by Corinne Spector
Israel is now fighting for its life: Will this country stay on course with the continued, common acceptance of the Proclamation of Independence it set when it was established in 1948, or will Israel now make a sharp turn away, toward religion, a possible civil war and chaos?
It seems there is a third option as well, as happened in our distant past, that is a division into two nations: Judea -- a country that is based on religious, dictatorial laws of Judaism --and Israel, a country belonging to the Jewish people that maintains equality among its citizens, whether of different religions, races or genders. It will continue to be run by democratic laws, with a separation between religion and politics, between "Church and State".
Until now, Israel has somehow been run with both democratic and religious institutions, but now the mass demonstrations have proven that we cannot continue in this manner, for a variety of reasons.
Members of the Knesset who are now in power, have determined that since they were elected by a majority, they can now dispense with the "Rule of Reason". This rule of reason, developed by the British legal system in the 16th century, stated that the courts must have the ability to critique the institutions of government. These critiques have generally protected minority rights, among all human rights.
But the Opposition, says that democracy means equality – that is, that every segment of society has an equal say in how our society will look and function.
Around the world, Judaism has many strains and stripes but the Rabbinical Courts in Israel have determined that their Orthodox way is the one that must prevail; all other types of Judaism are secondary or even irrelevant.
If so, the first victim of a religious country would be women and their rights, as is often seen in religious Islamic countries. In Israel, many women's human rights are already in the hands of the Rabbinical courts and these courts wish to expand their power into all areas of life. For instance, will women in divorce cases be seen and heard? Will women be allowed in various institutions of higher learning? Already, women have been removed from councils dealing with women's rights; it is absurd and insulting, but also frightening!
A religious country also rapidly becomes a racist one because it determines who is better or higher in the pecking order, and who is less so. And because religions of various kinds often disagree with the very existence of LGBTQ+ people, these groups will also be harmed in the near future.
Human rights in Israel have already been bashed - those who are currently in the government regularly attempt to silence those who disagree with them.
If this government really represents the majority but is uninterested in equality, what about other religions that have always existed here – will they still be able to practice their beliefs freely?
Many individuals and groups are now refusing to be a party to what they view as an undemocratic society. These include influential people from within the police force, the army, the medical field, hi-tech, and even industry – many are refusing to continue their work, and are joining others who are giving their energies to voluntary efforts fighting what they see as dire changes in Israeli governance. All of these citizens can be found protesting, for more than six straight months attendance at Saturday evening protests. Now they have
begun to demonstrate on hot Tuesday mornings as well, standing in intersections and snarling traffic all over the country.
These demonstrations are of course problematic for the smooth flow of traffic, but are also emblematic of Israel at this crossroads, and in the chaos, no one knows where we are headed.
July 2023
