Middle East & Africa | A house divided against itself

Binyamin Netanyahu is exploiting Israel’s divisions

The tensions are not new but they are at a crisis point

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - MARCH 11: An aerial view of streets where Israelis take part in the "Day of Resistance" rally to protest the Israeli government plan to introduce judicial changes, seen by the opposition as an attempt to reduce the powers of the judicial authority in favor of the executive authority in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 11, 2023. (Photo by Amir Terkel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Mar 16th 2023|BEERSHEVA AND JERUSALEM

Beersheva, a sleepy town in the Negev desert, is 100km south but a world away from Tel Aviv. Last year two-thirds of the town voted for parties of the far-right and religious coalition led by Binyamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu, now the prime minister. Yet on March 11th some 10,000 Beershevans felt angry enough to protest against the government’s plans to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court. “This is a Bibi-ist town,” says Zipi Stolero, a retired civil servant who has lived there for 65 years. “But people are marching because they feel…freedom is at risk.” That the demonstrations have spread to Beersheva shows how widespread discontent with the government has become.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A house divided against itself”