Q&A: Where Are They?
Where Are They?
Question
There are opponents and there are supporters of the regime overhaul.
According to the polls, the supporters are somewhere between 19% of the public and 35%, depending on which question is being asked—override clause, reasonableness, etc.—and what answer options exist in that particular poll. That’s what I’ve seen from following this for more than half a year straight.
This evening the supporters held a demonstration, with advertised buses and so on, opposite the Supreme Court, with politicians warming up the crowd and rabbis signing on—seemingly excellent organization—and yet there were, generously speaking, maybe 3,000 people there, perhaps fewer.
I saw pictures, both in the media and from friends who were there and took photos and sent them.
My question is: how does it happen that the public doesn’t express its view?
It’s clear to me that if about 2 million people support the overhaul—and probably more—they’re not going to get 2 million there, and not even 1 million.
But so few?
Is there an explanation?
Answer
I have no idea. I’m also not familiar with the facts.
Discussion on Answer
***Because the supporters are in power…
They don’t feel etc.***
Part of it is what David said. In my opinion, part of it is also that this reform just isn’t burning for many of the people who support it the way it’s burning for the politicians pushing it. I can testify about myself. Levin and Rothman very much want to make changes in the judicial system. For me, this issue is very low on the list of priorities. Sure, I support some kind of reform in the judicial system, but I’m not going to fight half my nation over it—and that’s what it would take to pass these things in the situation the leaders of this reform have brought us to.
I watched about half an hour of the demonstration. I didn’t see any attempt there to market the reform to audiences protesting against it. What I heard sounded to me mainly like inflammatory talk that would stir up the feelings of the die-hard supporters of the reform, but certainly wouldn’t build trust among the protest people. On the contrary. It will increase their fear that this reform is only the first stage in a corrupt takeover of the state. Even I was put off by most of what I heard (I swear, if I see “dictatorship” and the High Court of Justice in the same sentence one more time…). I’m not going to demonstrate over this, and if the noise and fanfare keep going the way they are now, I won’t even vote for it.
Because the supporters are in power. They don’t feel that demonstrating is all that effective on any level. In my opinion, they’re not really wrong. The government knows there’s support for the reform, and still the broad and fierce opposition bothers them. Demonstrating support won’t change their predicament.
The 3,000 who demonstrated matter. Amit Segal and the rest of the horsemen on the right matter too. To remind them that support for the reform still exists. But beyond that… in my opinion it’s unnecessary, and it seems the supporting public understands that too—at least unconsciously.