Have Israelis abandoned any hope for change?

Another year is upon us, and there is still no light at the end of the occupation tunnel. With the departure of Interior Minister Silvan Shalom from the government in December, the meaningless portfolio of minister in charge of negotiations with the Palestinians, which he also held, has no takers. Shas leader Aryeh Deri, appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to succeed Shalom at Interior, did jail time (2000-2002) for accepting a bribe during his previous stint in that office. The ministries of foreign affairs, communication, economy and regional cooperation are still de facto vacant, officially held by Netanyahu. The year got underway with news of plans to grant legal status to unauthorized West Bank outposts and Netanyahu taking advantage of the Jan. 1 murders of three men in Tel Aviv to surf his favorite waves of hatred of the other, fear and victimization.

Things are no better in terms of democracy, tolerance and freedom of speech: The government has approved proposed legislation by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked requiring human rights and other activists whose organizations receive foreign government assistance to wear special identification badges. Education Minister Naftali Bennett has welcomed a decision to ban the teaching of Dorit Rabinyan's “Borderlife,” a love story between a Palestinian man and a Jewish woman. Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev has tried to interfere in the playlist of Galgalatz, Army Radio’s music station, which is actually under the purview of the minister of defense. High school civics teachers have been told that “issues underlining the importance of understanding democracy as an idea that extends beyond majority rule and requires tolerance, pluralism and minority rights” have been omitted from the curriculum.