Israel 2065, A netbook frame and proposal Options

[Omer Joel]

My view on Israel:

History
The two major events in it's SR history already detailed in Shadowrun cannon are the "2004" chemical strike and the 2034 (?) EuroWar II in which Israel was attacked by the Alliance of Allah (AoA). In addition to this, the Israeli Prime Minister Haim Sichon was assassinated in 2017. So I have to begin from these facts.

The 2004 chemical strike caused massive political turmoil and a sharp turn to the far right; the hundreds of thousands of victimes caused an immense public outroar, which was harnessed by the extreme right to gain political support by blaiming the local Arab population of assisting the Lybians in one way or another. Race riots (and attacks on leftist activists) broke out, and the government was force to resign, declaring general elections at the end of that year. The riots, however, only intensified; eventually, IDF joint chief General Yair Berinski declared martial law and ordered the army to occpy major cities to restore order. The elections were cancelled and a "national emergency government" was established, with Berinski at its head and with sweeping powers. Most civil rights were suspended and the military was given a free hand in dealing with public unrest. Order was restored, at the price of freedom.

Backing the new martial law were several local corporates, who used the general nationalist sentiment to put forward a "protectionist" policy, namely the nationalization of foriegn corporate assets and the erection of tax barriers to give local industry an advantage. Moreover, trade unions and strikes were outlawed, and any labour dispute was swiftly and harshly dealt with - to the corporate favor, ofcourse. Resistance to this regime arose both from outside (foriegn corporates who wanted their assets back and the import/outport taxes removed, and from within, mainly from the workers who found themselves far more opressed and expolited than before, and the general citizenary crushed under the martial law's boot. Meanwhile, refugeees fleeing from the contaminated Tel Aviv area streamed to the Negev and to the extreme north, surrounding Beer Sheva and Kiriat Shmona with refugee camps, shanti towns and newly-built slums.

In 2008, the economical situation, coupled with an international embargo, gave rise to a severe food shortage, and to bread riots. The masses poured out to the streets in protest, and the military was split between those who joined the protest and those who followed their order to the letter. Fighting ensued, and eventually the riots were crushed, but the nationalist sentiment, the driving force behind Berinski's government, was more and more being replaced with a feeling of dissatisfaction, of discontent and of opression. Out of Bloody 2008 grew several resistance organizations, both political and guerilla, and the government was once more destabilized.

The VITAS epidemic of 2010 was the catalyst of change; the inadaquate medical system was unable to cope with a disaster on that scale, and the masses stormed the hospitals in demand of treatment. 6 years of military opression finally give off their fruit, and a revolution is narrowly avoided by Berinski's resignation and the declaration of open elections, in which Chaim Sichon (funded by several multinational corporations) is elected as Prime Minister. Despite the lifting of most military laws, the fast economical growth of the latter half of 2010 gave extreme profit to the multinationals - and nearly nothing to the local masses. Moreover, the Resource Rush hit Israel at its full force, almost tripling the level of pollution within six months and causing extreme environmental damage. A leak from the Ramat Hovav toxic waste storage facility added insult to injury by contaminating the nearby area and causing several thousands of deathes.

Out of the ecological issues and the broken economical promises (well, corporate profits were skyrocketing, but unemployment was only deepening) gave rise nin 2011 to several new radical political factions, mainly the Matriarchal Revolutionary Party (MRP), combining socialist and ecological demands with a mystical world outlook and Mother Earth worship. The strange events of 2011 and 2012 gave fuel to the new movements, but also to a fundementalist Jewish sect, headed by a "Messiah" and claiming that the Day of Judgement was coming; the Messiah performed miracles, some of which even whistood scientific evaluation. To everyone's surprise, MRP's leader, Moriya Kedem, has performed similar deeds, claiming that she was calling Mother earth to her help. Open violence broke out when Sichon tried to sign an agreement with the Palestinian authorities and to evacuate several settlements, and the Messianic movement intervened, using "miracles" to prevent this. However, by 2013 it became clear that magic was by no way a singular "miracle", and the SHABAK (Shierut Bitachon Klali, General Security Service, the Israeli equivalent to the FBI+NSA) began its own crash course for mages; by 2014, the Messianic movement began to disintegrate, both under governmental pressure and due to the general acceptance of magic as a religion-independant force. The MRP, on the other hand, having a wide social and enviromental agenda, came out of this conflict almost unscratched.

Despite these events and the growth of MRP, Chaim Sichon was re-elected in 2014. The SAIM-US civil war further damages the fragile Israeli economy, however, and public unrest grows. The MRP, prevented from running to the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) due to "the abuse of magical laws", organizes several massive strikes in solidarity with the Native Americans. Lingering nationalist sentiment, coupeled with a wide stream of corporate money to the Israeli military establishment, prevent the MRP from pushing the masses forwards towards a full-scale revolution.

In 2017, however, Chaim Sichon was assassinated by an unidentified assaliant, who was killed shortly after by security forces. Despite the general MRP position against personal terrorism, the government blamed them for the assassination and outlawed them, cracking down on the opposition party with force; Moriya Kedem went into hiding while most of her party's leadership was killed or imprisoned. While an all-out martial law was not declared, brutal repression of any opposition was carried out by the SHABAK, supported by corporate security troops. This did nothing but radicalize the opposition - and especially gave rise to the Bleeding Skies anarcho-ecological terorrist organization, which had more magic on its side than even the MRP.

The Treaty of Denver of 2018 brought hundreds of thousands of American jews to Israel after they had to leave the NAN-occupied areas. Many of these refugees had to leave in a hurry and had little money to use, and the 14-years old refugee camps around Kiriat Shmona (and the few uncontaminated ones near Beer Sheva) grew. Meanwhile, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Elves and Dwarves to be Humans, and magic to be in accordance to the Jewish faith.

The early 2020's saw the fast growth of Israel economy, though most profits streamed into forien and local corporate pockets. The Goblinization of 2021 caused minor riots, but the social and environmental issues still dominated the political scene; a Faculty for Magical Studies was added to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2025.

To be continued...