This shocking remark, coming from the Prime Minister against the backdrop of poor labor conditions across sectors and the government's tightening control on foreign labor through discontinuing of visas, has been the top conversation topic online over the weekend.

As critique over social media is often presented in the form of humor and sarcasm, many Israeli interns have replaced their profile pages on Facebook to pictures of Indian doctors as seen in the profiles collection on Ido Keinan's blog, who reported the phenomenon first.

Message on the wall reads: "Bibi, you live in a Bollywood movie!"

Israeli interns change thier profile pictures to those of Indian doctors to protest Prime Minister Netanyahu's intent to replace them with foreign labor contractors

Israelis have been posting to the Facebook page of “civilians supporting the interns struggle” pictures of Gandhi or of Netanyahu wearing a Sikh turban, subtitled: “Wanted – an Indian PM” or “We can import an Indian PM too”, as well as digitally-manipulated pictures of Netanyahu's wife in an Indian sari.

Caption reads "We can import a PM from India too"

On Twitter @orbar wondered:

When they bring doctors form India will they instruct Oz bullies (the police unit responsible for capturing illegal foreign workers) to ask for medical diplomas?

@nitayp suggests:

I have a solution for this crisis: if the inters call themselves settlers instead of interns suddenly their demands will seem natural and reasonable

Famous Journalist and Television critique Rannan Shaked tweeted:

Bring doctors from India, social workers from Denmark, trains from Japan and community services from Sweden. Only keep bringing the Prime Ministers from your butt.

In a more serious tone, opposition Knesset member, Dov Khenin tweeted:

Netanyahu: “bring doctors from India”. The essence of Capitalism in 3 words. And when these doctors will learn Hebrew and learn to organize their labor, we will deport them and import others from China.

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This legislation was supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and due to Israel's parliamentary system, once the coalition endorses the bill, it is most likely to pass in the plenum, where the coalition holds the majority of seats. The votes in the plenum regarding these two pieces of legislation are expected in the coming weeks. If the law passes, human rights NGOs are expected to appeal against it at the Supreme Court, demanding that the law be struck down.

The Israeli Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice have warned the committee that the law is unconstitutional (opposes Israel's Basic Laws) and is “very likely” to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

Hagai El-Ad, the Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, one of the organizations that would have their funding cut as a result of these bills, wrote that the bills do not reflect the will of the Israeli public, which spent the summer protesting for social justice:

The summer passed, the Knesset’s recess was finally over. Hardly a week or two passed. Has the Knesset opted to now devote its time to what had preoccupied the public all summer, or rather return to anti-democratic-business-as-usual?

So far, the answer is quite clear, and it is a slap in the public’s face. Social legislation? The coalition votes against. Anti-democratic legislation? The coalition is vigorously pursuing this agenda, as if the summer never happened.

Ziv Pug also pointed out the disconnection between the social justice protests in Israel and the government's actions, listing the bills the Knesset has turned down since returning from recess [he]:

Ran Cohen, the Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights, another NGO that would have its funding cut, reacted on Twitter [he]:

Others discussed the implication of the bills on Israel's democracy.

Blogger Haim Har-Zahav wrote [he]:

Avishai Burla wrote [he]:

Blogger Noam R. wrote [he]:

A widely-shared photo on Facebook, originally posted by We Won't Shut Up, a campaign by a coalition of leftist NGOs, congratulated Israel:

"Congrats to the government of Israel! For joining the exclusive club of countries that place limitations on foreign funding for NGO! Signed: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leon, Belarus, China"

Others pointed out the hypocrisy in this legislation, considering Netanyahu's election campaign was mostly funded by foreign donors, and the newspaper supporting him, Yisrael Hayom, is funded by the American casino-tycoon, Sheldon Adelson.

A fake account of Yisrael Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu paper, posted [he]:

Daniel K appealed to the United States:

@dkapuchino: Hey, @barackobama @ronpaul Israel just voted to ban foreign donations to political NGOs. Does that cover US foreign aid to the IDF as well?

Blogger Itamar Shaltiel responded [he]:

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On December 4, 2008, Blau published a report based on these documents which stated that the IDF senior command planned and executed targeted killings of three people in violation of a 2006 ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court limiting the circumstances in which such a tactic could be used. I couldn't find a working link to the original article by Uri Blau, “License to Kill”, but here's a link to a blog post that reposted the original text.

Image by mish

Kamm is reported to have said during her interrogation: “There were some aspects of the IDF's operations procedures in the West Bank that I felt should be public knowledge… When I was burning the CDs I kept thinking that history tends to forgive people who expose war crimes.”

The Israeli police secured a gag order prohibiting Israeli media from reporting on Kamm's arrest. On February 6, 2010, Anat was convicted of espionage and providing confidential information without authorization and placed under house arrest. After almost two years under house arrest, on October 30, 2011, Kamm was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

While this story is not new, the court decision on Kamm's sentence this week drew a wide array of Israeli netizen reactions. Noam Lester reposts thoughts [he] he published when the story was first publicized in 2010, protesting the lack of media focus on the reported IDF crime that surfaced from this leak:

We witness again the ritual of concealment, censorship, foreign publishing, leaks to blogs and finally a tiring day of non-stop blabbering media. Once again we sacrifice a victim in order to teach us all not to deal with the security forces, especially not to embarrass and show their wretchedness (and crimes). Everyone is focusing on the emissary (Anat) and not the news she surfaced: the IDF has committed crimes directly violating a court order from the Israeli Supreme Court. For this no one will be tried and certainly no one will sit in prison. But the one who exposed the atrocity - she can be presented as a traitor and sent for life imprisonment.

Anat Balint sarcastically writes:

The severe verdict of four and a half years in prison, given by the Tel-Aviv district court to Anat Kamm is a harsh blow to the 24-year-old whistleblower, and a calming pill to many of the public who followed the evolution of this story since April 2010. The process of turning Kamm to a modern-day witch who is threatening the existing social order has been completed successfully. She was caught, removed away from us, thank god, and now all can be sure that we've returned to believe in the holy values: there's nothing more important than the security of our country and its protection from enemies, there's no holier entity than the military, and there's nothing more severe than trying to hurt either of these.

She continues:

Every person whose part of the complex relationship between government entities, security forces and journalists in Israel understands the sheer irony wrapped in the Kamm affair. Leaks of the same sort are the bread and butter of these relationships, a daily affair. Messages that don't come out through the formal channels, or through an authorized interview, are in effect a type of “leak”, which is, according to the law, a crime. These leaks many times include confidential or top secret documents that somehow find their way to journalists and serve as a basis to their articles.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are many who believe that Kamm's sentence should be more severe. Moshe Goldbladt writes:

I hope that the State Attorney will not accept this absurd punishment that Anat Kamm received. In opposition to the judge ruling in the given verdict, the punishment reflects disrespect towards the state security.

Anat Kamm received the support of the left due to exposing “war crimes” - the claim is total babble - and glorified her for her motivation and ideology. When Kamm's lawyers saw that this heartens left wingers but doesn't help her, she started presenting herself as a young, confused girl who doesn't really understand the judges.

It is now time to stop playing hide-and-seek with Uri Blau and with Haaretz. The journalist, editor and everyone involved in receiving this classified material from Anat Kamm must stand before trial and pay a heavy price for their action. Also in this case we need to be talking about an active prison term for many years. Their claim for regularly having access to classified materials (as Raviv Druker suggests as a witness Kamm's trial) is exactly why they need to learn the consequences of breaking military field security laws in this country.

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Following these reports, the Israeli public, for the first time, started seriously debating this important issue.

As Larry Dafner wrote on +972 Magazine:

Finally, it’s happened. After years of hearing and talking about nothing but the potential danger of a nuclear Iran, this country is hearing and talking about the potential danger of trying to pre-empt that first danger with fighter bombers. We’re hearing not just about “the Iranian threat,” but about “the Israeli threat,” too. And after years of listening to the hasbara king talk about Hitler and 1938 and Holocaust déjà vu, the Israeli public is hearing, indirectly, from the people they trust more than they trust the politicians – the professionals, the career warriors and spies – and the word they’re hearing from those tough guys is a very loud, urgent “NO.”

The response to these reports and the possibility of attacking Iran's nuclear facilities was unanimously negative among Israeli netizens. Some have even started a Facebook event for a protest in front of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on November 6 against a strike on Iran.

Many netizens saw a possible attack on Iran as a diversion tactic from the recent wave of social justice protests against the economic policies of the Netanyahu government.

Others lamented what they perceived to be the stupidity and recklessness of Israel's leadership.

Some, of course, used to opportunity to crack jokes. Referencing the slew of recent leaks, Rubynet wrote:

Itamar Shaltiel joked about the possible benefits from Israeli cities being subjected to missile fire.

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Blogger Goliath, pseudonym of journalist Yair Kaldor, explained in his blog the impetus for returning to the streets:

Stav Shafir, one of the leaders of the #j14 protests, tweeted:

Other Israeli bloggers and tweeps also explained their reasons for returning to protest:

Activists in Beer Sheva prepating signs for the rally, September 29. Photo source: The official Facebook page for the local #j14 movement in the Negev

Blogger Ido Teshner shared his personal story of hardship in a country whose social safety net has been cut over the years. He wrote:

Blogger Ori Ben Dov wrote about the upcoming protest

Update: The Beer Sheva rally has been canceled by police due to rocket fire from Gaza.

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The deal was supported by the majority of Israelis, as Shalom Boguslavsky explained in his blog Put Down the Scissors and Let's Talk About It [he]:

The news of Shalit's release was almost the only thing discussed in the Israeli twittersphere and blogosphere since the deal was announced. Supermodel Bar Refaeli reflected the popular mood with her tweet [he]:

Liron Teeny described the mood in the streets [he]:

Before returning to Israel, Shalit was forced to undergo an interview on Egyptian state television (Nile TV). Israelis on Twitter were furious about the interview, which was conducted in the presence of Hamas operatives and Egyptian intelligence. The translation of the interview from Hebrew misrepresented Shalit's words in Hebrew when he said he was not feeling well, and that he would only support the release of Palestinian prisoners if they do not return to terrorist activity. Some Israelis even opened a Facebook page about the Egyptian journalist who interviewed Shalit, titled Shahira Amin is a shame to journalism in response.

Musician Noy Alooshe (who was behind the “Zenga Zenga” remix) reflected the Israeli mood about the interview when he created this poster about Shahira Amin.

Following the interview, Shalit was flown to the Tel Nof military base where he finally met his parents. Prime Minister Netanyahu made sure to exploit the opportunity for a photo-op and a self-congratulatory speech and was harshly and humorously criticized for it by Israelis online.

Tamar described the mixed feelings about the way Shalit's return was handled [he]:

Others criticized the heavy price of the deal [he]:

Blogger Yossi Gurevitz expounded on his blog, Orwell's Friends [he]:

Blogger Haim Har Zahav, who served in the platoon with Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the 2006 war with Hizbollah, wrote in his blog [he]:

It wouldn't be the Israeli Twittersphere without some sarcastic comments. Rotem Biton described the scene where Shalit, who was kidnapped before the launch of the iPhone, is introduced to Angry Birds on the chopper ride from Egypt:

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Since Shalit's kidnapping in 2006, his parents, Israeli media outlets and celebrities have campaigned for his release. The news about the deal were welcomed by most Israelis, but not all. As Noam Sheizaf and Noa Yachot described on +972 Mag:

Spontaneous celebrations took place at the Shalit family’s protest tent in Jerusalem. Counter-protesters demonstrated outside the tent against the release of Palestinian prisoners “with blood on their hands” – a term denoting those charged with deaths of Israelis.

Thousands have marched in the streets of Jerusalem calling for the release of the soldier Gilad Shalit. Image by Yitzy Russek, copyright Demotix (08/07/2010).

Israeli tweeps also commented about the identities of some of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released who were convicted of carrying out terror attacks that resulted in the death of Israelis:

Other tweeps discussed the results of this release of prisoners:

The deal passed the vote in the Israeli government, with only three ministers voting against it. Dahlia Scheindlin explained on +972 Mag the results of the vote:

In my assessment, the government vote is a pretty good indicator of how the public feels at this moment: 10% against the deal, and the rest – 90% for it.

The public mobilization for Shalit has been massive. There has hardly been a single major public forum that has not been leveraged to call for Shalit’s release.

Due to the public support for the deal, it is seen in Israel as a victory for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who used the opportunity to send a celebratory tweet:

@IsraeliPM: I am bringing #Gilad #Shalit home !

The Israeli twittersphere, however, was not impressed.

Many tweeps saw the Gilat Shalit deal as a ploy to increase Netanyahu's popularity, after it had suffered a significant hit as a result of the #j14 social justice protest movement during the summer.

In a twittersphere known for its cynicism and dark sense of humor, a few Israelis used the news as an opportunity to crack jokes:

Others used the prisoner swap deal to criticize the Israeli government's policies with regards to the Palestinians:

Eyal Niv wrote a critical post on his Blog, Truth from the Land of Israel [he] about Israel's policy with regards to Gaza:

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While the Israeli economy is strong, unemployment is low, the shekel is powerful, foreign investment high and economic growth steady, Israelis from across the board have come together in protest against a higher ideal - not political and not necessarily demanding for a change in government.

This is a protest against what Israel has become, in the name of what it once was. It is an effort by the young Israelis to recapture an older, more egalitarian, more idealistic country that their parents lost. - Michael Walzer

Social justice protest, Tel Aviv, Israel. Image by tamirsher, copyright Demotix (06/08/11).

The J14 movement was initiated by a young Israeli woman named Daphni Leef who pitched a tent in the center of Tel Aviv three weeks ago (July 14th) in protest of the unaffordable cost of housing. It is one of the first prominent movements in recent times, that manages to bridge across political gaps within Israeli society. Ran cohen explains in a Tweet:

#j14 is a collective process of examining, discussing and challenging power structures within Israeli society.

In the following video Dafni is seen preaching to an enthusiastic crowd, at the early days of the protest. (translation from Hebrew below)

You (directed at Bibi/Israeli gov't) made this Facebook generation who sits on its ass all day, come out to the sizzling streets. We will make sure that this summer you will also feel the heat like in Spain, in Madrid. And if you won't be careful, we promise to protest like in Cairo. You can still fix. If you will not fix and continue to ruin, as far as I am concerned, you are fired. Friends, let's be strong, united and full of hope. We came to take our country back!

Israelis from all walks of life took to the streets too. Main narratives focus on restraining capitalism, and shifting the country back to a welfare state. Many claim that they give so much to the country without seeing returns.

Israelis chant: "Bring back the welfare state."

Elizabeth Tsurkov:

“Bring back the welfare state”. Many of the chants tonight called for a return to Israel's socialist days http://yfrog.com/z/h83w8kaj #j14

Although started by a group of politically left-leaning youth, its leaders are making an effort that the protests maintain a non-political character. Michael Waltzer offers a different perspective:

The uprising is a collective effort to escape the constraints and divisions of the Israeli debate about security, the nonexistent “peace process,” and the occupation. When the emerging leaders of the uprising insist that their protest is “non-political,” they mean that it's not about war and peace. They know, of course, that everything is connected, and that the difficulties they are experiencing are partly caused by massive state investment in the occupied territories. But they have their own dream of Zionist normality: they want to focus on their own lives and on the quality of domestic society…

The movement prides itself in its peaceful nature. We've seen little to no violence, which in the leader's opinion, highlights the power of the public involved. @ASoldiersMother posts:

I glory in the protests in Israel because they prove our democracy. Hundreds of thousands - no violence; police there to protect

There's been growing criticism against the movement for not having concrete demands. Social justice represents a multitude of issues, and one of their biggest struggles has been to come out with a clear, united voice. The following snippet is taken from a video interview where Dafni describes the movement's initial motivation:

We are left without homes. The goal is to bring prices back to the right proportions so that people can afford to rent or buy. This is not only an issue in Tel Aviv.
This is an optimistic protest. We want to be here. Don't want to leave the country. But its become impossible. At this rate, only the wealthy can stay here.

With the exponential growth in support across Israeli public, the J14 movement has utilized the social web as a means to host a public discussions. The main J14 website has updates and media from protests across the country, while its sister site, ohel.org.il is an interactive platform that encourages people to submit and vote up proposals and solutions. A variety of Facebook event pages send updates on current events, as well as a number of Twitter handles: @TLV_Revolution in Hebrew, @j14ar in Arabic, and @J14eng in English.

As a dual US-Israeli citizen, Idan Gazit shares his perspective:

Next time a Republican tells you about how the free market sorts everything out, next time they try to sell you on the evils of governmental “interference” in ensuring that no part of society ends up impoverished, tell them to look at Israel: it is their crystal ball.

There is nothing unpatriotic about thinking that our government should make sure that the lowest standard of living in our country is a standard that people can live with. There is nothing that says we must choose between what we have now and the 50+ percent tax rate of true socialist countries like Sweden.

Israel was born a socialist country, and to this day, we still enjoy vestiges of socialism in the form of universal healthcare which costs less every month than what I pay for my internet. The past decade has seen Israel's leaders discarding that legacy and importing the worst of America: materialism, unchecked capitalism, power as a function of money. I remember when cable TV first brought the outside world to Israel. I am old enough to have seen the changes wrought by Israeli's thirst for “America.”

This is the result. A government which is peopled with the worst criminals and liars our society has to offer, one of the fastest-growing, largest gaps between the wealthy and poor in history, and a population burnt out on the adrenaline jitters of a steady parade of security crises.

Sound familiar, right-wing America? Your crystal ball. We are it.

The following video montage includes scenes of the tent cities and protests sweeping throughout Israel, overlayed with the crowd chanting: “the people demand social justice”:

Finally, two Tweets worth highlighting:

David Harris-Gershon:

The question everyone on Twitter seems to be asking: how long can the #j14 protests go without explicitly addressing settlements/occupation?

Elizabeth Tsurkov:

Signs from Jaffa. Other chants: “Arabs & Jews refuse to be enemies” & “Arabs & Jews oppose house demolitions” http://yfrog.com/z/h8k2zwdj #j14

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While Israeli media and politicians have jumped on the bandwagon, inviting Goldstone to Israel and amplifying certain aspects of the op-ed, there have been a plethora of interpretations disagreeing with the interpretation of Goldstone's intentions, and overall, the op-ed's implications on the validity of the UNHRC report.

Idan Landau questions the hypocricy in Israeli society, and the media “spin” the story has been receiving across Israeli mainstream media:

Whatever Goldstone writes, Israelis do not understand him. When he discussed witnesses of Israeli war crimes in his report, he was called an antisemite. Now, when he takes specific claims back, he is embraced as if a long lost son coming back to the motherland.

Idan urges his audience to read the actual op-ed and not second hand media “spins”. He continues:

Goldstone regrets one thing and favors another. He regrets blaming Israel for intentionally attacking civilians in Gaza, and supports the internal investigations conducted by the IDF…
The joyous calls this report aroused within Israels critics, will turn into victory cries by its supporters. All this media noise is missing the key point: the crimes themselves. The television studios will continue to discuss if there were intentions to harm citizens, or not. At the same time, Israel will continue to kill civilians in Gaza, without intent of course, kill fishermen in front of the Gaza shore, without intent of course, kill farmers in their fields, without intent of course, kill sick by delaying them, without intent of course, kill elderly in their bed while under arrest, without intent of course, and continue the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, with no one making any effort to come against it.

The common Israeli and American Jewish reaction was extremely supportive of judge Goldstone's retraction, though many claim that the “damage is already done”. Rick Moran writes:

If the Judge wants to do some good, he can start an international tour to make the points he does in his new article in venues around the world where the hatred of Israel only intensified as a result of his initial one sided report. That report created a moral equivalence between a civilized nation state defending its civilian population, and a murderous death cult fueled by Islamic extremism and anti-Semitism, whose rocket firing supported a long time goal of indiscriminate killing of Jews.

On a similar note, David Merhave writes:

Goldstone crossed the line. He gave international legitimacy to the fascist regime in Gaza. Although in Jewish spirit, giving respect for those with an answer not necessarily those who are righteous, we can forgive him. Question is if he takes one more step forward and declares his regret for “grazing in the enemy's fields”. Whats clear, is that this evil initiative - the Goldstone Report - has collapsed and disappeared.

David's post spawned a series of reactions.
Dan responds:

Maybe we should begin with the endless, repetitive stupidity of the Israeli government. Lack of strategic thought; reactionist instead of being pro-active. Lack of cooperation yields a heavy price in international relations. And then self-righteousness. One cannot run a country this way!

Meriap adds:

Goldstone is only one of the committee members. After it was published, Goldstone's opinion is a personal one. After you hear witnesses from Shovrim Shtika, you have no need for an int'l report. The operation's policy was to kill many Palestinians so that the rest will be deterred from shooting missiles… Its enough that a soldier thinks that a child in front of him can kill him, that he can shoot, justifying his fear at a later investigation. In the beginning of the operation, Israeli forces waited for Palestinian police to gather in order to kill as many as possible with one explosion.

Jerry Haber composes an insightful post on the +972 blog describing the Goldstone op-ed as misrepresented and misleading:

It is the unfortunate fate of Judge Richard Goldstone to be condemned and praised for what he doesn’t write. The responses to his op-ed in Washington Post from the Israel advocates are laughable. Even a superficial reading of the op-ed shows that he has not retracted a single comma in the Goldstone Report, nor does he express any regret for having written the report the way it was written. He simply says that had he known then what he knows now, the report would have been different.

A highly retweeted post by @NaomiAKlein engaged over 100 Twitter users to repost the same text:

About #Goldstone backtrack: the reason bullies bully is because it often works. Entire operation was collective punishment. #Gaza

The organization Im Tirtzu published a post titled “throwing the Goldstone Report into History's trash” - a call to action, for people to gather in front of Naomi Chazan's home (President of the New Israel Fund) in Jerusalem and demand Naomi Chazan and the Keren to publically apologize for taking part in Goldstone's fraudulent tales.

Dahlia Scheindlin asks if Israelis are missing the point? That even the best of “hasbara” (a.k.a “PR”) won't end their international woes. It's the policy:

The fetishization of the Goldstone episode won’t help a single soldier who saw combat in Gaza erase what he did or saw.
Nor will Israel’s Goldstone obsession make the world any more sympathetic to its failed policies. Just as the report did not cause Hamas to become suddenly circumspect about its terrible civilian attacks, the reservations about the report will not suddenly whitewash Israel’s behavior.
But maybe this latest development will finally prove something Israelis keep missing: even the most vindicating “hasbara” in the world won’t end Israel’s international trouble. It’s the policy, stupid.

Perhaps Goldstone will offer his explanation, and help the world understand his intent in publishing this op-ed. But until then, we'll be trying to makes sense of the discussions happening on blogs and in social media spaces.

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Ofri Ilani, Haaretz technology correspondent, offers one of the best descriptions of these mixed feelings on his personal blog:

What is happening in Egypt is so exciting and seminal that it is even hard to judge if it's good or bad in familiar terms. We can say the revolution is good news and it should be happening, for better or worse. But we should also remember that Camp David agreements or the possibility to go to Cairo and have coffee in Zamalek, is part of Mubarak's rule too…. if you think you and your very existence here aren't part of the American empire in the Middle East, raise your hand.

One could say that the fall of Mubarak's government is vital and joyful and at the same time, admit its possible outcome could mean war that might result in our defeat and the fall of Zionism in its current form. In short, we can jump like flees on the back of a sneezing elephant. Personally, I sum up my feelings towards the images from Egypt: fear and trembling. Meanwhile, congratulations and respect to the Egyptian people.

Blogger and artist Roy Arad wrote  a personal column on Haaretz in which he confessed being glued to Twitter during the last few days. Arad explains what hypnotized him about the revolution while criticizing Israeli youth and media commentators:

I quarreled like a fool on Twitter with people who listened to Middle East commentators' fear of Muslim Brothers' rise, should Egypt become truly democratic. Islam is indeed a powerful factor, but I thought of my personal friends in Egypt: the shy translator, the provocative film artist with the nose ring, the girl from Mansura who asked me to send her socialist poetry and uses images of Hollywood stars as her facebook profile pictures…. I look at the faces of the youth dancing on top of the police cars and these are not the people who will let Egypt become an Islamic dictatorship. But who knows.

Israelis like myself, who were born into a democracy where everything can be said, can never experience courage like the Egyptians who risk their lives for it. If they lose they will be jailed and tortured. Revolution in Tel Aviv? Students in the cafes here are busier with pitiful critical theories… we who think twice before going to a demonstration cannot comprehend this kind of courage. While Egyptians risk their necks for the right to demonstrate, we prefer to stare at the dwarf from the Big Brother reality TV show and wait for something to happen.

Solidarity demonstrations with the Egyptian people took place both in front of the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv and in Jaffa over the weekend. @osnatita tweets:

The policeman at the entrance to the demonstration in Jaffa suggested we wait and not go into the city right now. When we said we came to join the demonstration he was shocked. Are you sure? He asked, surprised.

Many tweeps wondered about the ramifications of the revolution for Israel. @glachs writes:

Meanwhile, philadelphi route is neglected. Hamas will arm itself marvelously, IDF will enter Gaza to guard Rafah crossing, and now we will see the true effect of the Palestine papers.

@Itamars tweets:

Israel is like the weak kid in class who stuck with the bully for protection, and one day, the bully is kicked out of school.

@dubikan replies to the worries expressed on Israeli and American media that Egyptians may not be ready for democracy:

If a nation organizes a successful grassroots upraising against a dictator, demanding democracy, than the people are ready for democracy

In another tweet he adds:

Robespierre and the French people weren't exactly ready for democracy or knew what it is either, when performing the French revolution.

A large portion of the tweets and blogs criticized the Middle East experts and commentators on Israeli media. @yuval_v tweets:

Let's agree on a rule: if you didn't predict the intensity of the demonstrations and the revolution in Egypt, please do not predict with “high probability” the type of government they will have after the revolution.

@aradaki targets channel 2's veteran Expert of the Arab world:

Ehud Yaari, you're dumb. If you take your head out of your butt you'll find a world you're not familiar with.

Such harsh words reflect the tension between media analysis and the live Twitter feed from Egypt. In the course of the Twitter conversation @aradaki adds:

These experts better read Twitter rather than analyze on the basis of their old connections that narrow their perspective. People who've been in the field all their lives cannot see the world has changed.

Israeli bloggers are offering alternative commentaries and asking the truly harsh questions based on social media attentiveness and personal connections with Egyptian bloggers. As the rumors on Twitter arrived this morning of an Egyptian army entrance into Sinai peninsula, blogger Lisa Goldman seemed to have surprised the ministry of foreign affairs' spokesman with the news, on which he apologized that he cannot comment since “they have strict orders to refrain from any comment on Egypt till the outcome of the uprising is clear.” Yossi Gurevich reports this story in Hebrew and comments:

It's hard to believe IDF isn't aware of this act, which technically is an invasion that defers the peace agreement. If this was indeed uncoordinated, it is very troubling security-wise, after all, that's how the 1969 war started. If it was coordinated then someone in the government should be able to explain on whose authority it was done, since such a change in the peace agreement requires the parliament's consent. Furthermore, the question arises if Israel is aiding Mubarak against his people.

In the same post Gurevich also criticizes Israeli chief intelligence officer who said on January 25 that there is no threat to Egypt's stability at this time:

now that we've seen the real value of army intelligence, it's time to dismantle this institution and replace it with a national evaluation unit that's free of army generals and is able to consider the civil society as well.

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This is a summary of Israeli perspectives, blog posts, and media shared online over the last two days, in reaction to the unrest in Egypt. Referenced by Israeli sources as the ‘Egypt Intifada', bloggers are looking closely at the spread of the violence into Sinai and the possibility of igniting violence in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.

The recent JCPA post by Zvi Mazael describes Tunisia's domino effect and its spread in the region:

Egypt has a strong and stable government. Every political analyst starts with those words. This is true until the circumstances change, and they have. We are seeing a wholly new condition in Egypt and the Arab world. Tunisia's domino effect is alive and kicking. Tunisia's people's revolution is spreading like fire in a thorn field through the region.

Tzvi continues, describing the hesitant Egyptian opposition:

The large opposition parties have not called out to join the demonstrations and have not backed them. The Muslim Brotherhood announced that “a few of their leaders” will participate in riots in a symbolic way. It is known that the Egyptian security forces have warned the Brotherhood's leaders around the country from calling their supporters to join the riots. However it seems like the Muslim Brotherhood leadership is motivated by a different set of considerations, and estimate that it is not yet time to confront the leadership.

How does all this affect Israel and the US? Tzvi writes:

What does this mean for Israel and the USA, who have been worriedly following the turn of events, and are fearing for the stability of Egypt? It is still difficult to predict.
With that, it is important to state that up until now, neither Israel nor the USA have been mentioned in the demonstrations. Egyptians took the streets for democracy, human rights and to improve their living conditions. A new gov't will need to make economic and social reforms. American support will be more necessary than ever.
Additionally, there's no reason for Egypt to harm the existing peace agreement with Israel. I may be wrong, but it is without a doubt that the Tunisian revolution changed the Arab world. We will see the outcomes in the upcoming months.

The popular forum site, rotter.net, has been hosting a number of discussions about the events in Egypt.
As the fighting in the Sinai Peninsula spreads, an unconfirmed post claims protesters have taken over gov't facilities in Northern Sinai:

The link mentioned in the Tweet above, hosts a conversation describing the possibility that riots may fuel an uprising in Gaza:

Spread of the riots into sinai can bring the fire of demonstrations into the Gaza strip. Hamas might be tempted to think that it can help the people in their resistance towards the central gov't. It is also possible that terrorists operating under Al-Quaeda will try to send armed forces to operate in Sinai to add to the chaos in Egypt. I have no doubt that in this case, the Egyptians will react mercilessly. It it clear to them and to Hamas.
Hamas will allow itself to operate only if it is sure that the Egyptian wheel has turned, and that the gov't is dying.

In that same forum thread, a number of users portray their thoughts:

If he'd use even a little bit of the force that his army is capable of, the demonstrations would have stopped. I'm not trying to discount the riots, but only when the army switches to the opposition, will it be the beginning of the end of Egypt's current regime.
We're not there yet.

Another post describes recent actions the Egyptian religion ministry has taken in preparation for tomorrow's planned demonstrations:

- the religion ministry will postpone the Friday prayers to Sunday
- the Egyptian gov't is planning to disconnect internet connectivity in the whole of Egypt if the situation deteriorates tomorrow
- unverified information states Mubarak has taken command over the Egyptian security forces. In preparation for tomorrow he commanded that the army is ready to replace police forces across cities in Egypt.
- Egyptian gov't ordered media blackout tomorrow. Communications, water and electricity will be shut off.

Video footage posted on the Israeli video sharing site flix:

Two Israelis on holiday in Egypt who were caught in the heat of events reported by +972 Magazine:

When we suggested to an Egyptian friend affected by teargas that he buy onions and use it to diminish the affect of the gas, as we do in Israel and the Occupied Territories, he laughed. He then explained his salary is about 300 Egyptian pounds, and one kilo of onions is three pounds.
We got back to our hotel after being at the demonstrations all through the day. During the night, we could hear the protest continuing – people screaming and police vehicles driving through the streets.
This morning we woke up to find  the streets were quiet and full of policemen, but the Facebook page of the anti-government movement was very much alive.

We would be lying if we said we did not envy the Egyptian people: Seeing masses of people out on the streets to protest for what they believe in is something we, as Israelis, can only dream of now. And it is truly frightening to think that similar masses of Israelis will act only when have experienced the levels of oppression and rage that people are experiencing here.

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

Written by Gilad Lotan · comments (3)
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Attempts to enforce recognition of Israel as uniquely Jewish have been deeply controversial, particularly among Israel's Arab citizens, who make up a fifth of the country's population. Some claim Bibi Netanyahu is playing straight into the hands of Avigdor Lieberman's nationalist party doctrine. Other logic seems to be “we must demand from ourselves what Israel is asking others to recognize”, referencing Israel's request from the Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish nation-state. Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni condemned the cabinet's approval, describing it as “politics at its worst” and “political horse-trading”.

In a blog post about the topic, Orit Kamir reminds us that such laws were previously banned:

There are Democratic countries that request a loyalty oath from new citizens; immigrants asking to receive citizenship. There are countries that request new citizens to study their culture, history and language. These are fair and desired requests. The State of Israel does not do this, because it provides automatic citizenship to Jews, not asking them for anything except their religion.

Historic reminder: In the 80's, Meir Kahana called against the declaration of the state, requesting to cancel the section boasting equality ('a State for all its citizens'), to leave only a zionist, religious and non-democratic declaration. His party was outlawed, and he was publically condemned. What happened that 20 years later we don't see the latent danger in precisely this move?

The following Facebook group has been gathering Israelis to rally against the law. Following is an excerpt of a conversation between Israeli group members and Israeli opponents:

Dean Michaely writes:

You guys don't accept Israel as a Jewish and democratic state? You don't accept the Israeli declaration of independence? So leave this place.
Because all we're doing, like every country in the world, especially a country in such critical state as ours, is requesting a loyalty oath from our citizens. The reason is simple - people receive citizenship here and then blow themselves up or shoot in public, and claim that they don't accept this country's right to exist. We we can do here is initial filtering, for the benefit of accepting our country and its nature - Jewish and democratic.

Barak Granot adds a sarcastic response:

When was the last time that you saw someone blow up or shoot here? Baruch Goldstein was a long time ago. Also the Rabbi Uzi Meshulam. Maybe you mean the underground crime organizations that blow up cars? Or maybe you're talking about Eden Natan Zadeh who started shooting in an Arab-Israeli town? But wait… these are all wholly Israeli citizens. So what exactly are you claiming?

Daniel Oz adds:

Its Bibi & Lieberman who don't accept Israel as Jewish and Democratic, otherwise they wouldn't propose this fascist law, that conveys a lack of confidence in Israel's Jewish nature and is, in effect, an attempt to cancel the democracy in order to support a national-racial Jewish population.

Ziv Gur-arye writes:

We have a country with many people (not only Arabs) who do not recognize it and are loyal to those who are currently enemies of the State (although we'd be thrilled if in the future they will change their ways, even though the chances are tiny given the complete control of Hamas in Gaza).
Only those who see themselves as Israeli should live here. The State of Palestine will rise in the future, and there all those who see themselves as Palestinians will live. In the USA and other countries people must declare their loyalty to the state. Why are there extremists that are against this proposal?
If you are really devoted to preserving the democracy, you need to respect the oath and request to apply it to every Israeli citizen, regardless of sex or race.

Dean posts an additional response:

Barak you are wrong about many things. Israel was given to the Jews and Palestine to the Palestinians. The reason that Arabs stay here is the fact that government stipends are excellent, much more than they'd receive in any other Arab state.

Daniel Oz - this is not a fascist law proposal. It exists in many other countries that are not fascist. This is a democratic, Jewish country - not democratic muslim. This is the nature of the country if we like it or not.

And by the way, the proposal passed a democratic vote, just like the cancellation of the Turkish constitution… Please welcome Bibi for the democratic nature of this proposal.

Following are two posts from Twitter:

assiazar writes:

Without loyalty, there's no citizenship. We will pay for this sentence.

Irwunsch retweets a post by sethacohen33:

Bradley Burston compiles a list of things you can do to help prevent the law:

The law must have the support of the Likud [27 seats] and Labor [13] in order to pass. Write to Prime Minister and Likud Chair Benjamin Netanyahu and to Defense Minister and Labor Chair Ehud Barak to urge them to bar the bill from passage. The individual e-mail addresses of all Likud MKs may be found by clicking their names on the Knesset website. Senior Likud MKs Benny Begin, Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan, as well as Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin have already spoken out strongly against the Loyalty Oath. Others are believed to have serious reservations, and may be persuaded to abstain or work to keep the bill from reaching the Knesset floor.

Written by Gilad Lotan · comments (3)
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