Opinion | And they even thought it was a flirtation Israel today

The ugly comments were considered flirtation.

The hand touches, the casual caresses, were considered signs of affection.

We experienced giggles and glances and remarks, which today would have kicked people out of work and ended careers.

So they were oppressive but part of life, you absorb and move on.

Yes, it was a pattern.

People like to talk about the army and the Knesset, but it happened in a million other places.

Our grandmothers were harassed, so were the mothers.

Sit down once with your mother for an open heart-to-heart conversation, and you will find that the most precious woman in the world to you has been harassed more than once or twice.

We were paved to think it was legitimate.

Most systems have not found this to be unreasonable behavior.

I will always remember that in high school we had a fun day at the pool and we passed a group of men who stared at us with open and drooling eyes, and shamelessly one of the men asked the accompanying teacher how he was doing.

He, in response, just smiled a smile reserved for men who want to impress other men and said "Who told you I was standing?", And everyone laughed.

None of us could have imagined a movement like "Mi Tu".

The law for the prevention of sexual harassment was passed in the Knesset only in 1998. It was revolutionary, and there were a lot of people who did not understand at all why it was needed.

Women like former MK Yael Dayan, who led the law, and Dr. Orit Kamir, who actually initiated it, were considered radical and aggressive and sometimes snooty.

If someone were to tell them that 23 years later the world would change the way it did, there is a situation in which they would not believe either.

Many of the past deeds and sayings must also be judged under the values ​​of the period.

Yes, in harassment stories the calendar must be addressed as well.

It was a bad time for women, there is no arguing about that at all.

But it is impossible to judge everything that has happened in the past in the values ​​of the present, it is simply not true.

Lots of things that once happened are inconceivable in today’s terms: a ban on smoking in public places and on flights, maternity leave that is divided equally between women and men, recognition of same-sex marriage.

Things that used to be like science fiction, and today are an integral part of our lives.

This is our biggest success as a company.

Our children grow up in a much more egalitarian and respectful world.

This is also true in the area of ​​sexual harassment, our girls will not go through what we went through.

A revolution took place.

There are those who are simply too old to change, and there are those who die and probably will no longer change.

So when a retired general who gets stuck in the battle of El Alamein releases a misogynistic statement, it does not matter.

Especially in light of the fact that his level of influence on the discourse and his ability to stop what is happening now is minimal.

It is impossible and not necessary to judge him as a young man who was supposed to be influenced by the revolution and is now in a position to judge.  

There are a lot of men around us that women my age can "erase".

And good revenge is a food that is eaten cold.

But if everything that was was judged by the values ​​of the present - we will not get out of it.

There is even a situation where we will find that our grandparents, fathers and siblings have sinned in statements and behaviors that these days are considered inappropriate.

The insults of the past have not been erased, but we have created an amazing future: the girls of today do not understand how we were silent then.