensus is needed for a fundamental change such as Israel’s judicial overhaul program,"?US President Joe Biden?told?The New York Times?on Saturday in his first comment on the pending reform which critics have warned could weaken the country’s democracy. Jerusalem Post

I'm very concerned that the forces working to weaken Israel are using everything they have now.

The judicial reform has my country divided - either people are all for it or totally against it. The protesters think the changes will wipe out our democracy and give the politicians total control. Those in favor say it will restore the balance to Israeli democracy, which was disrupted when our supreme court took excessive rights into their hands, like the power to revoke laws they don't agree with, and appoint new judges. That gives them total control over our elected officials. But we didn't elect them to run the country according to their idea of democracy. So now we're fixing it.

The anti-government movement has become so big that even really prominent figures like current mayors and retired generals, opposition leaders and former prime ministers have begun to tout the possibility of a civil war. Some even called for the murder of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, and the entire cabinet, in order to restore democracy. They did it at a public event and on social media.

It's no secret that Israelis can be really stubborn and opinionated. We think that only our view has merit, and it was a charming trait when I first moved here decades ago. There were points in our history where we actually thought that people who didn't agree with our thinking deserve to die, and started civil wars. It looks like that's the way things are heading again this time.

Democracy is not good for people like that. Democracy is only good for those who believe that general policy decisions are made at the polls. If more people prefer one policy to another, the parties that support that more popular policy will win the election. It doesn't give them the right to abuse the minority, but it does give them the right and responsibility to implement the policy they were elected for.

If we think our country is democratic only when the view we support is in power, then we're not democrats; we're bullies pretending to be democrats.

It really hurts me to see what's happening in Israel right now. While the rest of the world is moving on after the whole Covid setback, every day here is even more toxic than before the elections.

Since we've fought each other in civil wars in the past, maybe it would be smart to disperse and not call ourselves a nation anymore. If it was up to me, I'd rather not see any bloodshed. I feel a bit weird even writing those words because in suburbs like where I live (Petach Tikva) everything is perfectly normal. Here all different kinds of sectors actually live in peace together - religious and secular, wealthy and the rest of us. Ashkenazi and Spheradic Israelis and new immigrants from Europe and North America.

Things are really heating up in the big cities and social media. If this continues, it will be hard to go back to normal.

There is another way. We've always been obstinate, arrogant, and opinionated. Even if we "broke up" now and got back together later, we'd still have to face each other and reach the same disagreement at some point. We're like that because our ancestors were like that. They knew that their only chance of success was to step on their own egos. Back then it was either unity or death. So we're right back where we started.

In the past, when our ancestors chose unity, we not only became a nation; we also became a model for the world. We were living proof that no matter how much we can't stand each other at times, when we rise above our hatred and unite, the bond we will form will overcome anything. And the power of such a nation will be insurmountable.

People aren't really in the mood for talking these days and especially not about unity, even though everyone can see it's a really big problem. Everyone just wants to push other people around. I hope we'll come to our senses before it's too late and start treating other people - even total strangers - with the consideration and respect we'd want people to show us.