Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the darling of the protest movement and democracy’s new knight in shining armor, has just adopted a long tradition set by his predecessors of harassing Israelis and Palestinians participating in a yearly joint memorial service. This event is now being organized for the 18th straight year by Combatants for Peace and by Parents Circle-Families Forum. Last week, Hagar Shezaf reported in Haaretz that Gallant is denying entry to Palestinian families who have been invited to the event.
Like many of his predecessors, Gallant is using the general closure imposed on the West Bank on the eve of Israel’s Memorial Day as an excuse for his decision, refusing to exclude the small number of invited families. In 2018, a current knight of democracy, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, tried to prevent the entry of Palestinian families, and in 2019 it was Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This year, another populist attempt was made to garner votes among people on the extreme right at the expense of these bereaved families, when MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) tried to submit a bill which would prevent publicly financed organizations from hosting these families or from aiding them in any other manner.
Highlighting the hypocrisy, it was the High Court of Justice – now ostensibly being protected by Gallant and Lieberman – that approved the entry of Palestinians participating in the event in earlier years. The court twice ruled that the entry ban did not stem from security considerations. This was based on the fact that even during such closures, many entry permits are issued on an individual basis, to Palestinian workers, for example, whose menial labor is required by their Israeli employers even on national holidays.
The court needed to explain to the government twice that participants in the memorial service could also be vetted on an individual basis, voiding any security-related consideration as a pretext for a sweeping prohibition on their entry.
In his decision, Gallant is thumbing his nose at two clear rulings of the judicial branch of government, the independence and standing of which he is ostensibly defending, at a personal cost to himself. Protest activist Lieberman did not hesitate in the past to assail the judges, arguing, just as Itamar Ben-Gvir is doing today, that “the wide scope of considerations given to the defense minister regarding approval of entry permits into Israel does not mean an unlimited scope.” Certainly not when officials of the Civil Administration overseeing the West Bank have said that they see no reason to deny entry in such a sweeping manner.
Beyond the huge hypocrisy on Gallant’s part, and his ugly rightward wink after losing favor among some right-wing voters, this is also a glorious instance of the state shooting itself in the foot. Instead of encouraging and embracing the moderates among our neighbors, who are willing to publicly recognize Israel’s pain, in contrast to elements opposing any normalization (such as joining Israel’s circle of bereavement), we are only making it difficult for them, punishing and driving them away. Even when their step – in contrast to Gallant’s latest political juggling – involves a genuine personal cost.
For years, the Israeli right has been demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel and its pain, but when some bold Palestinians actually pick up the volatile gauntlet, they get spat on. There were years in which they were literally, not metaphorically, spat on by right-wing activists who demonstrated outside the event’s venue. Instead of supporting mutual recognition and dialogue, Israel does everything it can, year after year, to torpedo these welcome initiatives. This is the real harm to democracy, Gallant.
Gallant is thumbing his nose at two clear rulings of the judiciary, which he is ostensibly defending.
The Hypocrisy of ‘Democracy Protector’ Gallant
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16.04.2023
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the darling of the protest movement and democracy’s new knight in shining armor, has just adopted a long tradition set by his predecessors of harassing Israelis and Palestinians participating in a yearly joint memorial service. This event is now being organized for the 18th straight year by Combatants for Peace and by Parents Circle-Families Forum. Last week, Hagar Shezaf reported in Haaretz that Gallant is denying entry to Palestinian families who have been invited to the event.
Like many of his predecessors, Gallant is using the general closure imposed on the West Bank on the eve of Israel’s Memorial Day as an excuse for his decision, refusing to exclude the small number of invited families. In 2018, a current knight of democracy, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, tried to prevent the entry of Palestinian families, and in 2019 it was Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This year, another........
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