Marches in Jerusalem. Marches in Tel Aviv. Hundreds of thousands on the streets. Are we in a national crisis? No! We’re seeing the greatest unity ever experienced in the State of Israel in its 75-year history.
In a March 2023 interview, Alan Dershowitz points out a very interesting fact: other countries have faced far more serious threats to their legal systems but in no other country has anyone ever gone to the streets about legal reform! He states that, in 2022, Biden was considering packing the Supreme Court with his candidates to overrule abortion legislation. No one marched. In the UK in past years when the House of Commons removed the veto of the House of Lords, no one marched. In Europe when significant changes to Supreme Court powers have been enacted – no one marched. In Israel, however, we marched.
What does this tell us about Israelis? We care. We all care. Right and Left – we care. We all fought the wars, we all lost family members or friends in tragic attacks and none of us are prepared to go down without a protest when we disagree.
And we’re marching with flags. Right and Left we’re marching with flags. So much so that I have no idea whether the group before me is pro- or anti-reform. We march with flags because we all believe that we have the best solution for the Jewish people. Right and Left. We don’t agree on how, but we have a common aim – to make this country even better.
And that’s called Achdut – Unity. Unity is when people have a common purpose. And people are out in droves – children, teens, adults, and seniors – all marching peacefully with their flags to be heard, to be seen, and to be part of this important decision.
Where could you see unity like this in any other country?
We don’t have uniformity. That’s fine. God forbid everyone should be like me – that’s a sure formula for disaster. There’s been debate and even arguments, but this will lead to an even better outcome for everyone. That’s called democracy.
So let’s not fall into the trap of seeing this as a crisis. This is a sign of the greatest love and unity that a nation could show. May our people continue to show such a passionate interest in the machinations of this nation and may we always have such unity. Nachamu, nachamu – Right and Left – a double comfort in this post-Tisha Be’av period. Now we have completely overturned the baseless hatred of years gone by.
The writer, a rabbi, lost his wife Lucy and two daughters, Maia and Rina, in a terror attack during Passover of this year. He is the author of Transforming the World, a book that describes how the Torah brings peace to the world and to individuals. He is striving to do just that.