This isn’t just the sole issue of women’s rights - religious extremists have been pushing the boundaries of the general populace, and gradually taking more and more efforts towards essentially annihilating the long-standing “status quo” established decades ago between the religious and secular elements in the country.

Women already have rights in Israel - they even predate similar rights in other democracies - but in its pandering to the religious right and ultra Orthodox elements, Israeli governments have turned a blind eye towards issues such the abuse of those rights - when they were on a smaller scale.

And as the saying goes, you reap what you sow: in ignoring these issues for so long out of political convenience, things have gradually escalated to the point where the larger, more secular populace is essentially fed up at this point. The intensity of the counter-reaction to the latest incidents didn’t come out of thin air, all of a sudden; as far as many are concerned, they’ve seen their way of life being shown little to no regard for a long time now, by a population that has long-since grown beyond the definitions established in the historic “status quo”; one that doesn’t participate equally in the social order (many to most religious factions don’t serve in the mandatory military service, get funneled significant funds without being part of the workforce, and more) and is attempting to force its way of life upon them, their opinions be damned.

The fact that the moderate religious parties and the Netanyahu government - whose coalition parties such as Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu relied heavily on secular votes - either refrained from taking action out of fear of internal strife or simply didn’t care, may now result in a secular tidal wave which seems to be starting to take shape.

The next round of Israeli elections in will be interesting to watch in my humble opinion, to say the least.