It didn't take long for the cynics on the political left and the media to exploit the riots in Washington to tell us a little something about the Israeli right. MK Yair Golan hastily declared: "The distance between Trump, the invasion of Congress by an incited mob, and Netanyahu's conduct is shrinking." Moshe Ya'alon added: "Could this happen here? Let me remind you it already has: Netanyahu didn't accept the election results." And, as usual, MK Eli Avidar regaled: "This time, Netanyahu can't say 'I didn't hear anything,' as he has in the past."
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And in the press? "It could happen here, too," warned Ron Ben Yishai of Yediot Ahronoth, followed a day later by his colleague, Sima Kadmon, who in an article headlined "Coming soon" explained: "Don't say it's any different here." Unsurprisingly, condemnations of the events in Washington also poured in from the right; after all, if you don't say you are appalled by the thugs on Capitol Hill, you are at the very least complicit in their actions.
All of the Black Lives Matter riots and the coup attempts spearheaded by Antifa, the months of violence, looting and daily incitement – none of it left an impression on the Israeli left. Quite the opposite, the daily coverage, accompanied by blatant support, was presented as newsworthy documentation. Even the local impersonation pervading the "Balfour protests" – calls for anarchy, debasement of state symbols, well-funded demonstrations – received no condemnation. Nor did the worst forms of incitement, the calls for violence, or even the explicit threats on the lives of the prime minister and his family. Not a word; in fact, every mob-lit bonfire in town was portrayed as a beacon of democracy.
And the calls to "storm the Bastille" and to "finish with Netanyahu as with Ceaușescu" and other tyrants throughout history whose demise was neither democratic nor natural – imparted any discernible mark of anti-democratic shame among this cohort.
On the other hand, those who cast their votes democratically, who respected the rules, who absorbed the undemocratic attempts to disqualify their voice – they, of all people, are the threats to democracy. This comparison, utterly detached from reality, between rioters in the US to the right here, not only turns the victim into the attacker but also tries establishing a new narrative about the right.
It is a game of discourse; of boundaries and freedom of expression. It's as if someone came along and uprooted the word "democracy" from our lexicon and our ability to use it. In the past, it was "liberalism." Along with the fact that if you're not a progressive liberal verging on nihilism, you are a dangerous, messianic conservative. Later on, it was the word "peace," whereby if you don't support a Palestinian state and struggle to accept the bloody cost, you are, at minimum, a militant war hawk. And now they've taken "democracy" as well. As if the word is the birthright of a certain group.
These ploys of de-legitimization, while painful, have also appeared quite similar throughout the years. It doesn't matter how "stately" Begin was on the Altalena, for them he was always a "fascist." And it doesn't matter how many times Shamir opted for "unity," he was always a "terrorist" to them. And the number of peace treaties signed by Netanyahu is also irrelevant; in their view, he will always be the person who "killed" peace.
Therefore, instead of subjugating ourselves to the discourse of the all-knowing crowd, we must remember that liberalism, unity, stateliness, and peace are our domain. As is democracy.
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