Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning (GMALL) welcomes Bill Freedman to talk about Israel and the assault taking place on liberal democracy. Democracy, which enjoyed an upsurge not very long ago, has fallen into a deepening recession—in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, India, the US and elsewhere. About five months ago. the plague made landfall in Israel, with the election of the most radically right wing and religious government in the nation’s history, a coalition headed by Bibi Netanyahu, currently on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, several ultra-orthodox parties, and previously fringe elements of the racist, authoritarian right. The better news is, as stunning and heinous as this effort was and remains, the public uprising against it has been no less surprisingly heartening, massive and determined. This lecture will look at both forces arrayed in this struggle for the future of Israel, its political system, national ethos and internal coherence. It will describe and attempt to explain the rise of this revolutionary coalition, the immediate and broader causes of its ascent; the spate of legislation it hopes to pass into law; and the massive, currently twenty-one-week-old nationwide demonstrations and protests against it. This talk will only be available online via Zoom. Registration is $22 per person and pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, please call our office at 802-867-0111 or visit greenmtnacademy.org.