If we don't stop this absurd charge led by the criminally indicted prime minister, Israel will be marching towards its demise - the demise of the Jewish democratic state.
Maybe some form of a state will remain, but it will no longer be the one our founding fathers established, the one built on the principles in the Declaration of Independence, the one we all vigorously fought to defend for decades.
There is no room for excuses, weakness, or hesitation in our battle to preserve democracy and the rule of law. Our message must be concise, clear, and most of all - uncompromising. In order for our battle to be effective, we must change our course of action.
Our protests must be conducted legally and with complete transparency, they must clarify that we will not allow the dreams of our founding fathers to be crushed and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, to be cast aside and the equal balance of power between our institutions, to be skewed. We will fight to protect against the corruption of the regime by instituting a perverse system of justice. We will not succumb to the tyranny of the so-called majority.
Demonstrations are a legitimate source of power in this struggle but in this state of national and democratic emergency, other, means are necessary. The quickest would be bringing the country to a stand-still, if not fully than partially.
Such action should be done with the participation of labor unions but if that is not possible, other creative means must be found.
General strikes will make it clear to what the current leadership claims are the majority, "majority" that in fact, most Israelis are opposed to the assault on the legal system and our form of government and constitutes the backbone of our high-tech, medicine, legal, and academic fields.
The LGBTQ community which is now in the crosshairs of the newly appointed radical right Avi Maoz, who was given authority over educational matters, is embedded into every aspect of our lives.
The Israeli Arab sector, which is 20% of Israel's population is also under threat from the far-right elements in power. Recent studies Arabs now constitute half of all new doctors, half of the recent graduates of nursing schools, and more than half the new dentists and pharmacists.
The bottom line is that nearly one in two citizens did not vote for this awful government. The power of the so-called "minority" is great, and it can be expressed through strikes.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of a democracy that is built around the rule of law, civil rights, and full equality. Our democracy allows us to live with our challenging religious and national demographics, and to face our economic and security challenges.
Healthy democratic foundations are the base and the common denominators that unite the entire Israeli society and are the glue that keeps such a complex population together, allowing us to be counted among the enlighted nations, where we strive to be.
A true and sound democracy is the strongest weapon we have in our challenging Middle East neighborhood because it is what differentiates us from the other nations around us. It is also our moral advantage over our neighbors which is no less important than our military and technological superiority.
"Today I am launching the first stage of the governance reform, aimed at strengthening the democracy, restoring governance, and bringing back the trust in the judicial system as well as bringing back the balance between the authorities," said Justice Minister Yariv Levin when he announced the proposed reforms.
Every citizen knows that governance was lost during Netanyahu's term. Despite calling himself a strong right-wing prime minister throughout his election campaigns, all we've seen is that since he was first elected, Israel has become saturated with illegal weapons, and plagued by crime and violence. Our leaders are a gang of criminals and their lack of governance has become no less than a national threat. True governance is what we need and are hoping to restore.
Netanyahu's government seeks to have full control over the appointment of judges and install political players in critical posts, bringing decay into our system of government. They seek to remove independent legal advisors to protect the criminals among them. This is the reform they mean to institute.
Egos are the main obstacle to a united fight. We must put it aside and maintain our focus on the ultimate goal. The battle must not be decentralized. It is necessary to agree on the objectives of our struggle and bring together as many supporters and organizations as possible.
The goals I believe should take us forward are as follows.
*Protection of the principles of democracy: We demand an independent judicial system and a strong Supreme Court, with the power to protect basic laws, civil rights, and minority rights.
*Combat religious and educational coercion: We will not allow dark religious views, such as those which support the exclusion of women and LGBTQ people into our educational system. We will not allow the Jewish theocracy to infiltrate our institutions.
*Fight racism: We must remove any form of racism from our public discourse. Racist Jewish elitism is not our Jewish identity and does not characterize us.
*Equality for all: We must strengthen and integrate the weaker members of our society. There will be nothing left of our country in 40 years if one-third of the population will have to carry on its back the remaining two-thirds.
This battle could create the melting pot that would allow the rebirth of liberal Zionist forces, who understand their historical role in maintaining the character of the country. Those liberal forces will be bolstered by our protests, they will give rise to a strong mass of supporters and leadership, and will be able to get the country back on its feet, and reestablish the principles of our Declaration of Independence.