[This is the four post in my series on my mission to Israel. You can read Parts I, II, and III.]
Though I don't particularly care for American politics, I generally understand how the various systems work. With regard to foreign governments, I neither care about their political systems, nor understand how they work. I write this post about Israeli political system with some trepidation, but I think it is relevant to understand the current situation with regard to the hostages.
In December 2022, Benjamin Netanyahu (known as Bibi) formed a government in parliament. His coalition included several members from (what are known as) far-right parties. A leading charge of the new government was judicial reform. Indeed, as I wrote in Part III, these reforms were viewed as essential to liberate the people from the rule of elite lawyers. Unsurprisingly, elite lawyers who wiled this power opposed these changes. These proposals triggered massive nationwide protests. Every Saturday night, people took to the streets of Israel to oppose changing the courts. They went on labor strikes and shut down roads. Society ground to a halt. Indeed, these protests spread to America, though I suspect most of the people marching knew as much about the Israeli Supreme Court as the kids at Columbia know which river and sea border Israel. After sustained protests, the government backed away from most of the proposals. (And those proposals that were passed were later declared unconstitutional.)
