Karl Marx, the father of the economic Left, also coined the famous declaration that history repeats itself, "the first as tragedy, then as farce." Unlike his economic theories, which did not work out when implemented, that statement has proven true more than once. For example, in the attempt to copy-paste France's yellow vest protest movement to Israel.
In France, people have been claiming recently that the protest was whitewashed by external forces (referring mainly to the Russians), but there is no doubt that the widespread bitterness among the citizens of France is genuine and indicative of a deep crisis, primarily socio-economic. The general pace of development has slowed, and people are feeling it in their pockets. What's worse, just like in the U.S. ahead of the 2016 election, many French do not believe that the future holds anything better. The opposite – they are watching the French identity collapse and the economic troubles grow and are reaching the conclusion that French society is on the wrong path.
In a situation like that, a single spark – like the outrage over an increased gasoline tax in the name of an obscure goal like "fighting global warming" – is sufficient to set off a real protest movement. The hike to gas prices was only the pretext that brought the yellow vests out en masse, the tip of the iceberg of the French tragedy.
In contrast, a gathering of the same-colored vests in central Tel Aviv was just a big farce. The attempt to clone the protest in the Holy Land was doomed to fail because it was based on nothing other than left-wing political interests. It's no coincidence that the self-appointed leaders who took their place at the head of the movement were the same figures we know so well from protests against the nation-state law and other steps taken by the right-wing government. Labor party activists and other left-wingers ostentatiously showed off their yellow vests on social media to engineer a "social protest" out of nothing.
In the past, they tried other excuses, failed, and despaired, and now they are looking for a redemptive gimmick that will create a hostile climate for the current government and its leader. It won't work – unlike France, Israel is flourishing in every sense. An imaginary opposition can create nothing more than an imagined wave of prowwww.
If the leaders of the yellow vests were really worried about the Israeli economy, they should be supporting the prime minister rather than demonstrating against his government. Starting in 1977 – when the Likud booted the socialist Left out of power for the first time – and particularly under Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has moved far away from a concentrated, outdated economy to an open and dynamic one. These changes are the main factor in the leap forward the Israeli economy has taken are the unprecedented growth the country is experiencing today.
We have already surpassed France in per capita GDP, and recently we left Japan in the dust, as well. That doesn't mean that Israel has solved all the regulatory issues that check economic growth, especially lack of competition. But even now, there is positive economic growth and it must continue, despite the yellow vests.
