The chairman of the Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, the only one of the leaders of the opposition parties who responded to the protest of Belarusians: "We will promote cooperation to raise the issue on the public agenda"
Protest of Belarusians
Photo:
Oren Ben Hakon
Promising an election or a first swallow of a change in attitude?
For the first time since Belarusians began protesting in Israel over the continued cooperation of Israel with the Lukashenko dictatorship in their homeland, incumbent Knesset members have stopped ignoring the uprising.
Labor chairman MK Merav Michaeli responded to a request from Belarusians and her adviser "suggested that the initiators be in touch after election day in order to promote cooperation with the party, in order to raise the issue on the public agenda."
As of this moment, the leaders of the lists and the opposition factions Saar, Lapid, Horowitz and Bennett have not yet responded to the request.
Irene Gurevitch, one of the referral initiatives, welcomed Michaeli's response and expressed hope that it would not be the last.
"I wonder if there are other Israeli politicians who are interested in the moods of 120,000 Belarusians in the country," she wondered, "or do others, like Avigdor Lieberman, think that Belarus should interest Israel no more than the Ivory Coast?"
Recall that over the weekend a group of Belarusians in Israel sent a letter to the heads of several factions in the Knesset calling for condemnation of violence in their homeland, and asking for an end to the Israeli embassy's cooperation with dictator Lukashenko.
"We are shocked by the cooperation of official Israeli representatives with the criminal regime in Belarus," said a letter sent to Naftali Bennett (right), Merav Michaeli (Labor), Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), Gideon Saar (New Hope) and Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid).
"The Israeli ambassador participates in all the events of the regime, at a time when Israeli allies such as the United States, Britain and the European Union have condemned the violence and imposed sanctions on senior members of the regime," they added.
"Hopefully the political crisis will be resolved without violence and through dialogue"
Since the falsification of the presidential election on August 9, 2020 and the ensuing protests, the authorities have arrested or abducted more than 35,000 civilians, many of whom have been beaten and suffered severe injuries.
Ten people were killed by police in riots.
The local justice system acts almost entirely as a rubber stamp to the regime's demands and imposes heavy penalties - from fines for alleged offenses, such as wearing pants in colors associated with the protest to incarceration for independent journalists covering protests.
Among the victims of the terrorist wave of the Belarusian authorities were also two Israelis, who were severely beaten by the riot police.
Already in August, Belarusians tried to arouse Israel, at least to express concern, in the face of terrorism raging in their homeland, and sent to the Foreign Ministry a petition signed by 5,000 people, but only responded in November in a short letter, expressing hope that the political crisis will be resolved without violence. dialogue".
Belarusians sent another letter, this time to the Prime Minister's Office, but like the Foreign Ministry - they were not allowed to speak beyond an administrative response.
Since then, Belarusians have continued to write letters of protest to the Foreign Ministry, occasionally leaving angry comments on the Facebook page of the Israeli embassy in Minsk.
In their current letter to the leaders of the opposition factions, Belarusians call "to condemn the violence and criticize the current government. The vast majority of Belarusians will thank you (for taking a stand). Please, take a step in favor of the State of Israel, its citizens and its good name in the world."
According to them, perhaps before the election, which of the candidates will deviate from the MKs' systematic disregard and notice the severe crisis, in which Israeli neutrality only plays in favor of the dictator in Minsk.