MJ Rosenberg of the Israel Policy Forum:
Ha’aretz reports that students at Tel Aviv University are protesting the appointment to a lecturer position of an IDF colonel involved in approving strikes against civilians in Gaza.
I had wondered what happened to Israel’s usually vigorous anti-war movement which has come out in force in previous cases where Israel has engaged in wars of choice (like the Gaza and Lebanon wars), in contrast to wars like the Yom Kippur or Six Day Wars.
Israelis tell me that there are plenty of Israelis who opposed this war but that they have retreated into the “bubble.” By that they mean that they have given up and go about their lives, trying hard not to think about the war and all the dead.
That sounds familiar. That is what we Americans have done with the pointless and deadly Iraq war, the ultimate war of choice.
Anyway, this story from Tel Aviv indicates that, just maybe, the protesters are coming back. I expect we’ll see more of them if Netanyahu forms a narrow rightwing government with Lieberman and the religious parties.