What was the secret of the protests’ success against the judicial reform in Israel? This question has often been discussed among our circles and should be addressed responsibly and from various viewpoints.
Naturally, one could argue that many genuinely believed that the reform was disastrous. One might point to the leftist-progressive elite’s dedication to shaping Israeli discourse, dictating the public agenda through a network of research institutes, and its control over academic, cultural, media, and legal institutions – lamenting how the Right has often neglected these issues.
It could also be relevant to mention the aggressive struggle by the Left against the few conservative think tanks that managed to emerge despite all of this. Lastly, one could address the progressive hegemony at the top echelons of the security and business sectors, which facilitated the subjugation of the elected government.
All these points have been discussed and will continue to be debated. However, given the current situation and the need for a deeper understanding of the societal forces shaping our political landscape, I would like to focus on a different aspect: not the substance of the protests but their form; not the content of organized protest, but its culture. These lesser-discussed elements may hold the key to restoring balance within our civic life.
The protests were not merely a vehicle for advancing specific policies or values. More importantly, the trend toward continuous, almost perpetual protest is a phenomenon we see throughout the West today. This multinational protest phenomenon has become an end in itself, filling the vacuum left by the dissolution of traditional communities, while also representing a search for renewed meaning through communal experiences.
Historical roots to modern movements
To correctly diagnose the intricacies of the communal aspects of modern protest movements it is only fitting to start with the most potent social earthquake humanity has faced since the advent of agriculture: the Industrial Revolution.
This 19th-century transformation profoundly reshaped Western society. The pace of this change accelerated throughout the 20th century and into the present. Humans – who had always lived in small, close-knit communities – suddenly found themselves isolated and alienated in vast, impersonal cities. Some saw this as an opportunity.
Marxism, for instance, seized upon this disintegration of traditional moral constructs tied to specific cultures, nations, religions, and regions, to promote, in its stead, a uniform, secular moral code to be instilled through class revolution. This revolution was a system largely based on the binary notion of the oppressed and the oppressor, where the oppressor must be stopped by any means necessary.
Yet other thinkers viewed this transformation as a profound problem.
In the late 19th century, Emile Durkheim coined the term “anomie” to describe this uniquely post-industrial phenomenon – a breakdown of ethical and communal standards that left individuals unmoored. In his 1893 seminal work, The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim argued that the erosion of communal social structures would lead to the collapse of established social norms, resulting in widespread moral and societal confusion.
In the 1950s, sociologist and historian Robert Nisbet, from the University of California, Berkeley, observed similar changes. He noted that the dissolution of local, organic communities such as family, neighborhood, and religious institutions led to their being replaced by larger frameworks, namely the state or even global structures.
However, these larger systems inherently lack the social markers that define right and wrong, and an individual’s behavior within them does not always directly influence his or her social standing. This weakening of community ties, Nisbet argued, led to a decline in personal self-worth and an increased sense of social isolation.
These trends, described by Nisbet and Durkheim, have only intensified in our era, especially as interpersonal communication has largely shifted to the virtual realm. The human community characterized by frequent, face-to-face encounters in the real world which alone – or perhaps primarily – can give a person a genuine sense of belonging to something greater than themselves is much reduced.
Spiritual and cultural community movements
Looking closely at recent large-scale protests in Israel, it becomes apparent that these have not been merely oppositional demonstrations, but rather full-fledged community movements encompassing both the spiritual and the cultural.
The protest movement of 2011 (colloquially known as the cottage cheese protests) already showed glimpses of this trend, with its organized tent cities, impromptu performances, discussion circles, and art exhibits. The protest opposing the judicial reform took this to a new level with meticulously scheduled events spanning weeks and even months, including musical and dance performances and weekly DJ-led parties.
Organizations such Brothers in Arms and the Student Authority evolved from advocating specific public policies to shaping the cultural, spiritual, and communal life of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. As a result, the protest against the judicial reform and in support of “democracy” – as understood by the protesters – was carried out by a crowd that, more than knowing exactly why they were protesting, knew with whom and against whom they were protesting.
The demonstrations, especially those in Tel Aviv, became social and cultural events, fulfilling a deep need for community and meaning that many participants didn’t even realize they were missing.
Israel is only part of a broader trend seen primarily in progressive left-wing circles across many Western countries. Ironically, the most prominent recent example has been the anti-Israel protests at elite American universities. These protests were as much about harboring a sense of community as they were about voicing opposition to Israel. Although different in character from the Israeli movement, they stemmed from the same deep need for belonging. Tent cities were set up on campuses, one-sided “sharing circles” were organized, and leisure and cultural activities: drum circles, singing, dancing, and performances by the pro-Palestinian “intelligentsia” helped recreate a lost sense of community.
In many ways, these protests, in terms of content and interpersonal interaction, rival other community-sustaining organizations like churches or national youth movements. The progressive Left, long plagued by a lack of community, seems to have found solace in the form of protest.
Despite these phenomena, protest-based communities can never truly replace genuine communities. A community built around a single political issue is inherently limited and cannot fully satisfy the long-term human need for connection. If the protest achieves its goals, the community that formed around it dissolves; if the protest fails or loses momentum its energy wanes, and the crowd disperses.
The antagonistic nature of protests, particularly those within the progressive Left, makes them more like temporary structures – providing a sense of belonging and solidarity but only for a short time. As a result, even protests that are rich with cultural and ideological activities must regularly find new causes to sustain themselves. If there is no judicial reform to oppose, then another rallying point must emerge to maintain the movement.
Nevertheless, in our hyper-virtual age, the mere continuous human presence has created, albeit temporarily, a quasi-community that provides social cohesion and meaning for hundreds of thousands.
The protest movement generates regular significant social gatherings, offering its participants a sense of purpose, cohesion, and belonging that many in the modern, individualistic society have long yearned for.
The ideological Right is at a crossroads. While strong family, community, and national bonds, especially within the religious Right, have shielded conservatives from the alienation typical of modern Western life, this stability has reduced the urgency to create vibrant communal responses in politics. As a result, the Right’s efforts in this area have lagged behind those of the Left.
However, the need for connection and community persists. Addressing it effectively can help advance conservative ideas in the public sphere. Inspiration can be drawn from movements like India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has maintained a strong community through cultural and civic engagement. The RSS even established a political arm, the BJP, now India’s ruling party.
In Israel’s early years, similar movements existed. Political parties supported local clubs and organizations such as Maccabi, Hapoel, and Beitar, which aimed to build active communities around Zionist ideals. Over time, their influence has faded.
As the Left builds communal structures through protest movements, the Right must invest in creating a dynamic community framework to meet these same needs, strengthening its presence in the public sphere.
The writer is the director of operations of Hashiloach, an organizer of the first Hertog Forum, and oversees the Hashiloach Frontlines online English publication.