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Much has been written on the constitutional overhaul聽in Israel,聽and the attendant constitutional crisis in the first nine months of 2023. Since October 7, however,聽with the breakout of the Israel-Gaza war,聽the overhaul was seemingly shelved. This Article seeks to connect both events, by聽comparing聽the legal-political response to the overhaul with the legal-political response to the war. It asks why, given the intensity of the protest movement generated by the overhaul, there was a dearth of protest activity after the war, even though both events implicated similar values, namely the rule of law and individual rights, championed by the protest movement. I argue that聽a聽central reason for the disparity cannot only be explained by the dynamics of war, but聽also聽due to the tensions and complexities inherent in Israel鈥檚 self-professed constitutional identity as a Jewish and democratic state.聽In particular, I argue that anti-overhaul protests聽appealed to liberal universalist values in order to聽garner bipartisan support, with the effect of bypassing聽substantive issues such as the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and discrimination faced by Israeli Palestinians. This explains the lack of Arab participation in the protests, as many perceived them to be an internal Jewish Affair. Thus, when post-war repressive measures mostly affected Israeli Palestinians,聽the聽protest聽movement聽failed to聽rally in their support. Although anti-overhaul protests could have brought about greater liberal consolidation in Israel,聽the relative lack of post-war mobilization casts聽lingering doubts on the possibility of long-term consolidation of liberal values in Israel. Attempts to depoliticize the protests, while perhaps successful in warding off the overhaul, and though impressive on their own, have likely failed in instilling deeper, more resilient, liberal values in Israel.

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