A central pillar of the current Israeli government is a fascist party led by West Bank settlers, and many elements of its legislative agenda are designed to facilitate the occupation regime in the West Bank. The realization that without an end to the military occupation of the Palestinians, there will be no democracy in Israel has dawned on many Israelis who identify as centrist liberals. 

A new crop of activist groups has sprung up to channel this energy. One example is Mothers Against Violence (MAV), a grassroots group with chapters across Israel. With their yellow vests, they are a visible presence at every pro-democracy protest, working to defuse potentially violent encounters with the police and right-wing counter-protesters. In parallel, they operate a humanitarian support project for the Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta, a West Bank community that is a locus of Israeli displacement efforts. 

The Mothers's long-term goal is ending the occupation. They have explicitly called on Israelis to refuse service in the West Bank. As settler violence against West Bank Palestinians has escalated recently, they’ve launched a new public campaign: Get the Soldiers Out! Targeting parents of Israeli Army conscripts, the campaign warns of the legal jeopardy of threatening soldiers providing security for settler attacks (particularly following their designation as nationalist terrorism), as well as communicating current research on the high levels of PTSD exhibited by soldiers who served in this role.


MAV believes that remaining a lean volunteer organization, with no staff or offices is essential to maintaining its effectiveness.