Anger, resentment, and frustration towards public leadership are valid, so very valid, given the chaos the country has experienced over the last two years.
So many changes are needed, so many reforms are begging to be had, from the treatment and care of hostages, released captives, and hostage and bereaved families, to consensus-driven changes to the judicial system, the unequal military draft, economic hardships, domestic safety, and a nation traumatized by not just nearly two years of war, but decades of it. The people need healing and safety.
The anger, hurt, disappointment, and frustration surrounding these issues are more than valid, and much of it has been expressed, be it in the parliament, on the street, on social media, or in other realms.
However, one dangerous trend, an edge we cannot afford to get close to, is calls for institutional annihilation and the destruction of the very spaces that are sacred. They may need to change, but let’s not forget history: Long-lasting change comes slowly and steadily.
What happened on Tuesday in the High Court of Justice hearing was nothing short of a circus of chaos. The hearing itself, on the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal of IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) David Zini to be chief of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), was not supposed to take as many hours as it did.
This is because the first two to three hours were devoted to heckling by the audience, including members of Knesset, who simply refused to allow the legal proceedings to take place.
As a policy, hearings are open to the public – for the sake of transparency and as a right of the public to observe. However, until the judges finally issued a decision to close the hearing to a public audience, leaving only lawyers and journalists in the room, what took place there was embarrassing.
To be sure, there were audience members who simply watched and did not disturb. But, as a whole, their presence prevented the legal process from taking place. People shouted, booed, and blew whistles in the room.
Horrible as well was the sight of court security forcibly removing those who refused to leave after the decision was issued, including bereaved parents.
It should never have come to that, and it stems from a fundamental lack of respect for the rule of law and the process. Images such as these should never see the light of day.
'A strike at the heart of the democratic process'
Chief Justice Isaac Amit called the chaos a “strike at the heart of the democratic process and an attempt to sabotage the legal proceedings.” He may not be right about everything, but here he was.
Beyond the legal realm, it was a crack in dignity and decency. Where is the shame in such behavior? Why is this considered okay? Other places, like the Knesset, have borne such incidents as well.
There are so many valid complaints and frustrations with the system. But behavior like this is simply not the way. There are valid methods of protest, there are pressures that can be exerted on public officials, and there is the ballot. There are ways to express all these sentiments that are valid and correct.
And let us not forget that there are elements within these systems that, when they cooperate, they bring results.
On Tuesday, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir expressed at a General Staff meeting with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz his thanks for “the cooperation and the understanding of the significance of the moment. What we did together will be studied for generations: The way the military and political echelons worked together, in synchronization, in cooperation, in a unity of goals. The political strategic process, combined with military action, is an exhibition of artistry. The leadership and the decision-making, at all levels over the last year, brought us to where we are today.”
When it works, it works. What we must do is deal with the most pressing issues first, the most foundation, and progress from there. Massive, quick-blow successes may look nice on paper, but what matters when all the dust settles is whether people in this land can live in dignity; that is what our leadership is here to ensure.