Israeli Ex-Pats Plan to Protest Netanyahu at U.N.
Some Atlantans will fly to New York to join thousands of other Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the opening session of the 78th U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21. That in itself isn’t new as he has addressed the world organization several times in the more than 15 years he has been prime minister. But this year, the occasion is expected to draw thousands of Israeli ex-pats, as well as American Jews, to protest against him and his government’s legislative agenda that critics contend will weaken the country’s democracy.
Leaders of Israel’s ongoing protest movement that has taken to the streets all over the country for 36 weeks will fly to New York to protest Netanyahu’s speech to the U.N. Israelis who live in New York will congregate in Manhattan to demonstrate against Netanyahu. And Israelis who live in Atlanta will join thousands of others from across the U.S. to display signs and fly Israeli flags as part of the protest movement.
Amit and Meirav Mayer are two of the Israeli-born Atlantans who will fly to New York for less than 24 hours, just to express their opposition to the current Netanyahu government. “It’s a Thursday,” said Meirav Mayer. “It’s complicated with kids and work. We’re leaving early in the morning and returning at 1:30 a.m.” the following day. Her husband works for a biotech company, and she works for a high-tech company. Their kids are 12 and 17, but they won’t be left alone. Their 20-year-old daughter who serves in the Israel Defense Forces will be in Atlanta visiting.
Mayer tried to explain why protesting Netanyahu’s presence at the U.N. is so important that she and her husband are investing the time and money to travel to Manhattan.
“We’ve been protesting in Atlanta [with other Israelis] for seven months. In Atlanta, we started in February. It’s frustrating to do it from here but it’s important for us to raise our voices as Americans,” she said. Israeli government officials have visited other U.S. cities, sparking protests among the Israeli ex-pats and American Jews, but Mayer pointed out that those officials haven’t come to Atlanta. “But he will be in the U.S. and talking to the U.N. which makes it an important occasion. As prime minister of Israel, he’s talking to leaders of all the nations. But he is not a legitimate leader,” she contends because he’s entrenched in a trial against several charges of corruption. “So, he shouldn’t be accepted as a legitimate leader.”
Mayer also pointed to the fact that representatives of the foreign press will be in New York because of the U.N. General Assembly. “We want to make sure the world sees us. It’s a very big deal for me and my husband, both born and raised in Israel, and we love it deeply. We’ve lived here for 10 years and in the past, there were internal issues, and we didn’t feel it was our place to protest. But what is happening now is unprecedented because of the types of legislation” that are already passed by Netanyahu’s government or have been proposed by the government, considered the most far-right in Israel’s history.
She referred to the more than 200 pieces of legislation that critics say will lead the country from being a democracy to a dictatorship. One of those laws was passed in July. Several petitions against the “unreasonableness” law were scheduled to be heard by all 15 members of Israel’s top court starting Sept. 12.
But he will be in the U.S. and talking to the U.N. which makes it an important occasion. As prime minister of Israel, he’s talking to leaders of all the nations. But he is not a legitimate leader…So, he shouldn’t be accepted as a legitimate leader.
According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the “restriction of the reasonableness doctrine significantly harms the ability of the Supreme Court to enact oversight of the activities of the executive branch, and the ability of the government’s legal advisers to require the government to follow the law and use the appropriate considerations when making decisions. This restriction is the first element in the judicial overhaul being advanced by the coalition [government]. The opinion of the Supreme Court on this issue may indicate to the various parties the boundaries of the Court’s future intervention.”
Opponents of the government’s agenda believe that in a country like Israel, that does not have a constitution, retaining the right of the Supreme Court to overturn legislation deemed unreasonable is essential. The IDI suggests that the unreasonableness standard is imperative in order to prevent corruption, encourage rational and balanced decision-making, protect human rights, and maintain checks and balances.
Several members of Netanyahu’s government have contended that they will not honor any Supreme Court ruling that overturns the reasonableness law, leading many Israelis to fear that that could lead to a constitutional crisis in the country.
Mayer, who spent five weeks in Israel during the summer, joining the weekly protests, said “it’s not just legitimate to protest, it’s part of our obligation.”
She’s not alone among Israelis. On Sept. 7, thousands of supporters of the Netanyahu government rallied near the Supreme Court building. And days earlier, in an address to the Israeli Bar Association, Israeli Police Chief Kobi Shabtai estimated that between six and seven million Israelis – some regular attendees – have taken part of protests either in support or against the efforts to alter the country’s judicial system.
“Some people feel that they don’t want us to wash our dirty laundry in public,” Mayer said, referring to her protests both in Atlanta and especially in New York. “But it’s too late for that. We are supporting Israel. It’s just a different way to support Israel. My husband says it’s not what Israel does, but what Israel is. Will it remain a democratic country?”
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