Hundreds of protesters on Monday morning blocked the road leading up to the Knesset, despite police water cannons that showered them with welcome torrents of clear water during the longest heat wave this summer. Note: when the same water cannons are used against Haredi demonstrators, they pack blue stink water that a dozen showers won’t wash away.
מקלחת בוקר ברופין פינת הזז ירושלים pic.twitter.com/WnUkbdFCML
— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) July 24, 2023
Yes, boys and girls, as Matt Damon, playing Edward Wilson, one of the founders of the CIA in the 2006 film The Good Shepherd put it, “[We own] The United States of America. The rest of you are just visiting.”
חוסמים בכוח את הכניסה לכנסת⬇️
משעמם בחופש הגדול ?
אין קייטנה למבוגרים ❓ pic.twitter.com/SfaQAy9Ede— ??asher?? (@asher501_) July 24, 2023
The better protesters, from the “Brothers in Arms” crypto-fascist militia, sporting olive-drab T-shirts, handcuffed themselves to each other outside the Knesset until they were eventually removed, quite gently, by the police. Meanwhile, Itay Shalev, a reporter for the right-leaning Channel 14 was violently attacked by an anarchist on live TV. Someone in the background was heard screaming: “Channel 14, hellhounds, instigators.” The Israel Police responded: “We will use the tools at our disposal against lawbreakers.”
Can they call the guy who makes the blue stink water?
By the way, the fellow in the video was screaming “Satan’s dogs” in Hebrew, but I find “hellhounds” to be more poetic.
בהנחית מפקדי מחוז ירושלים: כוחות מג”ב מצטיידים באלות אל מול המפגינים שחוסמים את אחת הכניסות.
הפעם היחידה שאני זוכר שימוש באלות הייתה בכפר אוריה כשבן גביר הגיע להתפלל שם בשבת. pic.twitter.com/c3FRsOJcu3— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) July 24, 2023
The coalition leaders thought ahead Sunday night, didn’t allow their ministers and MKs to drive down to Tel Aviv to speak at the pro-reform, million people’s demonstration – they spoke via video links – and housed them with their voting fingers in hotels in Jerusalem. But around 9 AM, when all 64 of them (we hope) emerged from their continental breakfasts, they discovered the Knesset was impenetrable. All the entries were blocked by enthusiastic criminals to the praise and adulation of the mainstream media.
Ah, but coalition whip Ofir Katz had a contingency plan: unbeknownst to the siege army if you go down to the Finance Ministry’s parking garage, there’s a door you can use to get into the Knesset.
See? There’s law and order, which is often a joke in the Land of the Jews, and then there’s the Yiddishe kop, and that one, thank God, is still working.
In the end, dozens of protestors were detained after handcuffing themselves to each other, on suspicion of trying to disrupt traffic in the Knesset area.
All the handcuffs were confiscated by the police and maybe put up for auction – at least that’s my recommendation. Some people will pay a good shekel for those.
Now for the serious news: the Knesset is expected to start voting around noon on all the objections submitted by the opposition parties. And when those are defeated (remember, our side has 64 right-index fingers, an automatic 53.3% majority), the second and third votes will start on the bill to restrict the reasonability clause.
Barring surprises, our side should win. So, what are those surprises?
1. The most important one: Prime Minister Netanyahu will lose his nerve, or have another reason, to renege on his promise to the voters, and pull back the entire legislation. At this point, the probability of this happening is low (famous last words).
2. Pressured by the security apparatus, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will either be absent from the plenum, abstain, or vote against the bill. This cuts down the majority to 63 right-index fingers.
3. Netanyahu’s nemesis in the Likud faction will decide to trip him and either not show up, abstain, or vote against the bill. The usual suspects are MKs Yuli Edelstein and David Bitan, which would cut the majority down to a meager 61, but who knows, there may be other Likudninks who will pick today of all days to sucker punch the leader. It happens.
4. The Haredim will have a loss of heart. In such a case we are talking about the defeat of the bill because in Shas and UTJ there are no rogue votes. It’s everyone or no one. This would lead to the capitulation of Netanyahu’s government. The reason I’m raising this option is that Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri has been pushing very strongly for a compromise with the left; and UTJ’s daily paper, Yated Ne’eman, last week urged pulling back from the reasonability bill.
Stay tuned. I know I will.
