Combat teams of IDF soldiers were added yesterday in Jerusalem to combat teams of the Border Police. The soldiers were equipped with weapons, contrary to what was reported last week that only commanders would be armed, and the soldiers patrolled with inserted cartridges, in further contrast to the original reports; Since these are fighters, the weapons also include grenade launchers. In Zion Square yesterday, for example, the look was received quite naturally, and the joint armed patrol did not cause any opposition among the public; on the contrary, the people in the square seemed satisfied with the added security value. The impression is that the public ignores the danger inherent in such a course, and at least agrees with it in silence; The established press is not very interested, and even the first interest that was about a week ago in the decision to send soldiers to the streets, has waned; The government understood the atmosphere and skipped the public debate clause, which characterizes weighty issues, and issued the official order; According to the attached photos, the security forces even expanded the order, or at least what was reflected from the previous reports. Trivia like democracy, and democratic rules, are probably meant for quieter periods.

Is there now a danger to Israeli democracy? of course not. Now Israeli democracy is strong, even if it is in a political crisis, but when the borders are breached, and the public shows ideological weakness in connection with substantive issues, and his mind seems degenerate and blinds, and when the popular press weakens ideologically and blinds, even though it is its job, and it does not warn in a prolonged and poignant way, the way to further errors is paved, and they may in future jeopardize the democratic regime. This is probably the reason why these pictures, attached here, are taken lightly: after all, everyone knows that the democratic regime is deeply rooted in Israel, and no one believes that the addition of soldiers is a step on the way to a regime crisis.

At the beginning of 2020, at the beginning of the Corona crisis, during a severe public crisis, even more severe than the current one, soldiers were sent to intersections, in a picture that had almost been forgotten before from Israeli public memory. In the first weeks there was indeed a public debate about it, but it was not very developed, and the institutional press and the public recognized de facto this need and did not shout. It is possible that the breach of the dam at the beginning of the Corona crisis is at the center of public silence and the tacit agreement of the press to send troops to the cities once again. After all, it has already happened, and the sky has not fallen, nor has the regime.
Why not recruit tens of thousands of liberated fighters, or ultra-Orthodox youths for civilian guard under ad hoc law, for a fixed period, while also maintaining a democratic semblance that is of crucial public importance? Because the Israeli public and the institutional press do not see this as an urgent need, which will lead politicians to immediately stop sending soldiers to the streets.