The earth that shook this week in Turkey and Syria and sent ripples here was very symbolic. Many of the citizens are seduced by the feeling that the ground beneath them is shaking and no one listens to them – no matter how loud they shout. This only increases their sense of helplessness. The public atmosphere also has ripples, similar to the aftershocks of serious earthquakes. The violence all around is raging – every day there are warnings of a third intifada and loss of control of the IOS; We were momentarily shocked by the rape in the fence and moved on; We were shocked for another fleeting moment by the murder of the young woman in Lod.
The health system is holding emergency discussions due to the outbreaks of violence against medical teams, and anyone who thinks that these things are not related is delusional. The public discourse is heated and heated, the skirmishes in the Knesset have lost all shame, and with them many members of the media who have indulged in rapacity and mutual contempt. The Israeli public continues to eat up the political squabbles, the sense of destitution, precisely the intolerance, and the ripples reach the roads, hospitals, schools and neighborhoods. What needs to happen for us to understand that we have exaggerated?
In the background there are mutterings about the need to talk about the planned revolutionary legislation, but the question is whether we have not already lost the ability to communicate with each other. After all, there really isn’t a discourse here anymore, so maybe you should stop pretending that there is. There is a lot of text, shouting, speakers and “voices”, but it’s all for nothing. It’s not just Simcha Rothmanno one really wants to hear the opinions of serious and knowledgeable professionals, unless they support the a priori position with which they arrived in advance.
No one really wants to talk, but only to voice his opinion, which he formulated only with people who in any case think like him. The ninth request in the number to postpone the evacuation of the decrepit Bedouin outpost Khan al-Ahmar this week should have allowed us some understanding of the reality, if we were open to it. After all, we are simply kidding ourselves to know, and not dealing with real solutions. What happened in the “Muslim Brotherhood government” is also happening in the “full right-wing” government. The gap between delusions and reality has never been greater. Does anyone know how to get out of this rift?
Disdain for respect
Israeli arrogance has never been dumber and more divided. On the one hand, the old elites, who behave as if we are still in 1990, and tower with blind naturalness over anyone who tries to turn the pyramid upside down. They look down on anyone who doesn’t think like them and expect respect in return. On the other side are the revolutionaries, who do exactly the same thing, only in a more aggressive style. Those who flaunt the “rule of the people” feathers, according to which this means that it is precisely those who have not studied and are not professionals who should be proud, steer the ship with shouts and tower over everyone. At every opportunity they pull out – why who are you? what is your name Why who does she think she is? And the audience cheers, claps.
During Yair Lapid’s speech in the Knesset this week, there was a big commotion. Members of Knesset and ministers stood up, shouted, accused him of incitement, left the plenum in protest. One of the difficult problems is that the representatives of the public think they are the cast of “Wonderful Country” – they want ratings, they argue and rave and present, and expect applause. Everything is good, until it reaches a point where there is nothing beyond that, that the truth has no value and the future of Israeli society is not really of interest to them.
The truth is that Shalapid spoke very nicely. He was not trying to incite, but to reflect. He is not really the leader of the liberal protest (perhaps unfortunately) but only tries to be aligned with it, and sometimes to join. But it seems that no one will listen. The continuous effort to reduce the dimensions of the demonstrations, to paint them in the colors of Palestine or “Left” or “Get out of here”, as well as to direct the spotlight only to those who transgress in their words or actions, shakes the ground in the State of Israel.
Even if there is a majority that for some reason is convinced that the government is planning wonderful moves – which is worthy of examination in itself – there are too many people who are opposed. How come you can’t even listen to them? The executive and legislative authorities, which will soon subordinate the judicial authority to it, are talking about canceling the secession law in northern Samaria. The consequences of the cancellation can be debated, but what about the way? Didn’t we learn anything? After all, that move deeply shook the country, and it had far fewer opponents than the current moves.
Righteous in Sodom
When they are done with the judicial system, the new government is planning a predatory move against the media as well. Yes, it is hard not to agree with the statement that our media is sick. But politics is even sicker. The new government is not really working to fix but to take over – first the nature of the judicial system, then the nature of the media. It plans exorbitant benefits for Channel 14, which negotiates it, in order to harm the rest of the broadcast channels, and since the corporation does not operate from the position, why should it continue to finance it?
An old friend talked to me this week. Right-wing in his views and a Likud voter since he can remember, but very concerned about what is happening here. I have the feeling that we are in the middle of a disconnection process where each side of the political map will watch its own channel, he said, I was flipping through the channels this week and suddenly I realized that we are losing the ability to speak honestly and not out of position.
This trend is indeed very dangerous. Try to think when was the last time you heard from a media outlet a criticism that does not completely align with the clear agenda that everyone knows in advance. When was the last time a leading journalist said something unexpected? So filled the politicians, who unfortunately can no longer expect anything from them that will not be connected to their personal interest. But what about the journalists? Is there no brave righteous person in Sodom? Have they also become bound to the position, and afraid to cross the line lest they lose their livelihood, or arouse the anger of the readers, viewers and followers who expect only to be stuck more firmly in their minds?
The internal war must calm down, and the responsibility lies with the leadership, but also with those who claim to want the good of the country and sit in the media on all its shades and positions. All the lightbulbs and cheklakas have been turned on, and the disparaging and expected death statements will not calm the objections and will not fulfill the idiotic expectation that after the earth-shaking legislation, we will simply continue forward as if nothing happened.
We all have to continue living here, and the current government moves will not allow that. Think how much the ultra-Orthodox parties raved about the increase in taxes on sugary drinks, how much the small move that was intended to protect health – hurt their souls. But those who were deeply shocked by the tax on the orangeade, are now not ready to listen to the sense of division that is tearing apart half of the people here.