The Prime Defense Against Calamity Is Love and Unity

Like our good friend Yoseph Haddad , I was just about to post about the anti-government movement that is spreading here in Israel, when I heard about the ramming in Jerusalem .

Not The Israel I Know

What has happened to us? We used to be so connected here in Israel. When we moved here from Canada in 1978, I was so excited about the warm environment - compared to how superficial everything felt in Montreal. Everyone in Israel was so friendly and welcoming. We used to hang out and talk for hours, sing songs, and go home with our hearts full. We didn't have computers yet, or smartphones - we actually didn't even have a phone in our house. We moved to a pretty affluent little town called Ra'aanana (now the home of great companies like Amdocs ), which didn't even have the infrastructure for phone lines back then (!) There were no malls, no fast-food, people walked to the center of town for ice cream. There was traditional Israeli folk-dancing at school during the recess. And TV? There was only one black and white channel when we first arrived. Only a few movies were featured here, and there weren't hundreds of productions coming out all the time like today. As 'new immigrants' we mainly survived on fresh pita and humus, which was such a novelty for us. And falafel. So much healthy food everywhere. I think at the time there was only one kind of milk, and maybe a few types of coffee.

The more Israel connected to the world, the more it started changing very rapidly.

But the more Israel connected to the world, the more it started changing very rapidly. It started with long-distance calls abroad, then came color TV, more movies and music, the Internet and email, and of course mobile phones changed everything, then came all the malls and popular chains. Not to mention social media.

The Israel I had fallen in love with at the age of 12, started becoming a lot more like the country I'd left behind. I thought it was amazing but never imagined that the day would come when Israelis would eat exotic food and travel to exotic places. Or that young people would have millions of dollars to buy apartments and fancy cars, and travel abroad whenever they want. But all that changed when Israel became the Startup Nation. And now look where we are.

Protesting for the Sake of Protesting

Back to the anti-government movement that's counting down to shutting down the country on Monday. The bad forces at work to weaken Israel have gone into high-gear. It's a massive orchestrated operation to bring down the elected government. Now all the top financial experts in the world are telling Netanyahu what to do in an open letter. Thank you, but we don't need any advice from people who just crunch the numbers, and don't even understand Israel's true essence.

The people who are actually going out to the streets to shut down the country next week, are those that have benefited the most from the amazing economy Prime Minister Netanyahu enabled. And instead of it making them feel fulfilled, look how all that money and power has gone to their head. It's precisely those people from our lucrative high-tech sector making the largest salaries in the country, who are going up against the elected government. Who are simply protesting for the sake of protesting. Who have completely forgotten what it means to be Israeli. Who would rather emulate lifestyles from abroad, instead of being true to their special character.

The special character of Israelis is all about connection and human bonding. When you're with a group of Israelis you can feel that special vibe in the air. You can feel the warmth breaking down the barriers between us. But the further away we go from our true character and values - the more we're weakening the very foundations of our country.

The bottom line is that when Israel comes together, no one can hurt us. It's that simple. But we have to come to that understanding and agree to make concessions together. This whole thing is not about the judicial reform. It's about the growing gaps in Israeli society that really don't suit this country at all. We used to be safe everywhere and no Arab would dream of doing the things they're getting away with in broad daylight today - on the eve of Shabbat when everyone is busy preparing for their family's traditional Friday night gathering. Whether secular or religious, whether rich or poor, left or right - this is what most Israeli families do on Friday evening.

The protesters claim that the judicial reforms will weaken the country, but the only thing actually weakening us is our division.

I hope and pray that we'll be able to pull ourselves together before it's too late.