{"id":1189,"date":"2020-08-16T15:58:43","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T12:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/?p=1189"},"modified":"2020-08-16T15:58:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T12:58:43","slug":"aliens-are-protesting-in-israel-they-still-cant-beat-bibi-new-york-times-aug-13-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/2020\/08\/16\/aliens-are-protesting-in-israel-they-still-cant-beat-bibi-new-york-times-aug-13-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Aliens Are Protesting in Israel. They Still Can\u2019t Beat Bibi (New York Times, Aug. 13, 2020)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<header class=\"css-1pbfuir euiyums2\">\n<div class=\"css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0\">\n<h3 id=\"link-1f092387\" class=\"css-19rw7kf e1h9rw200\" data-test-id=\"headline\">This summer\u2019s protests against the prime minister have given Israel\u2019s toothless left an outlet\u00a0\u2014 but not power.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-18e8msd\">\n<div class=\"css-vp77d3 epjyd6m0\">\n<div class=\"css-1p10dcb ey68jwv0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1baulvz\">\n<p class=\"css-1nuro5j e1jsehar1\">By\u00a0<span class=\"css-1baulvz last-byline\">Matti Friedman<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1nuro5j e1jsehar1\"><em>The New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1nuro5j e1jsehar1\">Aug. 13, 2020<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-1k0ai59 ehw59r12\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj ehw59r13\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-uhm3f9 ehw59r11\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-captionblock\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 ehw59r15\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"sizeLarge layoutVertical css-1ox9jel\">\n<div class=\"css-bsn42l\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=600\" media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1200\" media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1800\" media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" \/><img class=\"css-11cwn6f\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" sizes=\"((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 80vw, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 600w,https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 683w,https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/14\/opinion\/14matti-friedman-sub\/13matti-friedman-sub-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 1366w\" alt=\"Demonstrators dressed as aliens during a protest against the Israeli government near the prime minister\u2019s residence on Aug. 8.\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"css-17ai7jg e18f7pbr0\"><em><span class=\"css-16f3y1r e13ogyst0\">Demonstrators dressed as aliens during a protest against the Israeli government near the prime minister\u2019s residence on Aug. 8.<\/span><span class=\"css-cnj6d5 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span>Guy Prives\/Getty Images<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-1fanzo5 StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-158dogj evys1bk0\">JERUSALEM \u2014 Just when Israeli democracy most needed saviors, they materialized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-158dogj evys1bk0\">No one saw where they came from. They just appeared amid the thousands of horn-blowing, pot-banging protesters in Jerusalem: seven caped superheroes in matching pink spandex, striking Superman poses and going through coordinated dance moves as they advanced toward the protest\u2019s focal point at the official residence of the man known here as the \u201ccrime minister.\u201d One superhero with a megaphone led her comrades in a chant about \u201chope\u201d and \u201cdemocracy,\u201d and everyone cheered, but I couldn\u2019t hear much more because of the guy next to me and his accordion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-158dogj evys1bk0\">The protests\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/24\/world\/middleeast\/israel-virus-protests-netanyahu.html\">growing since early summer<\/a>\u00a0outside Prime Minister Benjamin\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/13\/world\/middleeast\/israel-uae-annexation.html\">Netanyahu\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0residence in Jerusalem on Balfour Street, and smaller demonstrations across the country, have given Israel\u2019s battered moderate camp an outlet for its political energies and grievances \u2014 an outlet outside Parliament, that is, where its representatives are hapless, impotent and divided. The trigger was the government\u2019s failure to deal with the coronavirus crisis. But if you\u2019re on the streets, you know there\u2019s a lot more going on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-158dogj evys1bk0\">The main protests at Balfour Street happen Saturday nights, but there\u2019s also one on Friday afternoons, before Jerusalem shuts down for the Sabbath. When I arrived last Friday, an anti-corruption crusader was riling up a few thousand people with a list of grievances: an economy controlled by monopolies and tycoons, ludicrous housing prices, packed classrooms, a leadership so out of touch that the wealthy Mr. Netanyahu just\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/netanyahu-says-he-was-right-to-seek-tax-breaks-worth-nis-1m-but-timing-was-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">voted himself a personal tax break<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-158dogj evys1bk0\">The speaker compared the compliant watchdogs of the Israeli government to the horse appointed consul by the mad emperor Caligula. He quoted a Nigerian writer. Things were getting a bit obscure, but the tone was the point, not the content, and the crowd was on board. A key feature of these protests is the signs that people make at home, and my view was momentarily obscured by a woman with a green sock affixed to a piece of cardboard. The sign read, \u201cMy sock would do a better job than Bibi \u2014 and it\u2019s clean.\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>(Read the whole thing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/13\/opinion\/israel-protests.html\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summer\u2019s protests against the prime minister have given Israel\u2019s toothless left an outlet\u00a0\u2014 but not power. By\u00a0Matti Friedman The New York Times Aug. 13, 2020 Demonstrators dressed as aliens during a protest against the Israeli government near the prime minister\u2019s residence on Aug. 8.Credit&#8230;Guy Prives\/Getty Images JERUSALEM \u2014 Just when Israeli democracy most needed saviors, they materialized. No one &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1189"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattifriedman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}