In Israel, “Secular State” Takes to the Streets Against Binyamin Netanyahu’s Coalition

They are forty years old, this Thursday morning, March 30, in front of the branch of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, taking turns on the megaphone. Breath of the Sea failed to carry some Israeli blue and white flags. “Thank you, Biden! », a man shouts, applauded by passersby. Earlier in the day, the US president inflicted an insult on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recalling that he was not invited. “immediately” In the White House and by revealing, for the first time, he thinks the reform of the Supreme Court has been promoted by this administration.

On Monday, March 27, Mr. Although Netanyahu announced his capitulation to their movement, these demonstrators did not give up. “Pause” A month into his reforms, which aim to free the administration from any independent judicial oversight, it has sparked the biggest uprising in the country’s history since January. Saturday 1^R In April, organizers planned new mass marches. “We’ve passed the first phase. It’s going to be a marathon.”One of them, Josh Drill, warned in front of the US embassy.

Mr. The drill is part of an organizing committee called the “Umbrella Operation,” which is helping organize logistics in this unprecedented wave of fury without clear direction. “Everything comes from the ground up. If I am arrested tomorrow, nothing will change, the demonstrations are completely decentralized.The 26-year-old, who once worked for Likud MP Nir Barkat, says when he sought to dethrone Binyamin Netanyahu.

A student of Political Science, Mr. Drill devoted his dissertation to the impact of the Internet on social movements in Hong Kong and Brazil. Secular Israel is rallying against protesters’ calls “A Conspiracy”, a systematic attempt to crush checks and balances — starting with the Supreme Court — in the name of the extremist agenda of the most right-wing and religious government in history. These protesters are peaceful, they want to defend the state and the established order, they praise the police, flood the streets with flags and sweep the sidewalks behind them. They show their love for judges, the central bank director and finance ministry economists who warn against the consequences of reform.

Josh Drille doesn’t think they’re the majority: the country has been leaning further to the right since the 2000s. But opponents “Backbone of Israel”. Members of Parliament from the ruling coalition see themselves “Deep Level” : Ashkenazi Israel (Jews from Eastern Europe) and globalized, it still maintains a high-ranking military and irrigates a thriving high-tech sector.

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