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8 | JUNE 4 • 2020
dicey and the Israeli govern-
ment acted with less oversight
from its ally.
In another recent example,
in 2017 the court ruled in
favor of a female plaintiff who
had been asked to move her
seat because an ultra-
Orthodox man had refused
to sit next to her on an El Al
flight from Newark to Tel
Aviv, thereby helping to off-
set the Rabbinate’
s outsized
power over an otherwise
largely secular society.
Israel has responded to the
coronavirus relatively well
compared to other nations.
Following strict lockdown
orders, the country is flat-
tening its curve and has not
had an exponential growth,
signaling it has the situation
under control. To the relief
of parents, the country is
reopening many schools.
Foreign college students will
be let in soon.
The positive news is an
easy selling point to keep the
leadership in place come the
proposed swap in 18 months.
There have been only 281
fatalities in a country with the
population of New York City,
and buses and museums are
open with minor restrictions.
Still, there might be a second
increase in cases as social dis-
tancing rules ease up.
If the situation becomes
dramatically worse, fear is a
tactic to hypnotize the masses
and maintain the status quo,
shutting down movement for
a second time and allowing
the Bibi government to keep
a tight hold on things. But
if the situation continues to
improve, Netanyahu can take
credit for it. It’
s almost a win-
win for him.
Let’
s look at Hungary as
an example of what could
come: Prime Minister Victor
Orbán’
s government revised
the criminal code in the wake
of the outbreak, allowing for
up to five years in prison for
those who spread “fake news”
about the virus. That could
easily be extended to any
voice of dissent; Orbán has a
history of violently quashing
political speech in his coun-
try.
On the home front, there
is concern about the U.S.
election, which seems likely
to take place largely via mail-
in voting ballots. President
Trump helped choose the
new postmaster general, a
political donor and outsider
with no postal experience.
The general is appointed by
a board of nine members
chosen by the president with
the consent of the Senate. As
states decide to opt for mail-
in voting, the postmaster gen-
eral might move to defund
these projects, seriously
inhibiting voting in rural
areas and states with older
populations who don’
t want
to risk their health visiting a
voting booth. The president
recently threatened to cut
funding to Michigan after the
Michigan Secretary of State
sent mail-in ballot applica-
tions to registered voters, a
growing practice among elec-
tion officials. He baselessly
accused the Secretary of State,
Jocelyn Benson, of engaging
in fraud. Already, we can see
the election and voters’
power
in jeopardy.
As concerns grow about the
impact on global democracy,
with individual voting rights
weakening and governments
using the balagan [chaos] to
their advantage by furthering
their agendas, Israel is no
different. Leaders now have
carte blanche to carry on as
they wish. We should all be
worried.
Eli Reiter is a Global Activist Fellow
for the New Israel Fund.
LIOR MIZRAHI/GETTY IMAGES VIA JTA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen at a menorah lighting at the start
of Chanukah in Ramat Gan, Dec. 2, 2018.
continued from page 6