Dear friends,
This week I was filled with sadness. The Suspension of Members of Knesset Bill passed its first reading in the Knesset this week, putting a stamp on the end of the winter session and the first year of the 20th Knesset. The year was characterized by bills and initiatives that threatened to shrink the democratic space in Israel and to harm the building blocks of a democratic system: the separation of powers, protection of human rights and protection of minorities against the tyranny of the majority.
What is the erosion of the democratic space? This refers to the gradual process of reducing pluralism and the variety of views and perspectives; of silencing criticism of the government; and the violation of basic rights – including the right to equality, the freedom of expression and protest, and the freedom of association. Although this is not a new trend ,it is getting worse. More and more opinions, comments and activities are labelled as illegitimate, and anyone who is not aligned with the (diminishing) consensus is marked as a traitor and an enemy.
How is this happening? Through delegitimization and incitement towards all those whose views or activities are incompatible with those of the political majority. Unfortunately, the parliament itself – a symbol of democracy – has become one of the main arenas where the rules of the democratic game are being broken. An overview written by Attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo, Director of Policy Advocacy at ACRI, presents a long list of examples: The Anti-NGO bill designed to harm human rights organizations, the proposal to outlaw the “Breaking the Silence”, the bill to limit funding of political associations in order to harm V15, bills seeking to harm the status and role of the Supreme Court, the Minister of Culture’s attempts to interfere in the content of artworks, the Ministry of Education’s decisions affecting freedom of thought and expression, pluralism and equality in education, and more.
Even if not all of these initiatives and proposals are promoted in the end, they still, have a chilling effect on the thinking and perception of reality in Israeli society. These initiatives cause serious harm to minorities – particularly the Arab minority, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office, human rights organizations, the media, academia and artists – and therefore they harm democracy. Although we are not yet like Russia, where human rights groups are being closed down, this is a disturbing trend. It’s time to stop shrinking the democratic space in Israel.
Yours,
Sharon
Sharon Abraham-Weiss
Executive Director
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
