Every Saturday night in Israel

For a decade now, my Saturday nights have been devoted to preparing and recording my radio report, which is broadcast about three hours later on SBS radio Australia. It is not an easy task. So much happens in Israel each week that summarising the week’s news in under nine minutes is a real challenge. I have to decide what to prioritise and, if possible, add one item to amuse the many listeners. I have to be objective, honest, credible, balanced and discerning, like any good journalist.

For the last five months, the job of preparing the news has become much more difficult. I have struggled to maintain my standards of balance and objectivity when reporting on matters that cry out to me for analysis and criticism, but I have continued to report without judgement.

Of course, as a journalist, I do have some power in deciding what to report and what to omit. However, my English report is complemented by one in Hebrew by another journalist. We never consult with one another and that acts as a form of check-and-balance to ensure that neither of us is omitting or distorting a matter.

There is another reason why my Saturday night reporting has become more difficult. It is because on Saturday nights, after Shabbat, I go out to join the mass demonstrations against the government’s proposed legislative overhaul. I go there as a journalist to record the speeches and the sounds of the crowd. I go there as a participant because I fear for the future of democracy in this country were the legislation to be passed.

Many Australians cannot imagine the political and judicial structures that we have here, and do not understand why the proposed changes instil so much fear. In Australia there is a balance between the rights and responsibilities of the states and those of the federal government. Israel has only one national house of parliament, the Knesset. Australians are used to a bicameral system, whereby all legislation must pass two houses of parliament before becoming law. Israel has one house. Australians have local representatives, who look out for the interests of their constituents. Israeli politicians run on party lists, without regard for geographical representation. Australia has a Constitution that governs the ways laws are made, and puts limitations on what can and cannot become law. Israel has no constitution.

The system needs an overhaul. We should have mechanisms to ensure that democratic values are upheld, and to protect and represent minorities throughout the law-making process. However, the overhaul that this government proposes will entrench the problems and eliminate the only bulwark to protect citizens’ rights that exists. They have started at the end – the judiciary, where appeals to laws are heard – without offering any proposals to deal with the process itself. In doing so, they are threatening to undo democracy, in which balance of power and the independence of each branch of government (legislature, executive and judiciary) is guaranteed.

There are those who are saying that the demonstrations are nothing but an unwillingness of the left to accept their loss in the last elections or that they are an extension of the anti-Bibi campaign. Both claims are demonstrably untrue. Like tens of thousands of others now demonstrating, I did not demonstrate when the left lost in previous elections or participate in the anti-Bibi movement.

These demonstrations began when we felt a threat to our fragile democracy. The demonstrations have made room to include banners and speakers protesting a range of issues, including violence against women and threats to academic freedom. Not everyone there identifies with every issue. The diversity of issues and the fact that there is room for all of them to be aired is an example of democracy in action.

The main, unifying issue is the threat to an independent judiciary. Without it, this government could vote to cancel elections. It could vote to remove civil rights of minorities. It could shift funds to enrich its supporters and impoverish social services. Many say this will never happen. Demonstrators say that the system needs to be structured and maintained so that it cannot happen. The examples in Europe in the 20th century, when democracies were dismantled, ought to serve as a warning. The current examples of what is happening in Poland and Hungary should make everyone cautious. No country can afford to put its trust in one government and give it the power to entrench itself.

I will continue to demonstrate unless and until the threat to democracy is removed. That means that I am adding pressure to myself to prepare my weekly radio broadcast in time.

But what would I broadcast to Australia if I were living in a dictatorship?

Australian-born Peta Jones Pellach lives in Israel, where she is a teacher, and interfaith activist and journalist.