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What is at stake in Israel [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-07-24

I don't know how much any of you are following what is going on in Israel but it is very very worrying and very very bad. If you care about the state of Israel, you should be very worried. If you care about the wellbeing of Arabs in Israel, you should be very worried. If you care about the wellbeing of Palestinians, you should be very worried. .

I am not an expert in Israeli politics, but here is what I understand, in case you are curious. Israel was a British colony and when they gained independence they set up a parliamentary system, like England. In Israel, the top 120 vote getters get seats -- there are no "regional" seats (the country is the size of NJ so maybe that makes sense). So if your party gets 50% of the vote, you get 60 seats. No one gets that many because there are lots and lots of parties. The Prime Minister is chosen by having at least 61 votes, so that means that coalitions need to be formed. There are super religious groups (honestly, the ultra religious in any religion are basically cults, imho, but that is another topic). The very religious almost all vote for super religious parties. In the beginning of Israel, all those parties wanted was to have benefits like not having to be in the army and money for their schools. Whomever was closest to a majority gave it to them and they joined the coalition. They joined left and right coalitions back then. .

But those groups got bigger (they have lots and lots of kids and religious fanatics from America etc. love to move there) and, just like in the US, many of them are now far right fanatics. So they wouldn't join with the left anymore. And when they join with the right, they don't just want to leach off society anymore. They want to change it so everyone has to live by their rules. .

Because there are more of them, and because of the parliamentary system, they have a lot of power. And they are currently flexing it. The far right extremist groups are in on this big time. Imagine the worst of the worst in the US, people who could get 4% of the vote but no more -- those people are driving Israeli politics right now. .

The things they want to do will destroy Israel. Hard stop. No one who is caring and smart and progressive and non-fanatic will want to live there. "Start up nation" will be over. Anyone who is not a religious Jew will have very little power over their lives. The stakes for Israeli Arabs will be dire.

Netanyahu is making this Faustian bargain because he is in huge legal trouble and staying in power is his best bet to staying out of jail (sound familiar???) He is willing to destroy Israel to save himself. .

He and his allies want to frame this as judicial reform (the term you might have heard in the news) but this is removing the only barrier to making Israel a dictatorship. Here in the US we have three branches of government. But the Prime Minister coming from the parliament means that Israel loses one branch there. The judicial? That is what they are trying to eliminate. Israel has no constitution. When it was founded they planned to write one but things were changing so fast with refugees coming from Europe that it did not happen. .

So the judicial branch uses "reasonableness" to assess the laws set by the parliament **this is the only check*** This is what Netanyahu and his right wing lunatics want to get rid of. Without this, they could literally pass any law -- get rid of elections, get rid of women's rights, get rid of minority rights, get rid of gay rights. No one could stop them. All of it gone. And this isn't some fantasy -- these are just the kinds of things they would love to do. .

You may love Israel. You may hate Israel. Whatever you think of it -- this change will make it so much worse for all the good people who live there, for the whole region, and for democracy around the world. .

Those good people are fighting with all they have. We saw it when we were there in April and I see if in every post from my amazing cousins and Aunts and Uncle. They are fighting for the only country they have. For years, I have watched them fight to make Israel better for the Palestinians. Now they fight for everyone in the region. . What will happen next? Challenges of the law are already going to the Supreme Court. If I had to guess, the SC will say that this new law (taking their power away) is not reasonable and overturn it. The majority in the Parliament will disagree and say they took away the right of the SC to do this (with this law). Then there will be a crisis where people (and the military) have to decide whose side they are on: the SC and the majority of Israelis or the Parliament. This is a guess. .

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/24/2183039/-What-is-at-stake-in-Israel

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