Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest video once again confirms what we should have already known: The doomsday prophecies about the "end of democracy" in Israel are nothing more than a ridiculous, yet effective tool. It is employed by members of all political camps in the hopes of rallying the uninformed masses and gaining power.
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Politicians have used doom and gloom rhetoric to describe "the threat to Israeli democracy," along with their unwitting allies, since the state's earliest days. Netanyahu recently sounded the alarm because of proposed measures that would, in his words, "destroy basic freedoms."
He was referring to three pieces of legislation that would prevent indicted lawmakers from forming a government, allow the state to take down inciting posts on social media and grant police the right to conduct warrantless searches. Netanyahu said such laws would "erase" and "bury" fundamental liberties, calling on Israelis to speak up before it is too late.
In recent years, such doomsday prophecies have also been voiced by Netanyahu's opponents. Tens of thousands of them took to the streets in order to "save the country" during his premiership. They chanted about fascism and compared Netanyahu to leaders of repressive regimes such as Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the end of each day, they all returned home with the satisfaction of having saved humanity. Make no mistake, political demonstrations are a legitimate and crucial part of democracy. But claiming that democracy is coming to an end when it is abundantly clear that it is alive and well is just laughable.
Demagoguery, hysteria, and foolish statements are an ingrained part of the democratic system. Thus, it should come as no surprise that those who seek to topple an incumbent would engage in such activity and use it to manipulate those who are not fully engaged in our political system. But what is truly baffling is that even those who do have the analytical tools to understand Israeli democracy buy into such prophesies with so much passion.
The same criticism should be applied to those who espouse "clean politics." This term is one big deception because a politician who avoids dirty tricks essentially commits political suicide. Clean politics was only possible, in a very limited sense, in a previous era, when one camp could win an overwhelming majority. But in our fragmented political dynamics, this is no longer feasible. Political trickery may not be a pleasant sight, but that is what democracy is all about: a mix of fair game and ugly sausage-making along with dubious deals that come at the expense of the public, with a healthy dose of hypocrisy and eye rolls.
And yet, the good news is that Israeli democracy is stronger than ever. The public is successfully overcoming numerous challenges, even though the Knesset and the government are not functioning properly. The Israeli public is living in complete freedom, challenged by anarchy, not by fascism.
The US is much more polarized and violent. Likewise, Europe is having a harder time coping with health and economic issues, despite having none of Israel's security threats. And yet – there is nothing wrong with complaining. Everyone has the right to hysteria.
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