With Limited Palestinian Participation: Will the Protests in Tel Aviv Overthrow Netanyahu's Coalition?

More than 100,000 people in the Israeli Occupation’s capital, Tel Aviv, staged demonstrations against the far-right government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.

Demonstrations are being organized for the third week in a row, the last of which was attended by opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, who confirmed that they would defend democracy and that they would not give up.

“Netanyahu is leading Israel towards the great catastrophe, and he will destroy it,” were the most prominent and powerful statements issued by prominent Israeli officials as part of the largest campaign of criticism and escalation against the head of the most extremist Israeli government.

Saturday’s demonstrations were followed by what some saw as a blow to Netanyahu, who had to sack the Minister of the Interior and Health, Aryeh Deri, in a begrudging response to the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision.

However, what was remarkable about this protest was the positions of the Palestinian politicians in support of it, but the deliberate marginalization of the 1948 Palestinians, as well as preventing them from raising the Palestinian flag during it, ended any hopes of increasing their participation in it, especially since they constitute 20% of what is called “Israel.”

 

Deep Rift

In a recent setback for the new right-wing coalition government, more than 110,000 Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other Israeli cities on Saturday, January 21, 2023.

The crowd objected to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rejecting the judicial reform plan of the Minister of Justice in the current Israeli government, Yariv Levin, which aims to limit the power of the Supreme Court.

Participants in the demonstration, which comes less than a week after the formation of the Netanyahu government, carried banners that read “Go out,” “Together against fascism and apartheid,” “Democracy is in danger,” and “Palestinian lives matter.”

CNN indicated that this is the third week in which opponents of the most extreme right-wing Netanyahu government in history have taken to the streets with protests, but the latter is the most popular so far.

According to the Times of Israel, the demonstrators in Tel Aviv chanted, saying that incitement begins in the halls of government and that Netanyahu is dangerous, corrupt, and racist.

According to the Israeli channel I24 News, former Israeli Prime Minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid participated in the demonstrations, saying: “People who love the country have come here today to defend its democracy, to defend its courts, to defend the idea of coexistence and of the common good.”

The demonstrations were also attended by a number of Knesset members, including Merav Michaeli and Gilad Kariv of the center-left Labour Party, Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab Front for Change coalition, as well as former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The former Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, said that “we encourage the protest and see it as backing for our political activity at the various levels,” adding that “there will be no compromise on democracy, the rule of law and a strong and independent judiciary.”

Some 80,000 demonstrators protested against the Netanyahu government last week, holding up banners comparing Netanyahu to Russian President Vladimir Putin and saying “Israel” is turning to the likes of quasi-democratic Hungary and theocratic Iran.

The government says a power imbalance has given judges and government legal advisers too much sway over lawmaking and governance, and Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the changes despite opposition.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is trying to reach a settlement between the opposition and the current government to avoid what he described, during a conference held on January 24, 2023, as a deep and dangerous constitutional crisis and a rift among the people.

While the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which organizes the protests, said that Netanyahu’s coup against policies in “Israel” will not succeed, adding that the people of “Israel” will face their tyranny, stressing that the demonstrations are only the beginning of the struggle against Netanyahu.

In a related context, Haaretz newspaper said that the Israeli government’s judicial advisor, Gali Baharav-Miara, will begin deliberations in the coming days with senior officials in the Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecution regarding Netanyahu’s interference in the judiciary and the possibility of forcing him to step down due to his incompetence.

The newspaper added, quoting judicial sources, that the deliberations are expected to begin during the next week.

On the other hand, officials in the Ministry of Justice made it clear that the judicial advisor is still far from announcing Netanyahu’s incompetence in carrying out the duties of his position and that the upcoming deliberations are just consultations at present.

On December 29, Netanyahu, who is accused of many corruption cases, assumed the presidency of a government formed of far-right and religious extremist parties after winning the legislative elections held last November.

The Netanyahu government took the constitutional oath in the Knesset and proceeded to perform its duties amid controversial plans and decisions, especially with regard to limiting the authority of the judiciary and the control of the Ministry of National Security, headed by extremist Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, over the police, seeking to expand settlements in the West Bank, and clamping down on the Palestinians.

 

Netanyahu’s Plan

Last week, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to annul Aryeh Deri’s appointment as Minister of Interior and Health in Netanyahu’s government due to a previous tax fraud conviction.

In an effort to get out of the impasse in which he put himself, according to what was reported by the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom, Netanyahu implemented the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court and dismissed Deri during the weekly government session.

The newspaper revealed that Netanyahu is currently looking for quick solutions to ensure the return of Deri to the political scene, including the adoption of a quick law that prevents court interference in government appointments, which created an internal rift and prompted hundreds of thousands to demonstrate in central Tel Aviv recently.

According to Channel 12, Deri and Netanyahu held talks recently and are considering their next step, hoping to come up with a high-level alternative role for the leader of the Shas party, for fear of his party’s withdrawal from the ruling coalition and thus the fall of the Netanyahu government.

This prompted Israeli officials to attack the Israeli government. According to Kan radio, former Israeli Minister Moshe Ya’alon said: “What Netanyahu is doing is not legal reform, but a coup. Netanyahu wants to control the judiciary.”

In the same context, Knesset member Oded Forer stated that “a state in which the head of the executive authority controls both the legislative and judicial authorities is not a democratic state,” adding that “the Netanyahu government aims to destroy the rule of law.”

In the context of developments, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper highlighted the feasibility of the demonstrations in discouraging the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu from passing some of its policies as a first step and then overthrowing it.

It explained in its editorial on January 22, 2023, written by Nahum Barnea under the title The End of the Beginning, that the Israeli masses who participated in the huge protest against the Netanyahu government met expectations, with the numbers doubling last Saturday than the previous one.

On the other hand, the newspaper noted that “the demonstrations did not slow down the legislative process in the Knesset and did not deter the government.”

It pointed out that “there is a feeling that the stage of demonstrations has begun to expire, and it has become inevitable to proceed to the next stage, which is disrupting parts of public economic facilities, declaring civil disobedience, and preparing for confrontations.”

The newspaper stated in a report that “the protests seek to achieve two different goals: the first is to put pressure on the ruling coalition to moderate the intensity or even cancel the series of laws from Yariv Levin Factory (Minister of Justice) and Simcha Rothman (Chairman of the Constitution Committee), and the second goal is related to the overthrow of the government.”

It indicated that “the first goal requires action immediately and quickly, before laws are passed in the Knesset and implemented, while the second goal requires a long breath.”

 

Limited Participation

In the midst of the escalation of internal events in “Israel,” Palestinian politicians supported the demonstrations, as the goal of the participants in overthrowing Netanyahu intersected with their goal as well.

The head of the United Arab List party and former partner in the government coalition, Mansour Abbas, called on the 1948 Palestinians to participate in the protest against the Netanyahu government, considering that waving the Palestinian flag should not be a central tool in the protests, as reported by Haaretz.

Activists from the Israeli right attacked the Arab representative in the Knesset, Ayman Odeh, after he finished delivering his speech during a demonstration organized in the center of Tel Aviv, which was organized on January 8, 2023.

Palestinian experts attributed the reason for the limited participation by the 1948 Palestinians in the Israeli demonstrations to the policy of deliberate marginalization by the successive Occupation governments of the Palestinian issues, pointing out that the ban on raising the flag of Palestine squandered any possibility of Palestinian participation in the demonstrations taking place in Tel Aviv and occupied Jerusalem.

On his part, political analyst Muhammad Majadleh saw, in an article he wrote on the Channel 12 website, that “the 1948 Palestinians did not rush to the demonstrations stemming from their equal view of the governments in Israel. There is no difference between the government of Bennett and Lapid from the government of Netanyahu and Smotrich in terms of policies towards the Palestinians, especially in the core issues related to human rights, equality and the law.”

In turn, the Palestinian journalist, Mr. Iyad Hamad, explained in a statement to Al-Estiklal that “the demonstrations taking place inside Israel against the Netanyahu government come as a rejection of the attempts of this right-wing government to encroach on the judiciary.”

“Netanyahu and his partners from the government and the coalition are working to pass legislation in the Knesset to limit the power of the judiciary and make it hostage in their hands,” he added.

The journalist confirmed by saying: “Netanyahu is not living in his happiest days, but rather in the darkest and most tense of them. Everyone inside Israel is waiting for the date of his downfall and the withdrawal of legitimacy from him as prime minister. The protests in the streets are escalating and the numbers are growing day by day.”

However, he noted that “the disintegration of the ruling coalition is somewhat difficult, because Netanyahu sacrificed everything to form this government and conceded so much that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich became the ones in control of the government and its policies.”

As for the reluctance of the 1948 Palestinians to participate in the demonstrations, Mr. Hamad explained that “there is a big difference between your problem being with the powers of the Supreme Court only, and your problem being with your mere presence in your homeland and respect for your national and civil rights.”