Hussam Al-Dajani

The anti-Netanyahu government protests invading the Israeli fields have started with thousands of protestors yet extended to consist of hundreds of thousands, including parties of opposition, poles of the military and security institution and businessmen. This development has thus become a source of confusion to the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.  

The main question is: what are the reasons that motivated the crowds to go out in streets? What are the possible repercussions? 

First: Causes and Motives 

On December 29, 2022, the Israeli Knesset gave confidence to the government of Benjamin Netanyahu by a majority of 96 deputies representing four religious, and regional extreme parties, in addition to the Likud and Shas headed by Aryeh Deri. Just as Netanyahu, Deri is accused of corruption and chased by the Supreme Court in Israel. Therefore, the government tended to reduce the authorities of the Supreme Court and conduct amendments to the judicial system through enacting legislations that would achieve the same goal, angering the opposition in Israel and leading it to describe what is happening as "judicial coup". Confrontations went out in the streets of several cities, most importantly Tel Aviv and Haifa, where thousands of Israelis took part in. 

Based on the abovementioned, the main reason behind such demonstrations is the judicial amendments (the judicial coup). Yet, there are other political and ideological reasons that relate to the structure of the fascist government and its attitudes not only because it practices brutality against the Palestinians and the Arab and Islamic people, but also because it practices terrorism in a manner that affects the standing of Israel before the western public opinion and its future as well. 

Second: Consequences 

In my estimation, such demonstrations generate some consequences as following:

1. Consequences over the future of Netanyahu's government 
The increase in the number of protestors every week undoubtedly poses threat to the future of Netanyahu's government although it is an elected government. Such protests affect the daily life of the Zionist society, particularly businessmen and foreigners who started to withdraw their investments from the Israeli banks to the outside, having an impact on the value of shekel against the dollar as well as on the Zionist economy. Therefore, diverse political, economic, social and security crises might be triggered inside the Israeli occupation entity, and the standing of Israel might be affected before the international community, failing the normalization project which Netanyahu feels proud of and affecting the relationship with the western world. 

We have all pursued the latest statements released by Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich about Huwara and the magnitude of international reactions to them, particularly the American response, Israel's strategic ally. "I think the village of Huwara should be wiped out. I think Israel should do that," he said. US Ambassador Thomas Neds also described Smotrich as stupid, noting that the latter has a trip to Washington with Dani Neda and that if it was up to him, he would throw him out of the plane. 

It concludes that the relationship between the frequency of protests and the future of Netanyahu government is positive. The greater such protests become, the closer the current Israeli government -headed by Netanyahu- gets to the end. 

2. Consequences over the future of Israel
Israel is based on two main pillars: security and legitimacy. Such protests affect the security of this entity, fearing that tension would escalate into a phase of confrontation, hitting the Israeli security theory and hasten its demise. This was expressed by many Zionist officials and observers as they are on the edge of a civil war that would wreak havoc on the region. 

At the level of legitimacy, those protests reflect the true image of Israel. It is a terrorist fascist state, not civil democratic as called by some poles. This would thus affect its foreign relations, especially the relations of normalization with the Arab and Islamic countries. 

The future of Israel hangs in the balance, as estimated by vital Israeli elites. Ehud Barak, former president of the Israeli occupation government, had once said that Israel went into a phase of weakness and vulnerability. Former Minister Avigdor Liberman also confirmed in Israeli press releases that Netanyahu's ignorance of his ministers' statements against the reserve soldiers, calling them terrorists and anarchists, will probably lead to the "collapse of the Israeli occupation Kingdom". He has also recently stated that Netanyahu leads Israel to a third temple destruction; he should either be responsible or resign. 

Regarding the future of Israel, former prime minister Ehud Barak, in an article published on Yedioth Ahronoth a few months ago, expressed his fear of the approach of the demise of 'Israel' before the 80th anniversary of its establishment, citing "the Jewish history".

"Over the years, the Jews have never had a stable state for more than 80 years but in two periods of time: the period of King David and the period of Hashmona'im. Both eras were the beginning of its collapse in the 8th decade," Barak added. 

He also said that the experience of the current Zionist Hebrew state is the third, and now, it is in its 8th decade. He thus worries that it would be affected by the 8th decade's curse, like its predecessors. 

Barak mentioned that the Jewish entity was not the only one to be cursed in this decade. In the 8th decade of each, a civil war broke out in the United States of America, Italy turned into a fascist country and Germany turned into a nazi country. Also, the Soviet Union collapsed in the 8th decade of the communist revolution. 

3. Consequences over the security situations in the Palestinian lands  
What the Palestinians fear the most is that Netanyahu exports his internal crises to the Palestinian people or to the outside (Iran-Lebanon) by dragging the area into a military confrontation through which demonstrations would be fragmented, despite the repercussions and consequences of that possible war.

To sum up, we are facing a fascist government that practices terrorism against the Palestinian people, a Zionist community that rejects it and an international society that is annoyed of. Yet, unfortunately, this government is an extension of successive governments that practice the same policy, the same oppression and the same terrorism, as if we have just started to describe Netanyahu government's terrorism as "harsh terrorism", while the former Zionist government's as "soft terrorism".