Protests in Israel
by Raviv Meyouhas
Tel Aviv, July 18th 2020
Israeli people don’t usually get out of their homes to protest. Most of them think it is a waste of time.
Israelis like to criticize and complain, it is almost a national hobby. But they always finish their sentence with the phrase – “Yi-hie beseder”, meaning – Everything will be OK.
It is a sign of strong optimism that makes Israelis think positive and overcome obstacles.
But for the past two months, since Israel finished the first wave of COVID-19 very well, something has changed dramatically.
The situation for the past few weeks is bad. EVERY DAY 1,500-2,000 new COVID-19 patients are detected.
The economic situation is even more frustrating, as many people don’t work for months and have no money to pay their increasing debts. Many businesses collapsed, their employees fired, and firms that still operate have a very small revenue and lose money.
The combination of the economic and health situation made many people lose their faith in the government, and especially in the prime minister. This made the people stop saying – “Everything will be OK”.
They don’t believe things will be OK anymore. So they go out to protest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities.
It is strange to see that there are no leaders to these protests. The crowd goes out almost without an organizing leadership, and is combined from many different groups – old people, young people, families, self-employed, unemployed, employees, left wing, right wing, everyone. A lot of frustration, anger and disbelief are expressed, and sometimes the demonstrations become violent and the protesters collide with the police.
The protests are getting stronger from week to week, and the media echoes it louder each day.
I went to one big demonstration to photograph. It took place in Tel Aviv on July 18th. Thousands attended, and it went quietly for two hours. I hope you will feel the atmosphere and the people, even though the signs are all in Hebrew.
We all hope for a better future, with some positive and effective steps from the government that will shift Israel back to course.
