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Photos: Published by 972mag
A police water cannon targets protesters on the Ayalon highway, Tel Aviv. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after he called to pause the government’s planned judicial overhaul, March 26, 2023. (Oren Ziv)
Anti-apartheid protesters take part in the weekly protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, Tel Aviv, February 11, 2023. (Gili Yaari /Flash90)

Thousands of Israeli protesters rally against the Isra eli government’s judicial overhaul plans outside the Knesset, Jerusalem, March 27, 2023.(Gili Yaari/Flash90)
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A movement that started out against the government's judicial coup has morphed into a successful uprising. Yet questions still loom about what this moment portends for Israeli politics, and above all for Palestinians.

by Haggai Matar for 972mag
March 27, 2023

The word “unprecedented” no longer accurately captures the magnitude of recent developments in Israel. No matter what happens next, we are witnessing history in the making. Never before have Israelis risen up in such numbers with such commitment against their own government — to the point that they have effectively brought it to its knees. At the time of writing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trapped between the option of halting his plan to neuter the judiciary, putting the survival of the most far-right coalition, and his own political career, at risk — and the option of allowing the country to slip further into chaos, a constitutional crisis, and perhaps even civil war.

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Morally, questions about the inherent tension between the state’s definitions as both “Jewish” and “democratic” are popping up like never before, as are questions about the true meaning of the word “equality” — the latest rallying cry on the streets. Over the past two months we have seen demonstrators change their attitudes toward the “anti-apartheid bloc,” from outright hostility and violence, to one of acceptance, with thousands adopting the bloc’s slogan of “democracy for all from the river to the sea.” At the very least, this could lead those who became radicalized over these past weeks to join the anti-apartheid movement. It may just be that Netanyahu’s latest move of promising Ben Gvir his own private militia, which will likely target Palestinians first and anti-government protesters after them, will also incentivize the opposition to connect the dots and ally with Palestinians.

[Read full article at 972mag News Source link]

A version of this article was also published in The Nation. Read it here>/a>.