"A protest movement cannot break out of its embryonic stage without money behind it," says sociologist Prof. Tamar Herman from the Israel Democracy Institute. Despite the attempt of the leaders of the protest against the legal reform to paint it in a popular and spontaneous tone, there are seventy large bodies behind it, which feed it with a lot of money and a wide-ranging professional envelope. How much money is poured into the protest activity? Who are the major contributors? Where does the money go? And who is pulling the strings?
Let's start with the small money, which is raised from the general public.
According to the website "beaktiv", a platform for crowdfunding protests, as of Tuesday morning, NIS 1,934,355 had been collected from 8,228 supporters.
The money is intended for the headquarters of the struggle, for the benefit of financing demonstrations, amplification, stages, advertising and transportation, as written in the campaign itself.
"The 2 million shekels raised through crowdfunding is enough for nothing and nothing, it's a small amount, but it creates a sense of belonging," Herman explains.
"Obama did it at the beginning of his campaign, and it was basically meant to tell people, 'You have a stake in this.' It creates an atmosphere of cooperation."
Along with the feeling of belonging to the supporters of the protest, the mobilization of the masses outwardly creates the illusion of a broad popular public protest that grows from the ground.
In practice - this is the small money.
If 2 million is the small money, then how much can the big money be valued at?
"I don't have exact information, but I estimate that so far it is at least 10 million shekels. Part of it comes from high-tech, from those who call themselves the 'high-tech protest.' I say this knowingly.
"From what I saw in the field, the production of the demonstrations is completely professional. At the first big demonstration, which was in the rain in Bhima, there was no professional production. There was nothing heard or seen. At the demonstration a week after that, there were already very, very professional aids. It is possible that some of the professionals are doing The work is pro bono or for a reduced fee, but in any case there are millions of expenses here. We also see that flags and shirts are handed out for free. At the demonstrations in Balfour you had to pay for it, and here it is free on the ground. Someone pays for these materials, someone finances the All the prints of the giant posters.
"There was also money in the Balfour protest. We know of Israeli financiers who gave money. Even the tents that were in Balfour, some of them were identical to the tents that were at the exact same time in the protests in Syntagma Square in Athens. That is to say - there are international parties that participate in these protests behind the scenes, without leaving clear fingerprints. As long as the state does not require records in this matter, then it is legitimate."
"Undo the plot"
Who are those Israeli financiers?
Many names have been thrown into the air in recent weeks, for example Ilan Shiloh, Orni Petrushka, Yossi Kuchik.
A prominent name is the billionaire and businessman Kobi Richter.
Richter, a former fighter pilot who holds the Israeli record for abortions, previously founded the left-wing movement "Drachno", which generates more than 10 million shekels each year.
He was one of the founders of "Israel Democratic", Ehud Barak's party, and in the last elections he expressed support for the joint list.
Rumor has it that you financially support the protest.
"What does it matter?" Richter answers grumpily, "I'm doing everything I can to cancel the plot to destroy democracy in Israel. I'm doing everything I can."
Can you say what amounts you donate?
"No".
But do you donate?
"I told you everything I want to tell you."
Another businessman whose name was added to the list of protest funders is Eyal Waldman, former founder and CEO of the Mellanox company, which was sold for $7 billion. Over the years, Waldman supported the integration of the Palestinian population into employment, and among other things raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a field hospital established in Gaza.
We wanted to find out if you are donating to the protest.
"Why does it matter?" answers Waldman.
If this is a public protest, then the public should be exposed to those who finance it. I don't think there is anything to be ashamed of.
"I'm not ashamed, I'm proud of it. I confirm that I contributed."
In what order of magnitude?
"Does not matter".
Yodafat Harel Buchris, the investment manager of "Blumberg Capital" and director of Bank Discount, is another person whose name was mentioned among the supporters of the protest.
"At the moment I would not like to comment", she answers our question if she is one of the supporters of the protest.
deny or confirm? What is there to be ashamed of?
"There's nothing to be ashamed of. Whether I donate or not - it's something personal to me, and it's not something I would like to publish, like I do with my other donations."
Following our phone call to Harel Buchris, Mittal Levy-Tal gets back to us, "The spokesperson for the high-tech protest, Yodafat asked me to talk to you."
I asked her if she was donating to the protest, and she didn't want to answer clearly.
"We will not refer to the contribution of a specific person, but I can tell you that all the high-tech people, CEOs and managers of venture capital funds who are partners in the protest put a hand in their private pockets, and they all donated money to the struggle."
Can you tell me what amount was raised from the high-tech world?
"No," she refuses.
If this is a public struggle, it should be transparent.
"I can say that it is several millions."
Along with Mittal, the protest is discussed by other interesting parties - such as Zehava Galon's son, Nadav Galon, who was nicknamed "the whisperer to the leftists", as the media consultant of many leftist parties.
Galon signed countless press releases regarding the various demonstrations.
In a phone call on the way to the demonstration on Monday this week, he says: "For three years now I have been accompanying protest groups, for example the Black Flags, and I also discuss the protest of the students, doctors and armorers."
Do you volunteer?
"I work for a salary. But if you calculate the number of hours I work, I barely earn minimum wage. I sympathize with the values of the struggle and am happy to help in what I can."
Prof. Tamar Herman,
Prof. Tamar Herman, Israel Democracy Institute: "Citizenship is not limited to voting at the ballot box. In a democracy, one is allowed to try to influence between election campaigns. Throughout history, the one who has more money always has more influence"
Other people who sign press releases are Omer Dobb and Roy Neuman.
Dobb works as a professional manager in the media consulting company of Nir Hirshman from "The New Likudnikim" - a very interesting casting.
We tried to talk to him, but he was too busy on Monday, and on Tuesday he disappeared.
Neuman was previously Tzipi Livni's assistant, and he already has an impressive record of disseminating protests.
He was the speaker of the tent protest in Rothschild, back in 2011.
"It is difficult to estimate how much money was invested in the protest, because it involves dozens of different bodies. I am raising the black flags."
Do you do this for pay or volunteer?
"I get paid by the Black Flags Association."
How much money did the association spend for the protest?
"I'm not about the finances, but I'll check and get back to you."
The various bodies and organizations are integrated by the central struggle headquarters, which organizes the large demonstrations and transportation to the demonstrations.
Who said the new fund?
Along with private businessmen, also various associations that operate in the field have mobilized in favor of the struggle.
For example, the New Israel Fund awarded emergency grants - or "protective grants", as it calls them - to various entities in the amount of 133 thousand dollars, that is, almost half a million shekels.
"We decided not to be a major player in the main protest, and we have no connection with the central headquarters and the growing demonstrations," says Miki Gitzin, CEO of the New Israel Fund. "Our contribution is to more marginal entities within the great protest, those who brought new voices and organized side protests, Like the women's protest or the LGBT protest."
To the credit of the New Israel Fund, it will be said that it responded to our request, and gave us a breakdown of all the grants it transferred.
Here is the information: for the benefit of a demonstration in Tel Aviv organized by the LGBT Association for the inauguration day of the Knesset, the foundation transferred 10,000 dollars, and also to "Teg Meir" it transferred 6,500 dollars for the demonstration on the day of the inauguration. For the demonstration in Kaplan organized by "Together" the foundation transferred 20 thousand dollars, and for the women's demonstration In Tel Aviv - $10,000. $6,500 was transferred to a demonstration in Be'er Sheva organized by "Rabbins for Human Rights". Grants of $20,000 were given to "Strengtheners" in favor of digital activities; to the Association for Human and Civil Rights in favor of a digital campaign; to the establishment of the State Education Guard; and to the Religious Left Conference. In total, as mentioned, an addition of 133 thousand dollars to the usual supports in "protective grants".
Caught in the net
Facebook gives another window to non-profit organizations that pour a lot of money in favor of the protest.
The social network reveals to the public the economic investment in political campaigns that are made through it.
This way you can see, as attached in the picture, how much money different entities have invested in advertising in the last 90 days.
A combination of all the central bodies that support the protest, such as the "Black Cloaks", the new fund, Lobby 99, the Movement for the Quality of Government and more, reaches a sum of about half a million shekels.
All of this in advertising on Facebook only, even before the publication in the written press, and even before the organization of the demonstrations themselves.
Funds invested in advertising on Facebook,
Another significant part in which quite a lot of money is invested is advertising in the traditional media.
According to the estimates of a professional in the field, every week ads are published in the written media worth about NIS 400 thousand.
This means that so far almost NIS 3 million have been invested in advertising.
"In the study of social movements and protest movements, there is a theory called the 'resource mobilization theory,'" Herman explains.
"There are all kinds of resources, for example - connections, people's networks and people's addresses, this is a very important resource. And there are also resources of money. Raising money is not something obscene. What is forbidden is forbidden, that is, one country cannot interfere in what happens in the country Otherwise, but a private entrepreneur is completely legitimate. He can donate his money to an orphanage or a shelter for battered women, and he can give it to a political protest with which he sympathizes. They try to blacken the protest, to show that there is something stinking here because there is big money here. But there is no There is no legal or other impediment to giving money and raising money, and as long as the entities are not registered as an association - there is also no need to report where the money came from. The same was the case with the Orange protest, the protest against secession in 2005. Who gave all the things in the Orange protest? There were also large transports And orange ribbons everywhere. Someone funded it."
The question is whether this big money does not harm democracy. After all, the whole idea of democracy is that both the owner of a high-tech company and someone else, for example a sewing journalist, end up going to the polls, and their votes are equal. And here suddenly a feeling arises that if you have money, you can get something that you couldn't get at the ballot box.
"Citizenship is not limited to voting at the ballot box. In a democracy, it is permissible to try to influence processes between election campaigns. Throughout history, the one who has more money always has more influence. But as you can see, as of now, the decision makers have decided that they do not consider the protest and passed this week the first reading. Anyone is allowed to try to influence even between the elections. This does not exceed the limits of the law."
Are the borders maintained? We see roadblocks, Knesset members being prevented from leaving their homes, threats to use firearms.
"The statements about firearms are illegitimate, and the person who said them has been summoned for questioning. I think that even if the border is touched, such as preventing a member of the Knesset from leaving his house, the border is still maintained. I think that we need to distinguish between two concepts: legality and legitimacy. Legality is activity within the limits of the law, And legitimacy is if the activity is acceptable to the majority of the public. There can be actions that are not illegal but are legitimate - such as the anti-slavery movement, which did things against the law, such as smuggling slaves, but it was legitimate, because freeing slaves is considered a moral thing. There are opposite situations , where something that is permitted by law - like taking your money out of Israel - is seen by many as an anti-patriotic act, and therefore illegitimate. A movement has to decide what its limit is - legitimacy or legality. And of course if the movement is decentralized, like the movement we are seeing now , so it is possible that some will choose illegal moves and the others will condemn it. These differences could disintegrate protest movements."
follow the rift
It seems that what is not disintegrating the protest now, but is certainly preventing its ability to influence, is the extremes of its activists, which causes the public representatives of the opposition to avoid discussing a compromise formula, due to the militant spirit that blows in the protest camp.
In terms of the nature of the demonstrators, it seems that only the seventy are protesting, that "the second Israel" is not there.
"True. It's just like someone wrote that the LTTE went up to Jerusalem.
Left and center voters, on average, are more economically established, more educated and more Ashkenazi.
In Israeli society we have fissures that overlap each other.
You are both an Mizrachi and a poor man and a right-wing voter."
And then you also feel that you are not represented at the top.
"That's definitely part of it. When does democracy work well? When the divides don't overlap, but intersect. In the UK, for example, you can be part of the working class - but vote conservative. In the US, blacks and Hispanics vote for Democrats along with educated, wealthy whites.
In an ideal world, everyone who was asked what they thought about the legal reform, would answer regardless of their origin, education and income.
But in Israel it is not like that, because we are an extreme case of overlap in the religious, political, sectarian and economic divisions, and this threatens the ability to produce consensus."
How is it that the people who define themselves as liberal-democrats do not mind that the Supreme Court is made up of one party, and that there is no representation for other groups?
"One answer says that people are chosen according to their professional skills. In a court there should not be representation, just as in an operating room there is not necessarily representation. If we check - then we will find that neurosurgeons in Israel are mostly high-class Ashkenazim.
"Another answer is that a very large part of those who oppose the legal revolution do think that something should be done about diversity in the court, but at the moment, as part of the great struggle, they reject dealing with this issue. This means that not everyone who supports the protest thinks that nothing should be done about the representativeness of Different opinions in court. This is also one of the things that can ultimately divide the camp."
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