Yom Shleeshee

Tuesday

6 Nisan 5783

March 28 2023

 

Photos of the Night

Another fire at an intersection:

Not to mention:

The Video of the Day

This is just a short video to show how low the leftists have fallen. A young girl who was protesting in favor of the legal reforms tried to have a conversation with 2 older leftists:

She told them: “We are all family.”

One responded to the incredulous girl: “Don’t curse me, I’m not your sister”, and walked away. 

Click here to hear the 10 second “conversation in Hebrew.”

 Your Humble Servant and the Anarchist/Demonstrators . . .

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon verbally sparring with anarchist demonstrators in Jerusalem.

Early in the afternoon, I hopped in the car with one of my sons and headed from his home in the northern Jerusalem suburb of Ramot to his youngest son’s kindergarten across town.

From the beginning, we were beset by anarchist demonstrators blocking roads. After taking almost two hours (a normal trip is 15 minutes) to pick up his 3-year-old, we started back and found ourselves almost immediately boxed in and blocked by drum-beating “protesters” chanting anti-government slogans in the middle of the street.

There was nowhere to go.

So at that point, I got out of the car and confronted some of the blockers–and more who were streaming to the scene down the sidewalks leading to the intersection. 

The “conversations”–which typically turned into them shouting at me–were remarkably similar. Every time I asked someone why they were protesting, the answer was either “Democracy” or “To get rid of Bibi”.

When I pressed them about “Democracy” such as “Don’t you think that the November elections were democratic?”, the answer was simply: “It doesn’t make any difference.”

When I pressed them about why they want “to get rid of Bibi”, the answer was always “he’s the crime minister”. What crimes has he been convicted of I asked; the answer: “Corruption.” When I pointed out that he has not been convicted of anything, they would turn away and scream “crime minister” even louder.

And so it went, until a contingent of the Border Police arrived over an hour later and cleared them out of the intersection in five minutes.

All of this was before hours before Netanyahu’s speech.

Netanyahu’s Speech

Before we get to the speech itself, it should be pointed out that it was postponed twice because Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that he would pull his Otzma Yehudit Party out of the Coalition if Netanyahu froze the reforms. Later, Ben Gvir somewhat relented saying that his Party would withdraw from the Coalition but be a supporter “from the outside.”

In the end, Ben Gvir decided to stay in the government after extracting two major concessions from Bibi.

First, he forced Netanyahu to declare that the freeze would only be for 4 weeks. This is a major point: over the course of his tenure, whenever Netanyahu has frozen anything such as construction in Judea and Samaria, it has spelled the death of what was being frozen.

Second, Ben Gvir gained control of the National Guard under his Ministry–something that had been promised in the Coalition Agreement but never fulfilled.

So, after obtaining Ben Gvir’s promise to say in the government, Netanyahu went on the air at 8:05 pm.

We had concluded yesterday’s blog with these possible outcomes:

Choice 1: Will he announce a cessation of the legal reforms? 

Choice 2:Will he announce a freezing of the reforms until after Yom Atzmaut (Independence Day)? 

Choice 3: Will he announce that the there will be a freezing after the Judicial Selection Committee Law passes the Knesset?”

It turns out that after an eloquent statement about how the country was being torn apart, Netanyahu indicated that he was choosing choice 2. Though he didn’t say it, this was in deference to Ben Gvir and his 4-week ultimatum.

Then Netanyahu went to great lengths to say that he was ready for negotiations, but that the reforms would be enacted. He demanded that members of the army and reserves return to service.

Finally, he praised all of those supporting the reforms and assured them that they/we are not second class citizens as the leftists like to call us.

Interestingly, Netanyahu made no mention of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who as of this hour has not received an official notice of dismissal.

The Reactions to the Speech

All of the major organizers and funders of the demonstrations have called on anarchists/demonstrators to intensify their efforts. Even this morning, your humble servant encountered protesters at intersections on a short 25-minute drive from Ashdod to Nes Ziona. Remember as we have said many times, the demonstrations are not about legal reform but about ousting the government.

Other reactions:

“The reform will pass. The National Guard will be established. The budget I demanded for the Ministry of National Security will be passed in its entirety.”

[Ben Gvir’s budget was approved this morning in its first reading in the Knesset. As for the reforms, the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee forwarded the Judicial Selection Law to the Knesset floor for its final 2nd and 3rd readings. When the Knesset reconvenes in 4 weeks, it will take exactly 1 day to approve the law.]

Minister of National Security Ben Gvir

“I heard Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement. If the legislation does stop, a real and absolute stop, we are ready to go to the president of the country for talks . . . we must sit down together and write a constitution based on the values of the Declaration of Independence.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid

[What’s new? Netanyahu gives the Opposition a major concession of a pause in the legislative process, and what does the Opposition do? Make new demands: “an absolute stop”, talks at the President’s house, and the writing of a Constitution. Writing a new Constitution alone would take years and years. Note that Lapid made no mention of stopping the anarchist/protester demonstrations that have wracked the country.]

The bottom line is that three negotiating teams (one for Likud, one for Lapid’s Yesh Atid, and one for Gantz’s State Camp) have already been announced.

Final Thoughts

The leftist news media (with the exception of Channel 14) are all declaring victory this morning and are praising the anarchist demonstrators whom they credit with stopping the reforms.

However, a close look indicates that it is a pyrrhic victory at best.

*The reforms are not stopped, only frozen for 4 weeks.

*A primary target of the demonstrations, Minister of National Security Ben Gvir, has grown stronger.

*The Coalition government has stabilized and appears to be set to stay in power until 2026. Thus, the overthrow of the Netanyahu government seems further away than ever.

*There are now cracks in the Opposition with Benny Gantz declaring yesterday that all refusing to serve in the Army must stop.

*Judging from the events last night in Tel Aviv, the anti-government movement is losing control of its anarchists which may begin to sway the public consciousness.

*The “Right” that elected the Netanyahu Coalition has awakened. Last night, more than 100,000 pro-reform supporters rallied in Jerusalem. On Thursday, a huge pro-reform demonstration is scheduled for Tel Aviv. Your humble servant will be there.