The deep divisions in Israel over the direction of the war, the drafting of haredim, and the long-gestating judicial overhaul that the government seems intent on pushing through, despite the other critical issues facing the country, have been festering and simmering.
It seems like ancient history, but only two years ago, police and protesters were clashing over the judicial reform plans, and views on the subject were so strained that even some family members were not talking to each other.
Since October 7, 2023, the internal division has been focused on the hostages, the continuation of the war in Gaza, and the continued refusal of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) segment of society to do their part to defend their country at war.
Spurred on by extremist incitement from all sides of the political spectrum, the sense that the situation could devolve into violence has emerged into a shocking reality, as exemplified by two incidents that took place recently.
On Saturday night, the Supreme Court announced that a window in a court building in Jerusalem was shattered, either by an airsoft gun or a slingshot, according to the police, during a right-wing protest on Thursday evening.
During the protest outside the court, some 10,000 demonstrators gathered against the judiciary and heard Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the main proponent of the judicial overhaul, accuse the court of “tyranny.”
Speaking to KAN on Saturday night before the window was discovered, Levin further delegitimized the court by saying, “Justice [Isaac] Amit is not the president of the Supreme Court, I do not recognize him and will not recognize him because he was elected through an invalid and illegal process.”
Levin condemned the window being shot at “in the strongest terms,” as did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who condemned violence “of any kind” and called on the police and public leaders to “condemn and act decisively against all manifestations of violence and incitement – without exception.”
Neither Levin nor Netanyahu seemed to realize that their statements over the last three years disparaging the Court may have had something to do with Thursday night’s window shooting.
Likewise, another terrifying reminder of how the animosity within our society can manifest itself in physical violence emerged on Sunday morning, when the Or Habib synagogue in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood was set on fire, according to the Fire and Rescue Authority.
The starting spot of the fire, according to video footage, was the seat where former Sephardi chief rabbi and Shas spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef prays.
Yosef, in December, encouraged haredi yeshiva students to take their draft notices and “Tear them up, throw them in the toilet, and flush them away.” A massive toilet installation was displayed last week during an anti-draft protest near Bnei Brak.
Deri: Anti-haredi arson is ‘hate crime of highest level’
Shas leader Aryeh Deri defined the arson as “a hate crime of the highest level” and called for an end to incitement against the haredi community.
“Enough with the hate. Enough with the incitement. Look what incitement and hatred can do,” Deri said. “Were it not for the miracle of the Fire and Rescue Authority coming, we could have arrived here today without a synagogue, without sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) – everything burned. Who knows where this will lead?… Words can kill.”
That is indeed the takeaway from the two heinous incidents. The words used like weapons to demonize certain segments of the population create an environment that leads hotheads to act on them.
The situation on the ground doesn’t appear to be calming down anytime soon. Wednesday will see a potentially fateful vote on the dispersal of the Knesset over the haredi draft issue.
There were reports on Monday that Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara – the bogeyman of Netanyahu and Levin – had been summoned to a hearing next Tuesday before a ministerial committee to begin dismissal procedures against her. And the 55 hostages still in Gaza remain in a hellish limbo, as negotiations for their release are stuck in neutral and the IDF continues its bombardment of Hamas targets in Gaza.
Any of those issues is dry tinder for a huge fire that could break out any moment. It’s incumbent on all political and civic leaders to refrain from adding fuel to the fire and, rather, to issue messages of reconciliation and understanding.
As much as we may disagree on issues and the direction we want to see the country move in, acts of violence do not belong in a progressive society, which Israel claims to be. It’s time to prove it.
Jesus Christ is King
