OPINION: Even Israel’s National Library isn’t safe from this toxic coalition
Judicial reform? More like judicial destruction, writes Jenni Frazer, as the chaos and cancel culture engulfing Israel threatens the sanctity of a national institution.
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
What on earth is happening in Israel? To be honest, no good answers come to mind, except there seems to be an unending debate over what constitutes democracy in the Jewish state.
On one hand, there are the thousands of people who are now turning out, week after week, to demonstrate against the government and its radical plans for judicial reform. Last Saturday night was the eighth week of such protests, and though I feared that people would begin to suffer from demonstration fatigue, in fact the opposite seems to be true, with more people showing up every week.
The demonstrators say Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are tampering with democracy. But Netanyahu has complained bitterly that the demonstrators themselves cannot accept the democratic result of the most recent elections.
The poisonous effects of what we must call “judicial reform” — although “judicial destruction” seems to me to be a more accurate term — is now seeping into many more aspects of Israeli society than simply the Supreme Court itself.
Consider, for example, the musical expert Professor Yehoash Hirshberg, who last week was awarded the Israel Prize for his services to music. The Israel Prize is roughly a more prestigious version of our honours list, the major difference being that there are far fewer such awards.
I am obliged to the writer Norman Lebrecht for pointing out that “within hours of the announcement of his award, social media were filled with demands for it to be cancelled”.
And this, Lebrecht tells me, is because the 84-year-old music scholar has expressed concerned criticism of the attacks on the judiciary. He says he is too old to go out demonstrating himself, but is very anxious about the government’s plans.
In a free-for-all atmosphere where anyone can say anything, hatred and cancellation appear to be the order of the day.
And talking of anyone being able to say anything, what are we to make of Amichai Chikli, apparently the current diaspora minister, telling the American ambassador to Israel to “mind your own business”, because of his suggestion that Bibi should “pump the brakes”, or slow things down, with regard to his plans for the Supreme Court?
Is this a way to speak to the man who, let us face it, is the representative of Israel’s paymaster, the US administration?
I mean, Chikli might think that in private, but surely going on national TV to express such views is the other side of stupid.
Meanwhile, the toxicity rolls on. There is now a government bill, it emerges, to interfere in the leadership and independence of the National Library of Israel – plans so far advanced that last week more than 100 leading Israeli authors and poets signed a petition, warning that if the government proceeded with this action, they would refuse to donate their archives to the library or allow their publishers to hand over copies of their books.
Among the signatories are David Grossman, Eli Amir, Haim Be’er and Fania Oz-Salzberger.
Israeli media reports on the bill have noted that right-wing politicians have been targeting the library for the past year, since the appointment of former state attorney Shai Nitzan as library rector – because Nitzan was closely involved in preparing the corruption charges against Bibi.
It’s not that long since Bibi himself was praising the importance of an independent national library.
But on this, as with everything, the self-serving prime minister has apparently changed his mind about as often as you and I change underwear.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
