The battle for the image of the State of Israel escalated this week – and with it the younger generation, who have always suffered from the image of being detached from the affairs of the day, came out to take part. On university campuses throughout the country, students demonstrated against and in favor of the legal reform of Yariv Levin and Benjamin Netanyahu, and at the same time, after the disqualification of Deri’s appointment in the court, Yeshiva students went out to demonstrate precisely against the ruling of the High Court and the legal system as a whole.
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At the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University, you will not be surprised to hear that there is an absolute majority for the opponents of Levin’s move. In the current mindset in the corridors, it is not certain that the Minister will survive the first year here. Even the lecturers in the faculty hand out flyers to students who oppose the government’s moves.
“It’s to show our students an example of civic commitment,” says Prof. Ilan Ben Shalom from the faculty. The statement is clear in these flyers. This is a crash, a total attack on all systems of government as we know them. It’s not an attempt to fix, it’s an attempt to create chaos.” Prof. Shimon Shtrit, former minister in the Labor Party and professor emeritus at the faculty, is a little less emphatic: “Corrections are needed, but let’s not exaggerate, neither in the quantity nor at the rate proposed by the Minister of Justice.”
The Hebrew University has known stormy days like these. Right against left, Jews against Arabs. It was tough and violent at times. In the 70’s there was not a single moment of rest here. Now it is the intensifying debate about the coalition’s move that is adding fervor to the usually rather indifferent students.