The Peace Now leader penned an op-ed published on July 21st in Ma'ariv about the threat posed to Israel's democracy by some of the legislation that is moving forward in the Israeli parliament.
"The Elkin Bills" by Yariv Oppenheimer
The Knesset summer session has finally ended. We can only hope that a majority of the Knesset members will take long vacations and let Israeli democracy lick its wounds and try to recover from the severe blows that it suffered from almost all the Knesset factions.
"The Elkin Bills" by Yariv OppenheimerThe Knesset summer session has finally ended. We can only hope that a majority of the Knesset members will take long vacations and let Israeli democracy lick its wounds and try to recover from the severe blows that it suffered from almost all the Knesset factions.
The "Elkin bills," dozens of bills being promoted by the coalition chairman from the Likud with the prime minister's backing, are threatening to change the face of Israeli democracy and cause its collapse.
This is no longer just a nightmare or a theoretical concern--the coalition, in cooperation with publicity-seeking MKs from Kadima, is behind dozens of legislative initiatives aimed at blocking the freedom of speech and assembly, at threatening political activists with prison sentences and changing the democratic game rules.
I am not one of those who call to boycott Israel around the world, or those who are engaged in filing indictments against IDF officers or Israeli public figures. I too find it difficult to hear many of the voices that come from the radical left wing. However, democracy must permit these voices to also be heard, without imposing criminal sanctions and outlawing people and organizations.
The "Elkin bills" are trying to take advantage of the right wing majority in the Knesset in order to change Israel's democratic character, while damaging basic rights of citizenship and free speech. The "boycott prohibition bill," the "NPO registration bill," the "cinema-loyalty bill" (which demands a loyalty statement as a condition for receiving a budget from the state for making movies), the "citizenship revocation bill" and the "loyalty bill" are only part of the list of bills being led by the Elkin-Ben Ari coalition, with the aim of changing Israel's character and shattering its democratic identity.
Along with these bills, the coalition is succeeding in promoting bills that discriminate in favor of the right wing side of the political map and which give privileges to settlers and their supporters. The "law for pardoning opponents of disengagement," the "Golan referendum bill" and the "bill for preserving the rights of Israeli citizens in parts of the Land of Israel to which Israeli law does not apply"--all these are legislative initiatives that place the settlers in a unique legal status above other citizens, and even above the Knesset.
One cannot fail to wonder how MKs from the largest opposition faction, Kadima, who purport to represent a liberal worldview, not only vote in favor of these bills, but are also partners to submitting and promoting them. Schneller, Tirosh, Itzik and Hasson endorse, in the name of populism and fulmination, bills with a fascist odor that are more suitable to the agenda of former Kach members in the Knesset. In the face of the wave of legislative fulmination, the Justice Ministry stands almost alone in a desperate attempt to curb the legislative initiatives, and along with it, one can hear a quiet hum of disapproval from Ministers Meridor and Begin Knesset Speaker Rivlin, who are trying to save, to some degree, the Beitar dignity that has completely vanished from today's Likud movement.
They too know that without the direct intervention of the leaders of the large parties, Netanyahu, Livni and Barak, Elkin and his friends will succeed in completely altering the face of Israel and effectively undermining the foundations of democracy.
This is no longer just a nightmare or a theoretical concern--the coalition, in cooperation with publicity-seeking MKs from Kadima, is behind dozens of legislative initiatives aimed at blocking the freedom of speech and assembly, at threatening political activists with prison sentences and changing the democratic game rules.
I am not one of those who call to boycott Israel around the world, or those who are engaged in filing indictments against IDF officers or Israeli public figures. I too find it difficult to hear many of the voices that come from the radical left wing. However, democracy must permit these voices to also be heard, without imposing criminal sanctions and outlawing people and organizations.
The "Elkin bills" are trying to take advantage of the right wing majority in the Knesset in order to change Israel's democratic character, while damaging basic rights of citizenship and free speech. The "boycott prohibition bill," the "NPO registration bill," the "cinema-loyalty bill" (which demands a loyalty statement as a condition for receiving a budget from the state for making movies), the "citizenship revocation bill" and the "loyalty bill" are only part of the list of bills being led by the Elkin-Ben Ari coalition, with the aim of changing Israel's character and shattering its democratic identity.
Along with these bills, the coalition is succeeding in promoting bills that discriminate in favor of the right wing side of the political map and which give privileges to settlers and their supporters. The "law for pardoning opponents of disengagement," the "Golan referendum bill" and the "bill for preserving the rights of Israeli citizens in parts of the Land of Israel to which Israeli law does not apply"--all these are legislative initiatives that place the settlers in a unique legal status above other citizens, and even above the Knesset.
One cannot fail to wonder how MKs from the largest opposition faction, Kadima, who purport to represent a liberal worldview, not only vote in favor of these bills, but are also partners to submitting and promoting them. Schneller, Tirosh, Itzik and Hasson endorse, in the name of populism and fulmination, bills with a fascist odor that are more suitable to the agenda of former Kach members in the Knesset. In the face of the wave of legislative fulmination, the Justice Ministry stands almost alone in a desperate attempt to curb the legislative initiatives, and along with it, one can hear a quiet hum of disapproval from Ministers Meridor and Begin Knesset Speaker Rivlin, who are trying to save, to some degree, the Beitar dignity that has completely vanished from today's Likud movement.
They too know that without the direct intervention of the leaders of the large parties, Netanyahu, Livni and Barak, Elkin and his friends will succeed in completely altering the face of Israel and effectively undermining the foundations of democracy.
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