From an Arab MK to a Reform Synagogue, Netanyahu's Israel Takes Pride in Attacking Dissent - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Last Saturday, Knesset Member Ayman Odeh was violently attacked in Nes Tziona on his way to speak at a protest. Right-wing extremists pelted his car with rocks, shattering his windshield and rear window, while he and his driver sat inside, targets of verbal abuse and threats of bodily harm.
As I watched videos from the scene, it brought back painful memories from the attack in Ra'anana on Memorial Day, where a violent mob stormed the Reform synagogue as we gathered to watch the live screening of the joint Israeli–Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony. Live attendance at the event in Tel Aviv was limited due to threats of violence. I was among the dozens of people attacked, and ended up in urgent care, and my car in a body shop.
Three months have passed. To this day, none of the hundreds of attackers have been indicted, nor were the people who incited violence beforehand apprehended. I have retold the story of this attack dozens of times. Each retelling brings me to tears. Of fear. Of shock. Of disbelief at how our rights and safety are being abandoned, and how violence is being legitimized.
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The police in Nes Tziona, as in Ra'anana, were warned in advance of these planned violent attacks. Once again, they dispatched too few officers. Once again, they allowed a violent mob to come much too close to their targets. Once again, the police made no arrests at the scene, only later detaining perpetrators who were released in short order. A judge criticized the police for abdicating their responsibility at the scene and neglecting to use video evidence to apprehend attackers.
This is not neglect, it's complicity. It is not a bug, it's a feature of the current regime's rule. It threatens Israeli democracy, backing and encouraging violence against those who disagree with it and shielding perpetrators from repercussions.
Not only didn't a single member of the government condemn either attack. In fact, coalition MKs publicly expressed pride in the attackers. Knesset Member Tally Gotliv posted on X: "Not only am I not condemning the right-wing protesters against terror supporter Ayman Odeh in Nes Tziona – I am proud of them!"
The attack on MK Odeh was the direct result of the shameful attempt last week to expel him from the Knesset, based on a single tweet from January 2025 in which he expressed joy at the release of the hostages and Palestinian prisoners, declared that "both peoples should be freed from the occupation, and that we were all born free."
This may upset the government, but it is not a legal basis for expelling an elected MK. I spent hours in the Knesset last week, lobbying opposition MKs, highlighting the severe consequences to our democracy should the motion pass. In the final tally, 73 MKs supported the motion, 17 short of the 90 required. Thankfully, the motion failed.
We are living a reality where those who call for equality, democracy and a shared society for all who live here are branded as extremists, while ministers who support Jewish supremacy and the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza are appointed to positions of power. Their supporters are allowed to engage in their categorically illegal violence with impunity.
We are witnessing a terrifying process whereby violence against anyone who challenges the government's extremism and intolerance is normalized. It's open season on liberal Israelis and MKs, Palestinian citizens of Israel, pro-democracy protestors, civil and human rights activists and organizations, as well as participants in liberal streams of Judaism. All are acceptable targets for harm. And any curb on the government's power – such as the office of attorney general – is stripped of meaningful authority crucial to its function.
The goal is clearly to delegitimize dissent and send a message that dissenters have no place in the public sphere. If they speak, they may suffer violence from right-wing activists. The police, charged with responsibility to keep us all safe, will not protect us. Some may even passively or actively facilitate the violence.
Knesset Member Ayman Odeh walks at the plenum in the Knesset ahead of a vote over his possible expulsion from parliament, in JerusalemCredit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters
The proposed NGO bill now before the Knesset is part of this dynamic. If passed, it will impose punitive taxes on civil society organizations that receive funding from foreign governments and dare to criticize the government, effectively silencing opposition and shielding authoritarian policies from scrutiny.
The delegitimization of opposition voices dates back at least seven years this very week, when the government, led by many of the same parties in today's coalition, enshrined the Nation State Law as one of our quasi-constitutional Basic Laws. The Israel Religious Action Center was among the leading organizations that fought this law, warning it would disrupt the delicate balance between Israel's democratic and Jewish character while encouraging discrimination, racism and incitement.
Today, we are seeing the results we feared unfold before our eyes.
I met with Ayman Odeh last week. He lamented: "I haven't changed, reality has." A horrific truth. The mainstream has shifted and what used to stand at the fringes of Israeli society has moved to center stage. And too many of us are complacent. That's what normalization is. It makes the unacceptable into a reality that is accepted.
But we are not powerless.
A right-wing activist attacks Knesset Member Ayman Odeh in his car in Nes TzionaCredit: Itay Ron
IRAC, alongside our partners, is fighting back in the courts, in the Knesset and in the public arena. We are defending the rights of all Israelis to participate fully in public life without fear of verbal and physical violence.
We are not naïve. We know the forces we're up against. But we also know that in this critical moment, our voice and the voices of all liberal Israelis and Jews around the world, who care deeply about Israel, prize democracy and uphold the Jewish value of the equal dignity of all humans, are more important than ever.
When mobs attack synagogues and MKs and no one is punished, and when the government applauds or tacitly approves these attacks, it encourages even more severe attacks. Unless we confront this head-on, the violence will grow, the circle of targets will widen, and the space for democracy will continue to shrink.
We all know that bad things happen when good people remain silent.
We must not remain silent. We must choose to act, to raise a voice rejecting violence - for the sake of our democracy, for all our rights and for a better future for us all.
Advocate Orly Erez-Likhovski is executive director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, IRAC, dedicated to securing civil rights for a just and egalitarian Israel based on Israeli law and Jewish tradition. Previously, she was the organization's legal director.