Do you consider yourself a conservative? Or perhaps a liberal? In either case, think again – you’ve probably got it wrong.

Israel seems to be going along with numerous other democratic countries in rendering our classic ideologies topsy-turvy. Whether this trend is a contradiction or a paradox or even predestined over the long term, it’s too broad these days to merely strike off as a temporary, political abnormality.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s happening in Israel (I’ll get to parallel developments in a moment). The present right-wing government, supposedly standing for conservatism in public affairs, is in the midst of attempts to radically change the political system from top to bottom: • electing the Supreme Court’s President (turning this into a quasi-political selection) instead of the traditional approach of automatic seniority; • splitting the Attorney General’s job into three different (and far weaker) functionaries; • arresting peaceful protesters against the government (especially if they’re Arabs); even people with a “provocative” kippah on their head! • abolishing Israel’s army radio station (Galei Zahal), purportedly for its “left-wing” slant; • starting legislation to ban any (Arab) party that does not support Zionism; • calling for official annexation of the Administered Territories (against international law), with some government officials demanding the same regarding Gaza; • amending the law to transform the Council for Higher Education (MALAG) and its Planning and Budgeting Committee (VATAT) from professional institutions to government-political bodies; • pushing a draft law to........

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