The judicial reform, which was among the issues voted for by the majority of the people, and on which large sectors of the population, even the public that is not part of the current coalition agrees, has been turned into a "legal and regime revolution" that will lead us to the end of democracy, to a dictatorship, to severe economic damage, to potential wars, to the destruction of the health system, to a civil war that will end in the destruction of the country and its inhabitants.
The campaigners, who are financed by backers with huge budgets, are trying to implement this campaign’s vision.
It started with the publication of economists’ opinions (and, by the way, the number of times economists have managed to predict major economic crises in advance are few and far between) that predict severe damage to Israel's economy due to the upcoming damage to the judicial system and the democratic balance in the country.
And the words of the economists are echoed both by the written and the digital media in Hebrew and other languages.
And to grant the campaign morer validity, they find some company owners that the agenda suits, and start discussing the withdrawal of their company's funds from Israel. Other investors then talk about how worried they are about the current state of the country, while for dessert, a bank manager (who takes part in the demonstrations) talks about the withdrawal of funds from the bank he manages,- and all is done so that the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling.
And it’s not just the media and self-proclaimed experts that repeat the words of those economists, they are repeated by anyone who decides this new reform might hurt their own little niche as well, when sometimes the relation between the two is incidental at best.
And so, the protests of the lawyers, the doctors, the engineers, the hi-tech employees, the reserve soldiers, the philosophers and more, start adding up to it.
And in order for it to take on a global dimension, members of the Knesset, businessmen, economists, lawyers, and members of the media are turning to their friends abroad with gross irresponsibility, telling them about the end of democracy and the loss of governance in Israel, and about the inevitable collapse of the judicial system, and that it’s worth withdrawing their funds from Israel because the collapse is already starting. Yair Lapid, the coalition cairman, has recommended, without a shred of shame, investing those funds in… Singapore.
And as this campaign gains momentum, international media and politicians from around the globe start discussing the harm that is being done to Israel’s democracy and judicial system, and from this point on, it really doesn’t take much more for the campaigners’ prophecy to come true.
What are you doing, leaders of the protest against the judicial reform?
Is that how one prevents legislation in the state of Israel? Is what we are seeing "may my soul die with the Philistines"?
Is this really what you want? To hurt the state of Israel? Collapse its economy? Harm its safety? Throw stones at a glass house? Do you rbeally want someone to spill another person's blood?
Have you gone completely crazy?
What is this obsession of yours? What is the meaning of your people and leaders calling for a civil war? To use weapons? To spill blood?
Is this really how you want to prevent democratic legislation?
Have you forgotten all about the discussion procedures at the Knesset committees, where each person or expert, looking to sound their opinions, are welcome to do so?
Yes. You can protest but stop inciting. Stop calling for civil wars, for spilling blood, for leaving the country, to stop paying taxes, to not get drafted to the IDF or serve as a reserve soldier.
Not too many aeyears ago, in the summer of 2005, we went through one of the most difficult collective experiences Israel ever had, that of the Gush Katif deportation. This decision was made by means of a shocking political coup in which the Supreme Court chose not to intervene and led to people being removed from their homes, destroying their businesses, and digging up their loved ones from their graves to be buried elsewhere.
There were demonstrations then too, and to control those demonstrators the judicial system acted harshly against the right, from the arrest of minors until proceedings could take place, through denying people the right to demonstrate and protest and severe prison sentences for protestors who tried to block roads, and more.
At that time, we did not threaten them with civil war, nor with bloodshed. We also did not threaten to remove funds and transfer them abroad. We did not shame the state of Israel before the nations of the world. We all felt the pain of the expulsion, and yet, not a single one of us even thought about not serving the IDF, not taking on combat training, and certainly not evading reserve service. We have felt the pain of the expulsion and its predicted consequences, which we, and all the communities in the south of the country experience to this very day.
Even when the following year, 2006, the Second Lebanon War broke out, we all showed up for battle in which the best of our sons fell, some of them are the displaced citizens of Gush Katif themselves.
So, let's talk about the reform, here and now, without any preconditions and according to the rules of democracy.
You can protest, and you can demonstrate - this is legitimate, provided that the protest is in accordance with the law and in accordance with the rules outlined by the judicial system during the expulsion from Gush Katif.
The existing democracy allows for continuous and factual discourse in the Knesset committees. It is also possible to discuss the issues and converse anywhere else, even at the president's house. In the end, the issue will be put to a vote by the legislature, according to the rules of democracy and the laws in the state of Israel, where the decision will be made.
I don't know what the final result is to be, but just as we’ve accepted the results of the Gush Katif deportation with heavy hearts and continued to build our country and strengthen it, I expect our brothers to know how to accept any result regarding the judicial reform, which will be accepted in a legal and democratic way, even if its content is not totally acceptable to you.
In the end, as is customary in any democratic country, in four years we will have another round of elections in which you and I and all Israeli ciitizens will have the right to choose the leaders we believe should lead Israel.
Attorney Izhak Lax is a partner in a firm of attorneys and a judge in the national disciplinary court of the Israeli Bar Association