8 | APRIL 6 • 2023 PURELY COMMENTARY continued on page 10 statement from Serling Institute Serling Institute Supports Israeli Democracy T he Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at Michigan State University supports Israel’s democracy and stands with those who were peacefully protesting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts to pass legislation that will eliminate the ability of the High Court to act as a check on the government. We stand with those many groups and individuals from Israeli civil society and state institutions who are calling for a stop to the judicial overhaul proposals. We stand with the several hundred thousand Israelis peacefully protesting for the past three months against the government’s efforts to weaken Israeli democracy. We stand with the leaders of Israeli universities and colleges who officially oppose “the continuation of the legislative process that undermines the foundations of Israeli democracy and endangers its continued existence.” We join with the Association of Israel Studies in “view[ing] with grave concern the recent developments in Israel, including the looming changes in the state’s political and legal system and the growing support for racism and incitement. As an academic association, we are committed to intellectual integrity and academic freedom — necessary foundations for any healthy and free society — and to the values of freedom, equality and pluralism, which must exclude any discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity or gender. We believe that all efforts should be made to ensure that the rights and responsibilities upon which freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas are based, and the checks and balances that are the underpinning of democracy — the precondition for free academic discourse — will continue to flourish in the academic study of Israel, in Israeli society and in the Israeli body politic. The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel recently celebrated the 30th anniver- sary of the Jewish Studies Program at MSU. opinion A Miraculous Display of Civil Heroism T he throat chokes up with a mix of anxiety and pride. We’ve heard a lot about the anxiety. Here I’ d like to emphasize the pride: a people arose from its peace- ful and relaxed day-to-day life and went out to fight for its spirit and its future. Without political organization, without personal interests, without qualms, crowds rallied to restore to the people what belongs to them: the ability to defend their freedom against a potentially predatory majority rule. In view of the danger that the Leviathan — the executive branch — will take over the judicial branch, Israeli citizens are forging an impenetrable defensive wall with their own bodies. The Israeli center understands that only it — you and I and every Israeli patri- ot — can get the state and our society out of the emergency room into which it was thrown, battered and bloody. How much power there is in nonviolent civil disobedience! Hundreds of thousands have taken to our streets in the spirit of Gandhi and King, their only weapons flags, signs, mega- phones and a general strike. Facing them is a responsible, mature, controlled police force that knows that its role in the national drama is limited and marginal. Not government-dis- patched thugs, but rather keep- ers of the public order, with good intentions. Even more reason to be proud. The transfer of Israeli society from the emergency room to a regular ward, and later to rehab, should be measured. A halt to the aggressive legislative effort must not be construed as the victory of half the people over the other half. Nor should it be regarded as a capitulation to military service refusal — even “gray refusal. ” The protest movement must rise above a Rothman-Levin maneuver that seeks to aggressively vanquish Israelis protest outside the Knesset government’s planned judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem on March 27, 2023 Yedidia Stern Times of Israel ERIK MARMOR/FLASH90