Last Monday afternoon, the President’s office issued a statement: a compromise on the most contested issue in Israeli society and politics these days, the judicial overhaul led by the new government, is closer than ever. The statement was issued after an emergency meeting at which the president hosted around 100 local council leaders, many of whom had expressed concern over the proposed judicial reform that the government is planning – a reform that brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis out into the streets in protest in recent weeks.

It wasn’t a coincidence that the president had chosen to issue the statement at the end of a meeting supposed to represent a broad consensus among local authority leaders. It is even less surprising that there were only seven council leaders from Arab communities present at that emergency gathering. That’s less than one-tenth of the total number of Arab councils and authorities. Just like everywhere else where the judicial overhaul is being discussed, here, too, Israel’s Arab community doesn’t feel a need to make its voice heard. And even though last week saw the launch of the first campaign among Arab mayors, journalists and activists in favor of joining the nationwide protests, it remains to be seen to what extent the public will heed the calls.

Anyone who has attended one of the hundreds of demonstrations held since Justice Minister Yariv Levin unveiled his legal reform will surely have noticed the almost total absence of Arab protestors. Standing in a sea of Israeli flags, the protestors may ask themselves, “Why aren’t the Arabs here? After all, they are the first ones the reform will harm.”

For Arab members of the Knesset and activists, as well as the average Arab citizen, all of whom understand only too well the significance of undermining the judicial system, such questions appear disconnected from reality. With all due respect to the current protest and its importance, they say, anyone who wants to see Arabs protesting shoulder to shoulder with Jews has to understand that there are many varied and profound reasons that Arabs prefer not to participate in the increasingly fractious political discourse.

“You have to remember that the High Court of Justice has never given real support or assistance to the Arabs or the Palestinians. It did not intervene in the Nation-State Law. It did not intervene in the legislation for acceptance committees [which allows small communities in the Negev and the Galilee to set their own criteria for accepting new members, leaving an opening for discrimination against non-Jewish candidates], in settlement construction, the expropriation of Palestinian land, and house demolitions,” MK Ahmad Tibi (Hadash-Ta’al) told Shomrim in a conversation held at a demonstration in Sakhnin against the violent assaults by settlers in the West Bank town of Hawara at the end of last month. “Make no mistake about it, we are vehemently opposed to the judicial overhaul and we will continue to oppose it. After all, at this rate, MK Nissim Vaturi of the Likud will end up being a High Court justice. Some individuals participate in the protest, but it’s only natural that the Arab public will not attend these demonstrations in huge numbers.”

According to Tibi, the way the leaders of the opposition treat their pairs from the Arab parties influences the general mood and the willingness to take part in the protests. As does the Jewish public’s general disregard for the past and present protests of the Arab community in Israel. “The opposition is keeping the representatives of the Arab public away from the political meetings and discussions in the Knesset,” he says. “You cannot continuously attack the leadership of the Arab public and then tell that same public to ignore all that. Apart from that, they [Jewish members of the opposition] are not always by our side on the issues that hurt us most. Today, we are in Sakhnin, demonstrating against the settlers’ terrorism in Hawara – and where are the Jewish representatives?”

MK Aida Touma-Sliman agrees with her party colleague. “The basic assumption of the protestors is that there has been a stable democracy for all citizens here for years and only now is that coming under threat,” she says. “Arab citizens did not experience this democracy at all. Therefore, Arab citizens are not expressing solidarity with this statement. They suffered under this ‘democracy’ for decades.”

Touma-Sliman adds that the protest organizers do not even think about including Arab citizens in their campaign. “The organizers have to understand that they do not have any legitimacy to decide what Arab citizens need to protest about,” she says. “If they want Arab participation in their demonstrations, they have to expand the reasons for the protest, to adopt the causes that Arab citizens would protest about. Only then will we see Arab participation.”

MK Touma-Sliman: “The basic assumption of the protestors is that there has been a stable democracy for all citizens here for years and only now is that coming under threat. Arab citizens did not experience this democracy at all"

‘We Fought for Justice and Equality Long before This Protest’

Social and political activist Saleen Ismaeel, who knows the Arab street well and has spearheaded protests in the past, also points out that Jewish Israelis were silent when the Arab community in Israel protested against the Nation-State Law, land grabs and house demolitions. Racism and the rising tide of crime on the streets of Arab communities, she says, are much more of an immediate concern for the Arab community than the independence of the judicial system. “I won’t go out and demonstrate for democracy for the Jews while that same so-called democracy harms the Palestinian people and me,” she says. “The Arab street has struggled for many years against discriminatory practices. We fought for justice and equality long before the Jews launched their struggle. The courts never ruled justly for Arab citizens. They don’t intervene in house demolitions; in the Kaminitz Law [a law allowing tougher enforcement against illegal construction, a widespread phenomenon in the Arab community]; the National State Law, and many other laws.”

“There is terrible crime and violence in my community,” Ismaeel adds. “The law-enforcement bodies are not doing enough to control criminality. Moreover, we are suffering because there are no development masterplans and no plans to expand the community. These are the problems my community suffers from, not the justice system's independence.”

So when will we see Arab participation in the demonstrations against the judicial revolution?

“I am in favor of a joint Arab-Jewish struggle, but in the meantime, in the current struggle, there’s no recognition of what’s hurting the Palestinian people and me. If I were to demonstrate alongside the Jews, who at no stage expressed any solidarity with the pain experienced by the Arab community, I would be undermining my own principles. The moment that the pro-democracy protest is willing to speak out against the occupation and racism, I am sure that the Arab community [in Israel] will join the struggle. Thus far, all I have seen is that these demonstrations only talk about the pain of the Jews, without any thought to the suffering of the Arab community. They don’t talk about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and, obviously, there can be no democracy with occupation.”

Ismaeel: "I won’t go out and demonstrate for democracy for the Jews while that same so-called democracy harms the Palestinian people and me. The Arab street has struggled for many years against discriminatory practices. We fought for justice and equality long before the Jews launched their struggle"

Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? is an organization dedicated to advancing Jewish-Arab cooperation in the political sphere. Alongside its Abraham Initiatives program, the organization is behind a campaign to encourage the Arab community to participate in the protests, and it well understands these sentiments. It is trying to find room for them – alongside a call to action. The organization’s co-director and founder, Shir Nosatzki, explains that the voice of Arab citizens is being heard and that Arab participation in the protest movement is an exceptional opportunity to change the balance of power. “There is no question that Israeli democracy has not taken its Arab citizens into account or treated them as equals,” she says. “But what is happening now is a historical moment in which all injustices and inequalities are being exposed and discussed. There’s a real chance that we find ourselves today in a reality that will shape Israeli democracy – either by means of a new constitution or enshrining new Basic Laws, to commit to values that have long been abandoned.

“I believe that the Arab community must be a partner at this moment and must play a role in reshaping the democratic identity of the country in a manner that is genuinely inclusive.”

Dr. Salim Brake: "We cannot allow ourselves to be permanently held captive by slogans that repeat themselves over and over. I call on everyone to participate, we are not doing anyone any favors. Not the left and not the center. The damage that this government is doing will harm the Arabs first and foremost"

The Druze Have a Score to Settle with the High Court

In contrast with the general Arab population of Israel, there has been some participation in the protests by members of the Druze community, albeit relatively small numbers. Last Saturday, some 50 Druze demonstrated for the first time at Carmiel Junction in a joint protest with local Jewish residents. The organizer of that joint Jewish-Druze protest against the judicial revolution was Hiba Assad, who sees things very differently from Ismaeel. “We have reached the point of no return,” she says, “so we have to fight tooth and nail against the proposed reform – and then we have to go back to the other struggles.” According to Assad, many of the Druze in Israel are indifferent to events in the country, especially in light of the betrayal they felt after the High Court’s ruling to uphold the Nation-State Law. The fact that the highest court in the land did not intervene to strike down that law carried a lot of weight. Yet, many in the Druze community understand that the legal system still provides protection for minorities in Israel, and they have been participating in the protests. She adds that there are also some Druze who support the reform. “I think we have to wake up all those indifferent and make them go out to protest,” she says. “A few dozen Druze in Carmiel is not much compared to the hundreds of thousands protesting across the country, but it’s a decent number for our first protest.”

According to Assad, many of the Druze in Israel are indifferent to events in the country, especially in light of the betrayal they felt after the High Court’s ruling to uphold the Nation-State Law. Yet, many in the Druze community understand that the legal system still provides protection for minorities in Israel, and they have been participating in the protests

Safwan Marich, a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves and a social activist who spoke at a demonstration in Haifa earlier this month, explains that the Druze community is, in any case, generally less activistic than other groups in the Arab community in Israel. “We don’t have civil society organizations, which the Druze community sorely lacks. What do we have? We have Knesset members who nearly all serve their party before their community,” says a man who has risked his life many times for his country. “When Yoav Gallant [current Minister of Defense and member of the Likud party] was commander of the Southern District of the IDF, he promoted me to lieutenant colonel, and I was involved in military operations like Pillar of Defense and Protective Edge. I went out to defend the idea of Jewish and democratic Israel with the right balance. I wasn’t sent to defend the kingdom and the king because I would not risk my life for a king or a dictator. I only risked my life for an idea: an Israeli society that is both Jewish and democratic.”

Marich believes that those in the Arab and Druze community who don’t participate in the electoral process [about 46% in the last elections] believe that in so doing, they are punishing the system or the Knesset members themselves but in the end, it is the Arab community who end up paying the price through lack of representation. “In the Arab and Druze community, we are very provincial; we vote in local elections but not in those for the Knesset. But there’s no vacuum in the Knesset. If one elected official doesn’t get in somebody else will take their place. In the current chaos, the first people to get hurt will be minorities. Israel is the only democracy in the world where the word ‘equality’ does not exist in any law. It is clear to me that the Supreme Court does not do enough to protect minorities in Israel, but it is our last line of defense. The State of Israel is democratic for Jews and Jewish for Arabs. Because the Arab community is so disappointed with the Supreme Court, it’s saying, ‘Okay, now you remember that we exist. Why didn’t you protect us when we needed you?’ There’s a lot of truth in that question, and it is also obvious to me that we are not holding the strongest cards in our hands, but we must learn how to play this poker game. If another 10 percent of Arab citizens had voted, Ben-Gvir wouldn’t be in power now.”

Marich: “I went out to defend the idea of Jewish and democratic Israel with the right balance. I wasn’t sent to defend the kingdom and the king because I would not risk my life for a king or a dictator. I only risked my life for an idea: an Israeli society that is both Jewish and democratic"

Dr. Salim Brake, a political science professor at the Open University of Israel, echoes Marich’s message. Brake is also convinced that minorities in Israel must join the struggle against the judicial revolution, even if that means setting aside their other struggles for the time being. “In operative terms alone, connecting every struggle to the identity issue is a mistake. When I take part in a struggle of any kind, my goal is for that specific struggle to succeed and not to involve demands that are not immediately connected. That doesn't mean that the Palestinian issue and the occupation are not important, it just means that political participation has to be effective. We cannot allow ourselves to be permanently held captive by slogans that repeat themselves over and over. I call on everyone to participate, we are not doing anyone any favors. Not the left and not the center. The damage that this government is doing will harm the Arabs first and foremost.”

“The Supreme Court will not deal with the Arab community fairly. It took 55 years for them to even think about having an Arab justice serving on the High Court. But I ask one simple question: Is it better to have a justice system that does offer some help here and there or to destroy everything? In every country that has declined in this way – like Poland and Hungary – it always began with incitement against the judicial system. The question is, do I prefer to remain here without anything? I believe we must rescue whatever is left of the judicial system.”