Divide in Israeli public opinion amid war

Qudsna: An August 5 report in New York Times talks of a divide in the Israeli public opinion following the genocide in Gaza. It says:

Israelis who are known as Zionist left say in Israel, open discourse and dissent appear to be among the casualties of the month-long war in Gaza.

A recent demonstration was held in Tel Aviv against Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority blocked B’Tselem, a human rights group, from running a paid radio advertisement reading the names and ages of Palestinian children killed in Gaza.

Bar-Ilan University rebuked a professor who expressed empathy for all the war’s victims in an email to students.

And at a recent screening at the 'Jerusalem Cinematheque' some audience members stood for a moment of silence in memory of four Palestinian boys killed as they played soccer on a Gaza beach.

The Zionist left wants Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and help create a sovereign Palestinian state.

The left-leaning newspaper Haaretz ran an editorial last week that referred to “McCarthyism spreading in Israel,” citing the Bar-Ilan University case.

“Less and less tolerance exists for such a multiplicity of voices,” wrote Naomi Chazan, an activist, academic and former leftist member of Parliament, in a recent column in the newspaper. “The cohesion of Israeli society is being torn asunder, as anti-Arab sentiments have gained traction and intolerance runs rampant.”

Daria Carmon, 33, who attended the Tel Aviv protest, said that slogans and viewpoints that used to be seen as extremist had become mainstream. She blamed the invective that Israeli leaders use toward Hamas, and the Israeli news outlets that cover every soldier’s funeral but rarely show video from Gaza.

“It’s hard to fight against such a collectivist society, when all the messages are that everybody’s out to get us,” Ms. Carmon said. “It takes a lot to really resist that. It’s exhausting.”