By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM–The Marker is the business section of Ha’aretz. It’s presented in tabloid form almost as a newspaper in its own right. It’s well written with a lot of photographs and charts. I read most of it every day but understand very little.
The little I do understand tells me that last year’s social protest didn’t yield much. Food prices have remained as high as ever or higher and much steeper than in other countries. Feeding the family is a greater concern to may Israelis than the Iranian threat.
Yesterday, even the Bank of Israel and its iconic Governor Stanley Fisher blamed the Government of Israel for it. The reason given is the enormous gap between rich and poor in the country. Almost every day The Marker reports on insanely high salaries that not only business leaders pay themselves but also that high officials take from the public purse. This is one of the factors that at any time may erupt into social protest.
It’s, therefore, anticipated that as soon as the rains stop, last year’s mass demonstrations will resume. The previous ones may not have brought about much change, but they had great therapeutic value; there was a lot of social interaction, all of it conducted peacefully and civilly. The streets brought the people together.
The demonstrations may be more effective this time because the political parties outside of the coalition are likely to jump on the bandwagon. Last year, they were largely absent from the streets and from the debate, but this time not only has the Leader of Labor spoken about social justice, but – surprisingly – already on the day after he was elected Leader of Kadima, Shaul Mofaz expressed solidarity with the protest movement and heralded his, and presumably his party’s, active participation.
The former Chief of Staff and current Chair of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset has said what some of us have suspected for a long time, namely that the Prime Minister’s stress on the Iran threat may be a way of diverting attention from other, more immediate, issues.
The politicians are jumping on the bandwagon because there’re many votes to be gained by it. The poorest sectors of the population are haredim and Arabs. Both have large families and few skills for the modern work force. Though each sector has its own political parties, it seems that many of their usual adherents are disappointed with their leaders because they, too, are suspected of caring more for themselves than for the people they’re supposed to represent.
That’s why it’s possible that next time around, Labor and Kadima may go for the votes of the disenchanted. In the Kadima primaries, many Arabs voted for Mofaz. They may do it again in the next General Election. And to show himself on the right side of the haredim, Mofaz spent part of his first day as Opposition Leader at the Western Wall in the company of the rabbi there. Pictures show him hugging the Wall and leaving a note.
It’s not impossible that, not to be outdone by Mofaz, Netanyahu will now try to take real steps to do something for the disenfranchised to keep them away from Mofaz. Netanyahu is still most likely to stay in office beyond the next General Election, but for that he may have to keep the masses happier.
It’s possible that the debate is shifting, at least a little, from defense to economics, from Iran to the supermarket. It’s about time, even if Jews abroad might not like it.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Now dividing his time between Canada and Israel, he may be contacted at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com