This summer I was invited to join a discussion at Harvard’s Kennedy School on decaying democracies. Israel’s internal conflict, the unfolding war in Gaza and the hostage situation are all connected to the battle over our country’s identity. Are we to stay a modern democracy or to become a theocratic autocracy? That’s what’s at stake.
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Walking around campus, I found myself juggling mixed feelings of gloom and determination. The sense of gloom hit when I realized that my own country could soon find itself joining the autocracies that were also represented—Venezuela, China, Russia, Egypt. Researchers from each, plus the United States, were attempting to decipher the challenges presented by opposing either a regime or a decaying democracy.
And yet the thought of the massive number of Israelis coming together to collectively battle this decay—hundreds of thousands as recently as last week—was uplifting, and I felt a rising pride and determination to win the day.
We know that democracies are fragile almost by definition. Around the world, we see democratically elected leaders using democratic institutions to carry out a slow but effective change. By weakening the checks and balances that keep a country democratic they gradually gain unlimited power. Loyalty to the leader rather than to the country becomes the decisive factor in key positions that are designed to be independent and maintain the balance power. And then there is no way back.
We founded Brothers and Sisters in Arms in January 2023 after a newly elected government announced that it planned to pass a set of laws to irrevocably enfeeble almost all Israeli democracy’s checks and balances. Among the 200 laws proposed was one enabling the government to cancel any Supreme Court decision by a simple majority, and another permitting the government to appoint unqualified loyalists to key positions without any review or explanation.
For years we had fundamentally trusted Israeli democracy, taking it for granted. At 50, living with my family in Tel Aviv with a successful career in Israel’s famed tech industry, it had never crossed my mind to play a part in civic society, let alone help found an organization. But I found myself threatened by the prospect of unlimited power in the hands of any government.
Getting together with friends, we understood that something had to be done before it was too late. We started a WhatsApp group, called ourselves Brothers and Sisters in Arms, and planned to walk from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on a journey for democracy. We were naive, none of us believed the journey would still go on three years later. I have always served my country and stood up to defend it including risking my life. This was what was driving us onto the streets. We love Israel and understand that its security relies on our solidarity. Without democracy, equality and freedom people do not stand up and risk their lives. Our motto was that the army of the people, one for all and all for one, can exist only in a democracy.
Week after week, for nine solid months, Brothers and Sisters in Arms and other protest groups led hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets. We raised the alarm in every corner of the country. Tensions escalated as the police response became increasingly aggressive. But we forged ahead and built a nationwide force of supporters. We demonstrated fearlessly, flooded the media and increased public pressure on coalition members, managing to temporarily halt the proposed judicial coup.
And then came October 7. At 6:29 a.m., every Israeli woke up to the sound of alarms blaring. Hamas had brutally penetrated our southern border, embarking on the slaughter of civilians.
Once again Israelis didn’t falter. We came together, setting aside the internal conflict to battle the external threat.
Our government, on the other hand, was paralyzed and in a state of shock. Regular Israelis unhesitatingly stepped up to fill the void. At Brothers and Sisters in Arms we pivoted immediately (literally in minutes) to become a civil-aid organization. We used our infrastructure to engage thousands of volunteers to address a wide range of needs in nationwide logistic operations. We rescued people under fire and supported evacuated families, helping to house and provide for them.
Astonishingly, the brutal attack by Hamas and its aftermath did not dampen the government’s ambition to grab unlimited power. On the contrary. Two years into a war that is not winding down, with our hostages to be returned, this government is totally focused on pushing through its judicial coup, acting continuously against the public interest.
It is refusing to prioritize the return of the hostages—casting aside solidarity and mutual responsibility, perhaps our most important strategic asset. And even though the military is short of manpower, the government refuses to draft ultra-orthodox men, whose religious political parties are key to the Netanyahu coalition. Cynically and immorally, the government is creating separate sectors of society. One risks its lives life defending the country and the other does not. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have returned to the streets demanding a brave leadership.
Moreover, Netanyahu and his government refuse to take any responsibility for October 7 or to appoint a state commission of inquiry to investigate how we got there—even though 80 percent of Israelis, according to multiple surveys, believe that inquiry is imperative.
If Israel is to survive as a vibrant, democratic Jewish state in accordance with the Zionist vision of our founding fathers and our declaration of independence—a safe home for the Jews, a thriving democracy based on equality and open to all religions and beliefs—the Israeli public must step up once more and actively participate in the democratic process. This is both the privilege of the demos in the modern world and its obligation.
Dealing with internal conflicts of identity while being threatened by external enemies is not unique to Israel. But Israel’s life-threatening circumstances show that the social robustness required to overcome them require most citizens to be committed and engaged. In Israel our “groupishness” is our superpower. That is the Zionism on which I was raised. It is the Israel we want to return to. The researchers in Harvard, like many people around the world are looking at the Israel’s battle for itself. The outcome depends on us. We are the democratic defense force.