Israel: The Battle for Democracy
PREMIERE

FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER – 2.30 PM

Israel: The Battle for Democracy
Premiere

A film by Lucas Menget

The Israeli elections on 27 October are historic. They will allow Israelis to decide whether Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already spent 16 years in power, remains Prime Minister. In this 70-minute film, Lucas Menget sets out to meet the defenders of Israeli democracy, whether they be judges, military personnel, police officers or ordinary citizens. We are immersed in an Israeli society that has never been so fractured and divided. Not only around the figure of Benjamin Netanyahu – both adored and reviled – but also between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, between religious and secular Jews, between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, and between those who support a negotiated solution with the Palestinians and those who have turned their backs on them for good.
The film offers a deep dive into the perspectives of Israelis, focusing on those who are concerned about the existential crisis the country is facing. What you do not yet see in this extract is the prominent role played by the young people we met: young women and men who are questioning their future just before beginning their military service, in a world that is more at war than ever before. For the first time in France, Dorit Beinish, former President of the Supreme Court, has agreed to speak out. She warns against the autocratic tendencies currently underway, which could lead to the end of the State of Israel as it was conceived in 1948.

Footage by Paul Cabanis
Edited by Guillaume Quignard
Produced by LSD Films for France 5.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Lucas Menget

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Halle Ô Grains
66, rue Saint Jean
Free Admission
Duration : 70 min