ISRAEL 2023 is a dramatic story of the year in the life of the Jewish State. The story is told through the remarkable and inspiring prism and actions of civil society.
The film documents the unprecedented democracy protests that spanned 40 weeks in a row from January to September, involving the equivalent of tens of millions of Americans. Documentarian Danny Ben-Moshe heads to Israel to see first-hand a protest movement attempting to prevent the unravelling of democracy, in response to legislation by the right-wing government designed to limit the power of the judiciary as a check and balance on government. Whatever one’s political views and whatever way the political story unfolds, this was a historic moment, and we experience what it is virtually like to be amidst the diverse and vibrant protests involving tens of thousands of people. The political stakes are massive and the divided country on the brink of civil war.
We then follow how civil society, and democracy protest NGOs in particular, pivoted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 to fight an external enemy and to support their fellow Israelis no matter what their political orientation. A society divided by a political fault line over the questions of democracy became fully united as it struggled with a military threat and internal shared trauma.
The film will conclude after the war in Gaza and the fate of democracy and the people’s movement will be ultimately determined. Will unity or division prevail in the Jewish State?
