The nineties were the golden age of Israel-Turkey relations.
Security deals, mutual visits, full and intimate partnership.
Turkey was then just like us: free and democratic, and eager for life.
No one believed that any of this was reversible.
All this ended when Erdogan came to power at the beginning of the millennium, riding on an economic downturn and populist promises.
It didn't happen all at once, but the vectors were marked from the first moment: the judicial system, the security forces, the media and individual freedoms.
The new government dealt with all of these with varying strengths, but with constant determination, until a decision was reached.
Judges were removed and others were appointed under them, military officers were arrested and imprisoned, demonstrations were allowed only under restrictive conditions and the media was restricted or silenced.
Almost nothing remains of Ata Turk's glorious legacy.
Erdogan.
Carried on top of an economic depression and populist promises, photo: AFP
Please say that Israel is not Turkey.
that our democracy is stronger.
That the devil is not so terrible.
that a democratically elected government is allowed to rule as it sees fit.
This is partially true: the government was elected to rule, it was not elected to destroy.
His role is to act responsibly, with moderation, with discretion, with concern for all citizens - those who elected him and those who did not.
Almost none of this happens in the two weeks (a little less) since the new government was sworn in.
Israel 2023 is Turkey in spades.
Sharia and her MLAs are competing among themselves as to who will be more extreme. A minister whose main publicity is being a convicted felon with dozens of run-ins with law enforcement authorities wants to use force to limit demonstrations, and another minister identifies leftists in the media based on their facial expressions and wants to shut down the media they broadcast on.
Today the record was broken (temporarily), with the call to arrest the leaders of the opposition on charges of treason.
Among the "traitors": a former Prime Minister (Lapid), two former Chiefs of Staff (Ganz and Ya'alon) and a former Deputy Chief of Staff (Yair Golan), who called for a public struggle against the government's decisions.
Some of them did use harsh expressions, but within the framework of what is allowed: certainly no less allowed than the brutal campaign that has been conducted here for the past year and a half against the "illegitimate" Bennett-Lapid government.
MK Zvika Fogel of Otzma Yehudit: "Arrest Gantz and Lapid for treason to the homeland" // From Hamsh edition, here 11
This is not the first time that the term "betrayal" has been incorporated in the public discourse in recent weeks.
The first to do so was the prime minister's son, referring to the top prosecutors and the police.
Everyone knows the meaning of treason, and what is the punishment of traitors.
Yitzhak Rabin paid for it with his life, but then rabbis were needed to issue a moral law and a persecuting law.
Today, every member of the Knesset is the arbiter of the generation, and every occasional microphone is a platform to speak out against traitors.
The wonders of God's ways: those who gave their lives for the defense of the country are denounced as traitors, and others who did not bother to serve it at all became patriots.
It is true that the members of the Knesset of "Otzma Yehudit" have lost their shame;
But their irresponsibility is dangerous and destructive.
Many claim that these are just words, emotions, the heat of the moment.
My friends will forgive me (including some of my colleagues for this newspaper), but they live in the movie.
Israel is rapidly disintegrating.
She turns from light to the Gentiles to darkness to herself.
From many tribes that managed to establish a miracle in the desert, to two poles that hate each other more than their common enemies.
The only one who can stop this process is the government.
Not because she is wrong and her opponents are right;
Because she is the government, and the power is in her hands.
Her actions and the statements of her friends in the near future will testify to her intention.
If she does not restrain herself, and behaves statefully, the Turkish example will soon become foreign news and the reality of our lives.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
