Israel Is No Longer a Free Society, According to Netanyahu Confidante Ron Dermer
Story by Amir Tibon
• 23h
Israel Is No Longer a Free Society, According to Netanyahu Confidante Ron DermerBy the measure of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Israel under his boss is deteriorating from a free society into a fearful one. This is all happening under the government of Netanyahu, a man who once spoke highly about democratic, liberal values and presented Israel as a beacon of freedomNovember 10th, 20PM November 11th, 13PM
Israel is becoming a fear society, a society where freedom of speech isn't upheld, and the citizens aren't free to express their opinions.
Don't take it from Haaretz, a newspaper known for its criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government. This warning, rather, is based on the words of Netanyahu's closest confidant – Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. By his own measure, Israel under his boss is deteriorating from a free society into a fearful one.
In 2004, Dermer published a book he co-wrote with Natan Sharansky, under the title "The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror."
The book came out at the height of the interventionist George W. Bush era, and included strong support for the war in Iraq. Dermer was already close to Netanyahu at the time – as evident from Netanyahu's well-known speech in support of the invasion, during which Dermer can be seen seated right behind him, nodding to every word.
On page 48 of the book, Dermer and Sharansky write a brilliant paragraph about the importance of freedom of speech – and present a test that distinguishes between societies where free speech is cherished and protected, and societies where the government persecutes civilians for expressing their views and opinions.
Here is the exact quote: "A simple way to determine whether the right to dissent in a particular society is being upheld is to apply the town square test: Can a person walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm? If he can, then that person is living in a free society. If not, it's a fear society."
Last week, in Jerusalem, a ceremony was held on the campus of the Hebrew University, and Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was in attendance. A man who sat in the crowd shouted at Ben-Gvir that he's a fascist and is responsible for the deaths of many Jews and Arabs. Campus security guards removed him from the ceremony, as they are required to do in such a case, and the ceremony continued uninterrupted.
But then, the Jerusalem police – which operates under Ben Gvir's directive – arrested the protester and took him in for questioning. Not for anything illegal or violent – but simply and only for speaking up and expressing his view in the town square.
At the nearest police station, he was stripped naked and handcuffed for more than four hours. Eventually, realizing that there's no way any judge in Israel would support his detention, the man was released by the police – but the damage was already done, and the message had been sent: speaking your mind against a powerful minister is no longer an obvious right in today's Israel.
This incident is one of many recent stories that highlight the deterioration of free speech under the current government. There is also the case of Yarden Mann, a special-ed teacher and the mother of a child with special needs, who was arrested and indicted for alleged assault after she saw Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman in the street and told her she should be ashamed of herself.
Silman filed a false report of violence against Mann, and the police prosecutor followed through immediately with an embarrassing indictment, which was thrown out by a judge earlier this year.
The courts in Israel remain, to some degree, a bastion of democratic rule of law, and they protect the right to free speech and dissent – which is exactly why the Netanyahu government tried to take over the judicial system at the beginning of its term, and still intends to do so.
The police, sadly, can no longer be trusted on this issue, as is evident by another story published just today by Bar Peleg in Haaretz: police officers tried to break into the phone of a protester who documented the arrest of other demonstrators. Once again, a judge rejected the police's request, but the very fact that the court had to protect the protester from such police action speaks volumes about the current reality.
This is all happening under the government of Netanyahu, a man who once spoke highly about democratic, liberal values and presented Israel as a beacon of freedom. Perhaps he should reread the Dermer and Sharansky book, or at least page 48, to be reminded of what a free society looks like. |
