Orit Pinhasov strongly opposes the Israeli government’s proposed judicial overhaul, but you would not find her anywhere near the mass protests against the plan. She said her marriage depends on it.
Her husband sits on the opposite side of Israel’s political divide, and joining the protests would only deepen what she says are already palpable tensions in her household.
“I don’t go to the demonstrations not because I don’t believe in them,” she said. “I don’t go in order to protect my home. I feel like I’m fighting for my home.”
Photo: AFP
As Israel turns 75 on Wednesday, it has much to celebrate, but instead of feting its accomplishments as a regional military and economic powerhouse, the nation that arose on the ashes of the Holocaust faces perhaps its gravest existential threat yet — not from foreign enemies, but from divisions within.
For more than three months, tens of thousands of people have rallied in the streets against what they see as an assault by an ultranationalist, religious government threatening a national identity rooted in liberal traditions.
Fighter pilots have threatened to stop reporting for duty. The nation’s leaders have openly warned of civil war, and families of fallen soldiers have called on politicians to stay away from the ceremonies. Many Israelis wonder if the deep split can ever heal.
Israeli Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Miri Regev, who is in charge of the main celebration tomorrow night, has threatened to throw out anyone who disrupts it.
The event takes place at a plaza next to Israel’s national cemetery in Jerusalem, where the country abruptly shifts from solemn Memorial Day observances for fallen soldiers to the joy of Independence Day, complete with a symbolic torch-lighting ceremony, military marches and musical and dance performances.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid is boycotting the ceremony.
“You have torn Israeli society apart, and no phony fireworks performance can cover that up,” he said.
The rift is so wide that Israel’s longest-running and perhaps most pressing problem — its open-ended military rule over the Palestinians — barely gets mentioned despite a recent surge in violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a polarizing leader revered by supporters and reviled by opponents, has played a key role in the crisis.
The divisions gained steam as he was indicted on corruption charges in 2019. Israel barreled through five cycles of elections in less than four years — all of them focused on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule.
Late last year, he finally eked out a victory — cobbling together the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Within days, it set out to overhaul the judicial system and give Netanyahu’s allies the power to overturn court decisions and appoint judges.
The plan, which critics see as a transparent power grab, has triggered unprecedented protests that ultimately forced Netanyahu to freeze it. In a reflection of the deep mistrust, the protests have only grown larger, exposing deeper fault lines in Israeli society that go back decades.
“Israel was always a deeply divided society, but somehow it held together,” said Tom Segev, an Israeli author, historian and journalist. “The difference now is that we are really discussing the basic values of this society.”
The protests against Netanyahu’s government show that many are “genuinely frightened” for the country’s future, he said.
Tel Aviv University economist Dan Ben-David, president of the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research, points to two seminal events in Israel’s history — the 1967 and 1973 Mideast wars.
The 1967 war, in which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, spawned the Jewish settler movement, which has turned into a powerful political force representing some 700,000 people.
The 1973 war set off a process that would bring the right-wing Likud party to power four years later. It has ruled for most of the time since then, usually in partnership with ultra-Orthodox parties.
These religious parties have used their political power to win generous subsidies and controversial exemptions from military service — angering the broader secular public.
The ultra-Orthodox community, and to a lesser extent the religious nationalist community run separate school systems that offer subpar educations with little respect for democratic values such as minority rights, Ben-David said.
Because these communities have high birthrates, the country needs to go back to a “melting pot” model that includes a core curriculum promoting universal values, he said.
“If we are one nation, then we need to teach our children what brings us together.”
Danny Danon, a former ambassador to the UN and top figure in Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the anniversary is a time for everyone to reflect and think about what they have in common.
“In my five years at the UN, I realized that our enemies do not make the distinction between left and right, secular and Orthodox,” he said. “That’s why we have to realize we have to stick together.”
Still, many see the 75th anniversary celebrations as a time for joy.
Pinhasov said that she would host a party for about 100 people at her home in central Israel, many of them are members of her husband’s family.
“It’s our Independence Day,” she said. “It’s still a day for celebrations.”
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