Tel Aviv
CNN
–
In a sea of Israeli flags, Yifach Golov holds a slightly different one.
Among the hundreds of thousands of protesters who took to the streets for the 13th week in a row on Saturday, a brown flag representing a group called “brothers called arms” brothers called arms “brothers called arms” brothers called arms “Brother arms.”
They are veterans – many, like Golov, from the Elite forces – who now feel they are fighting on a new battlefield.
“We believe it is our responsibility to go once again called the flag of the country to stop his protesters at the house of high tech companies in Israel.
During the second IntiFada, in the early 2000s, Golov served in a special forces Reconnaissance Unit. He was never before politics, focusing on his PhD in biophysics from Tel Aviv University.
But when the protest movement against Israel’s judicial plan in Israel began in January, Golov attended a thousand veterans, and now became one of the military reservists, and now became the cause of their new mission.
Others, including the elite air force reservists, took it a step further, threatening not to heed the call of the judicial plans for judicial changes in the Israeli judiciary.
Others went on to become some of the most active organizers and demonstrators. Last week, a group of brothers protested by carrying a figure wrapped in an Israeli flag on a stretcher, the way they would carry a wounded comrade in the field.
While Golov says he didn’t take the sad step of refusing to serve, he understands the motivation.
“We are fighting for justice and freedom, just like the American story, those are the values that our flag represents.
Fellow group members, all wearing brown clothing with the organization’s logo, come and say. They sprayed everything throughout the protests. Another leads the “pink front,” a group of coordinated drummers that look like they wear for a rave, and often lead protests.
They are using the skills they learned in the military – how to organize, how to act – now for protests. But more importantly, they say they have the same kind of motivation.
“The deep feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself, that (you) are allowed to sacrifice whatever is necessary, whether it is your career, health, Golo said. “We all have a mission, you are ready to do it at any cost. You know so well, you know you’re on the right side, that you’re ahead of the light even though you’re running around even though we haven’t slept in days.”
Israel’s protest movement is made up of many different groups, but pressure from many Israeli veterans is seen as a key to moving the needle.
On Monday, after weeks of sustained protests and the largest general strike in Israel’s history, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a break in negotiations with the opposition.
But despite the announcements, protesters are on the streets in large numbers. Israel’s CNN Affiliate Channel 12 estimated the size of Saturday’s demonstration in Tel Aviv at around 150,000 people. The organizers claimed it was 230,000.
Last week’s mass protests and widespread strike action came after Netanyahu said he had decided to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for advocating a delay in passing the legislation – a move that Netanyahu has since delayed, sources told CNN, due to “the present security situation.”
In his televised speech calling for a delay, Gallant said the stoppage of the legislation was necessary “to counter Israeli reserces to train in protest of the government’s plans. He said moving forward with the proposals could threaten Israel’s security.
Under pressure at home and from allies abroad, Netanyahu said he would delay votes on the rest of the law until a real chance for a real debate. ”
“From the responsibility of the country, I decided to delay … the vote, to give time for discussion,” he added.
But Netanyahu indicated that the delay was only temporary. He insisted that the overhaul was necessary, and repeated criticism of the refusal to train or serve in the military in protest of the planned changes. “Denial is the end of our country,” he said.
Many protesters don’t believe the suspension is real, or say it’s a legal tactic to give some routing room and get protesters to back the reforms.
“We will start doing the deactivation only when we know 100% that the State of Israel will remain a stable democratic country. Whatever needs to be done for that,” Golov said.