Ben Gvir has unleashed his vile toxicity onto Memorial Day

The right wing bullies led by Ben Gvir have not only taken over the police and other government ministries. They are also taking over public discourse in Israel.

Inching my way through rush-hour traffic this morning, I was traveling slowly enough that I was able to get a good look at some of the newest advertising banners. Over the past 16 weeks of anti-government protests, the public ad space has become one of the central fronts in the battle to stop the erosion of democracy in Israel. Tens of millions of shekels have been dumped into ads — originally by the anti-government protesters, and then by the pro-government protesters in response.

The problem is that it may take a minute to figure out which side the poster is on. Which is it’s own form of toxic emotional violence. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Here is what I saw this morning on the Ayalon highway:

Under a cartoon drawing of former Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak, the poster reads (my translation):

When the Supreme Court (Bagatz) is in power

The President of the Surpeme Court does not know the Shema.

Bagatz in power is a dictatorship.

Million person protest, Thurs April 27….

The first word that I saw as I passed by this poster was Dictatorship. After all, this is one of the main talking points of the anti-government protests — that Prime Minster Bibi Netanyahu is advancing dictatorship.

So I thought that this must be an anti-government protest.

Then I read that whole line — that the Bagatz is the dictatorship. And I did a double take. And I realized I am in the middle of a toxic exchange of words.

“You’re the dictator! No YOU are!”

I have been having this conversation about what dictatorship IS and what it ISN’T. Trying to teach checks and balances to Israelis who don’t get this in high school civics. That the definition of dictatorship is when the EXECUTIVE BRANCH grabs undeserved power. That the Supreme Court is the JUDICIAL BRANCH that cannot, by definition, be dictators because they don’t actually run the country. That the court has no ability to CREATE laws but only to JUDGE them. That the Supreme Court in Israel is the ONE AND ONLY ADDRESS in the entire government where individuals have the power to directly appeal to their government about something going on that is wrong or illegal or unjust. Civilians have no direct representation in Israel. There is no communal districting. People vote for parties and not for individuals, and how people land on party lists has wildly different methods — from internal primaries (eg Labor) to direct appointments by the one head (eg Lieberman and Lapid). In short, citizens in Israel have very little power, other than to appeal to the Bagatz. That does not make Bagatz a dictatorial power — which is anyway a nonsequitor — but rather a vital arm of democracy.

I’ve had this conversation, and it is hard. We have been inundated with language that screams that it’s not BIBI trying to be a dictator by the 500,000 protesters who are pro-dictatorship. Even though we actually have no leader. Even though Barak isn’t even on the bench anymore. Even though the judicial overhaul issue is just one small piece of what makes this government so terrifying and such a threat to democracy.

As I heard these texts replaying in my head, I looked at that poster and realized that the poster is a PRO-government poster using language of the anti-government movement. Of course it was. That is, wow, confusing — and on purpose.

Not just confusing, but toxic.

“You’re a terrorist! No YOU are!”

As I was processing this, the news came on the radio, and the top story was about ministers who decided not to attend tomorrow’s Memorial Day ceremonies around the country so as not to attract protesters and make a scene. Or rather, I would say so as not to be humiliated by having people boo them or scream “SHAME!!!” at them (BUSHA in Hebrew), as happened to some ministers, like Idit Silman, the vehemently anti-democratic religious right defector who is now, unfortunately Environment Minister and was recently booed at an environmental conference. (For the record, she deserves it. The only thing she has promoted so far in the name of environmentalism is gender segregation at public parks. Yes, really.) Anyway, most of the ministers cancelling their appearances are ultra-Orthodox and have never served in the army, and protesters are getting ready to point out the obnoxious hypocrisy of having them show up at military cemetaries tomorrow to “comfort” mourners. I don’t think it’s because they are suddenly aware of the degree to which Israelis are outraged by the entire government with all its infuriating and terrifying movements. I think the ministers just don’t want to go where they are going to be heckled by an angry mob and possibly asked to leave.

Anyway, I was listening to this story unfold on Galgalatz this morning as I was deciphering the pro-government poster, when the newscaster interviewed a representative of the ONE MINISTER who REFUSES to cancel: Itamar Ben Gvir.

As if it isn’t awful enough that Ben Gvir — who was rejected by the army for being too violent — has already taken over the Police. It isn’t terrifying enough that he has, in addition, been given a 2000-man private “militia” (via the taxpayers), in exchange for his willingness not to bring down the government. (And what EXACTLY is he planning to do with that private militia??? I don’t think we can handle the truth….) Now, he insists on torturing the bereaved families in Beer Sheva on their day of collective mourning.

Why?

Well, his representative explained why:

“WE WILL NOT GIVE IN TO TERRORISTS!”

Yes, that is what Ben Gvir said about anti-government protesters. He called us terrorists.

Toxic tactics: The Fling-back

Let’s unpack this for a moment.

Ben Gvir, the man who idolizes the late violent racist Meir Kahana and mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who himself was considered a terrorist by the army and the Shin Bet (!) and who has no qualms about glorifying racist violent, chose to call civil disobedient protesters “terrorists.”

This tactic, in which the bully tries to turn things around by claiming that those he is bullying are the “real bullies”, is a toxic tactic of emotional abuse. It’s the “fling-back”, of flinging back the truth with a narrative that is completely opposite of the truth. It’s akin to, the “NO YOU ARE” line that bullies in kindergarten may use as a taunt.

The fling-back is extremely disarming and one of the most challenging toxic tactics to unpack.

The fling-back that I heard in the interview is exactly the same tactic that I saw in the banner on the Ayalon highway. It is the tactic in which the pro-government strategists use THE EXACT SAME WORDS that are being lobbed against them and throw them back at their opponents.

It’s a tactic that was mastered by Trump. In fact, the first time I noticed it was in 2016 when I heard him scream “Fake News!” at a CNN reporter. It was around the time that we all learned that Russia has created bots to create ACTUAL fake news stories to rile up Trump’s base. What did Trump do in order to get this story off of him? He plucked off the language and lobbed it at his accusers. So that today, we barely talk about the Russian bots — ACTUAL fake news — and instead we are in an endless cycle of questioning legitimate media sites as if they are all Fox News.

See how that works? The fling-back, or “NO YOU ARE!” completely dislodges the truth and forces us all to go back to proving things that are fact.

That Ben Gvir is a violent, racist bully is a FACT.

That the protesters are LEGALLY VALID civil protesters non-violently exercising their democratic right to protest is a FACT.

And yet, Galgalatz now aired the narrative that the protesters are terrorists. Thanks to Ben Gvir’s proxy.

And here we are.

And then there’s the God thing

There was one more line on the banner that I was to point out: The line about the Shema. That Barak does not know the Shema.

If we doubted that the government is deeply rooted in religious radicalism, this should set the record straight. Bibi himself is not religious, so it is confusing. But make no mistake, this government has a very religious agenda that is completely intertwined with the anti-democratic goals.

The drive of this government, expressed in this vile hatred for retired Supreme Court Justice Barak sits on decades’ old religious sentiment that democracy does not serve their needs. These are sentiments validated by orthodox activities in the govenrment to “look out for one’s own”, even if that means illegally grabbing funds and budgets. It is why Deri is not considered a felon by his people — because his voters believe that the illegal financing activities he went to prison for are justified. This whole thing is connected to old sentiments that the Supreme Court discriminated against the religious. And more. As I unpacked here.

There are many terrifying aspects to the connection between dictatorial trends and religious radicalism.

One is the potential impacts on women.

Another is the potential impact on basic freedoms. For example, in one little example that has skipped under the radar, an ultra-Orthodox minister just cancelled a lovely and popular Shabbat program called “Israeli Shabbat” that encouraged diversity and pluralism in how people gather on Fridays because he said, “People should go to synagogue.” (By “people”, he means “men”, btw.) Look how easily a government minister just decided that the only legitimate thing for men to do on Friday night is to go to shul.

I think it’s even worse. From my lifelong experience engaging in political discussions, I have come to understand that religious rhetoric often reflects the type of thinking that is comfortable in dictatorship. We often hear that Torah is higher than the law, that everything is fleeting except for God, that the only real authority is God. Anyone who has spent time in the rabbinical courts probably hears this kind of thing regularly.

There is something comforting about having God on your side. It’s like, you can’t possibly be wrong. Right?

Violence starts with toxic rhetoric

When I was in Rwanda in 2019, I visited the genocide museum. I was deeply moved that the museum was dedicated not only to the tragedy of Rwanda but also explored genocides around the world, including the Holocaust. One of the central messages in the museum was that violent hatred does not bubble up one day out of the blue. It may look that way — after all, on that fateful day in 1994, one group of Rwandas got up and started to massacre another group of Rwandas, often their neighbors and life-long friends. It looks like it just “happened”. But that’s not the truth.

The genocide happened as a result of two decades of rhetoric of hatred that was fomented via the radio. Hatred, fear, racism — all of that was transmitted via certain media channels. Until one day, followed a helicopter crash that proved the perfect trigger point — the murderous violence erupted. In a matter of 100 days, some million Rwandans were murdered by their neighbors. Because of the years of toxic language that filled their airwaves and their minds.

I could not help think about this as I listened to Ben Gvir’s guy screaming on the radio that the protesters are terrorists. And now Ben Gvir has a lot of ammunition at his disposal, 2000 uniformed militants, and 15 mandates-worth of voters. I shudder to think what is next for us.

****

The first step, in my view, is to call out the toxic language. We need to familiarize ourselves with the toxic tactics and name them. Because that is the front line that we are on right now.