Why many Israeli Arabs are shunning Israel’s democracy protests

Arab leaders say the opposition movement must acknowledge that it’s not democratic to rule over another people, or the Arab public won’t join the protests.

One might think that the segment of Israeli society likely to be first in the line of fire of Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government would be motivated to join the growing opposition movement.

Yet thus far, Arab Israelis, who make up about a fifth of the population, have largely stayed out of the fray, with only a very small number turning up at the demonstration in Tel Aviv last Saturday night that drew an estimated 80,000 people in what organisers hope will be the launch of a sustained effort to stop the Government’s plan to disempower the Supreme Court and thereby overturn traditional norms of governance.

A key question emerging as opposition coalesces is whether the battle to stop Israel’s slide to authoritarianism will include the Arab minority or further marginalise it. To date, the latter seems to be the case.

The demonstration was sponsored by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, with participants including groups that had demonstrated in the past for Netanyahu’s resignation over corruption allegations, which he denied.

Its aim was to prevent the “dismantling of the final check [that] there is, the judiciary,” according to movement spokesman Nadav Lazare. He was referring to proposals by Justice Minister Yariv Levin that would erode the authority of the Supreme Court, including by giving the Knesset power to override its decisions with a simple majority.

But Arab leaders interviewed by The Jewish Independent say that agenda, as expressed in the protest, doesn’t address Arab concerns about broader problems in the Israeli system, and that defining and promoting democracy must include ending discrimination and halting the occupation of the West Bank.