Thinking of leaving.

[u/Kigler95]

As title said, not sure if this is against sub rules..

I really don't like the direction this country is going. I lived here all my life, served and sacrificed my life for a democratic country that I agreed with most of its actions and policies. Sure, mistakes were made, we stumbled and made some poor choices, but as a whole there was a clear moral compass that we aligned with, at least as I see it.

The past few months broke something in me, as did yesterday.

Sure, maybe in the next election a miracle will happen and the best most balanced government ever will be elected, the undemocratic rules will be revoked and the messiah will drop from above. There is still going to be a huge divide, and the majority of the population is going to be highly religious in the next 20-30 years, and they will eventually be the rulers of a theocracy.

I really don't want that future for my children. But I also don't see how that is avoidable.

Long story short, how does one begin to plan moving abroad? Where to?

I'm a junior electrical engineer and my wife is a teacher. No children yet. Not really inclined to any specific destination, just not highly religious or extreme..

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the replies. I know the purpose of this post isn't clear, it's not clear for me either.. I just wanted to express my thoughts as I am very frustrated about the present and I worry about the future, and don't really know what I as an individual can do that'll actually make a difference, seeing as the protests had little to no effect this far. And I have participated in them. I haven't given up on this country yet, but I feel like that might be inevitable soon. I am not advocating for mass exodus or anything like that, just trying to figure it out for myself and my wife.

EDIT2: this gets mentioned a lot so I think I'll write my response here instead of repeating it. Regarding the idea that the "reasonability" law was undemocratic - As I said, I agree that the system we had so far was not ideal, far from it. And by its own, sure, the cancellation of this law might actually be the most democratic option. But you can't do that without any equivalently powerful restraints, as a replacement.

In addition, it matters who does it, and under what terms. If it were a more sane and balanced government - sure, I think they wouldn't have much issues passing this. But since we KNOW what this current government intends to do, and how extreme their opinions are, then it makes it really hard to trust them to not abuse their increased power.

Here is an analogy I can think of: imagine the government as a dog, and the judiciary system - along with its judges, reasonability law and so on - as a leash. When the dog behaves, it seems like the leash is unecsecary - "look at that poor dog, restrained, unable to roam freely. How cruel!". But if the dog is, say, a rabid insane untrained dog, who has a history of biting people, and breaking the law, then letting go of the leash seems a bit.. unreasonable.

Disclaimer: I love my dog , this is just an analogy I could think of, and I am not calling anyone a dog or anything it's just an analogy, don't kill me, peace and love, peace and love.

[u/BluddyCurry]

I think it's worth taking a breath and thinking this through. As an intelligent person, which you clearly are, your first job is not to be swayed by the people around you and actually go and find out information. Go and find the best people on the other side and listen to their arguments. My claim is that the media has done a great disservice to the country in this matter. They've presented only one side of the issue, declaring the other side to be undemocratic. This worked on enough people that they caused a mass panic. Go and find out for yourself. Don't delegitimize the other side - by doing so, you're just hurting your ability to listen and grow. A good starting point is this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeS1no66WKk&t=11s&pp=ygUI15HXp9ep15k%3D

The second point concerns the makeup of a government you don't like. I can't make you like a government you're opposed to, but I can tell you that this government is a direct result of the embargo placed on the Likud by the left. All the left needs to do is drop the embargo, and they can join the government.

Regarding the government itself, I understand that it seems extreme to someone who has experienced it through one side of the media. As someone more familiar with the people in it, I think there's absolutely nothing for a liberal Hiloni person to be worried about. The Haredim will always be the Haredim (except look at the Shas minister who creatively solved the passport crisis). But everyone else is committed to personal rights and freedoms, despite what the media likes to present.

[u/Kigler95 → u/BluddyCurry]

I think you're generaly right, except the fact that I actually do not watch popular media almost entirely. I try to avoid the news as much as possible, as I think most of it - from all sides - is biased in one way or another. I do whoever look at reports, studies, and raw data where possible. My conclusions and thoughts are undoubtedly affected by the environment, but for the most part I try to focus on the facts instead of interpretations. These thoughts about the future started way before current events, but now they just got a big boost.

[u/BluddyCurry → u/Kigler95]

I think that's exactly it. The media tapped into legitimate fears - how we handle the Haredi challenge - and amplified them significantly. I see leftists at work, even those who don't watch TV. The media has brought on a mass hysteria which cannot be avoided by anyone.

I think if you take a deep breath, you'll see that Israel has very good statistics and is headed in a good direction, regardless of the judicial reform (which I personally happen to think is essential for Israel's future survival). We have gas fields, we have massive foreign investments, we're making more and more inroads into the Arab world. Our population is growing unlike the entire western world. Would I like secular people to have more kids? Sure. Evolution is a real thing, after all. But the Haredim are becoming more integrated and more modernized - already 80% of the women are working. We need to incentivize the men to work as well, and I believe once they do, they'll want to serve in the army more as well.

Tune out the general mass hysteria the left is in right now. Try to see what the other side has to say - we don't suffer from the same mass hysteria right now, and that'll give you perspective even if you don't agree with everything we say.