The eerie parallels between Israel and Korea

Home > Opinion > Columns

print dictionary print

The eerie parallels between Israel and Korea



Ahn Hye-ri  
 
The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo. 
 
Israel, at one point, looked just like us.
 
On March 11, 2023, a historic 500,000-strong protest erupted across Israel — 200,000 in Tel Aviv alone — as demonstrators flooded the streets in opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms — a thinly veiled attempt to neutralize the judiciary’s oversight of the executive branch.
 
Not to be outdone, pro-Netanyahu demonstrators staged their own counterprotest in July, with 200,000 supporters rallying outside the Knesset in Jerusalem to back the proposed reforms.
 
This wasn’t just a one-off political skirmish. From the beginning of 2023, Israel endured nine straight months of fierce internal division — until October, when Hamas launched its deadly assault, abducting more than 250 hostages. It was only then that the protests came to an abrupt halt.
 
At the time, I didn’t pay much attention to Israel’s domestic politics. But I couldn’t ignore the steady stream of alarmist reports in The New York Times, warning that political uncertainty caused by mass protests was driving away top talent and capital, inflicting severe damage on Israel’s high-tech industry.
 
Indeed, foreign investment in Israel plunged by 70 percent in the first half of 2023.
 
Looking back, that was a minor setback compared to what followed. Israel’s political crisis didn’t just weaken its economy or erode its growth potential — it left the country so vulnerable that it suffered one of its worst national tragedies.
 
The result? Thousands of lives lost, a brutal war and a two-notch credit downgrade by Moody's. 
 
The more I reflect on Israel’s descent into chaos, the more I fear Korea is heading down the same path. Just as Hamas attacked at Israel’s weakest moment, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman bluntly pointed out: Hamas struck when Israel was at its most divided.
 
The same could be said for Korea today.
 
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari later criticized his government, arguing that they were “so consumed by domestic political infighting that they ignored repeated military and intelligence warnings about external threats.”
 
Does that not sound eerily familiar? Korea, too, has never been free from the shadow of North Korea’s threats. Yet amid President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law and the ensuing impeachment crisis, both major parties —the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the opposition Democratic Party (DP) — are utterly indifferent to Korea’s lagging AI sector, its diplomatic standing and its economic vulnerabilities.
 
Their sole focus is on maneuvering for political advantage ahead of the next presidential election. The bitter ideological war over the Constitutional Court’s impartiality — and the broader political standoff — will only further devastate Korea’s already struggling economy while undermining its national security posture.
 
And let’s not forget that the United States has already sidelined Korea. Trump’s return to the White House has seen Washington prioritize tariffs and direct trade with North Korea, leaving Korea out in the cold.
 
To be clear, both sides in Israel’s judicial reform battle had legitimate arguments. Opponents of Netanyahu’s overhaul rightly pointed out that the prime minister — who was facing bribery and fraud charges — was trying to rewrite the judicial system to save himself.
 
At the same time, supporters of the reform saw merit in the argument that "a small group of unelected Supreme Court justices wielded disproportionate power over Israel’s democracy."
 
In fact, even before Netanyahu’s reforms, trust in Israel’s Supreme Court was low — only 41 percent approval in a 2021 survey. What Netanyahu did so effectively was exploit legitimate public grievances to craft a self-serving political narrative.
 
He painted himself as a victim of persecution, while branding the judiciary as an "antidemocratic force that undermined the will of the people."
 
His supporters eagerly adopted this good-versus-evil framing, accusing Netanyahu’s opponents of trying to seize power through the courts after failing to win elections. Sound familiar?
 
President Yoon, cornered by his martial law scandal and his wife’s controversies, has resorted to similar rhetoric, invoking "the left-wing judicial cartel" to rally conservative support against the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court rulings he finds unfavorable.
 
The problem with leaders who deliberately sow division is that they do more than just erode public trust. They create the perfect conditions for a national disaster. Israel serves as a grim warning. When domestic divisions reach a breaking point, a country doesn’t just suffer economically — it risks catastrophe.
 
The question for Korea is simple. Will we heed this warning before it’s too late? 
 
Translated using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.  
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)