Cities fight for autonomy: A view from an ongoing protest in Israel

In the last few years, widespread protests in Milan, Warsaw, Paris and other major European cities have constantly made the headlines – revolving around contested issues such as immigration, environmental policy and LGBTQ+ rights. Scholars of urban studies and planning have long studied the intricate nature of social protest with a particular interest in its urban dimension, shedding light on the geographical and spatial aspects of the phenomenon. It has been argued that cities foster activism due to their political importance as spaces of citizenship-claiming and their high population densities and diversity, among other reasons (Blokland et al., 2015; Schoene, 2017). Therefore, the urban aspect of the protest is not merely descriptive but constitutive, and acknowledging the role of the ‘urban’ provides an analytical framework to better understand social protest. In this commentary, spurred by the recent events in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa and Israel more broadly, I suggest adding another analytical layer of urban autonomy (Barak and Mualam, 2022; Bulkeley et al., 2018) to unpack social protest. Linking the two concepts is helpful to further foreground and conceptualize the contemporary nature of urban protest and situate it within broader political processes, specifically the growing polarization between cities and their respective states. While the protest movement is first and foremost propelled by participating individuals, both from Tel-Aviv and beyond, in this commentary, I focus on the urban leadership, particularly the mayor and the municipality, unless indicated otherwise.

Israel is currently experiencing an unprecedented and enduring protest wave. For several months, hundreds of thousands of individuals have taken to the streets weekly, bi-weekly or even daily. Their mobilization stems from the right-wing government’s plans for judicial reform, also referred to by the protestors as overhaul or coup. While the protest movement has emerged in response to political actions on the national scale, the protest also has clear urban dimensions, particularly in relation to the context of progressive cities resisting reactionary or nationalist state policies, and demanding more autonomy in the process. The concept of urban autonomy has gained traction in recent years as more and more cities make demands to influence ‘big’ policy issues, such as refugees, civil rights, energy and the environment, which are traditionally considered the domain of the state. Consequently, urban autonomy has become a prominent topic in the media and in the policy-making world, with cities worldwide forging global networks and openly challenging national governments regarding their incompetent handling of pressing problems (Blanco et al., 2020; Bulkeley et al., 2018; Russell, 2019). These cities not only embrace values and agendas that often clash with their respective national governments but also actively pursue autonomous policies in areas they perceive lacking or problematic at the national scale (Barak and Mualam, 2022). Thus, urban autonomy can be understood as an urban response to a national or global challenge in the context of urban-national polarization.

While this process takes place globally, in some places, such as Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, Budapest, Warsaw and Istanbul, the tension between progressive cities and their respective national governments is heavily shaped by broader political tensions, that is, between liberalism, diversity and tolerance, associated with the urban, and neo-nationalism, right-wing populism and illiberalism, associated with the national (Huijsmans et al., 2021; Raco, 2018). In these central cities, the magnitude of these tensions is extremely pronounced, and the pursuit after urban autonomy entails bigger risks, as the jailing attempt of Istanbul’s acting mayor signifies (AlJazeera, 2022). Another noteworthy manifestation of these tensions is the formation of the Pact of Free Cities (Warsaw, Bratislava, Prague and Budapest) in December 2019, aiming to channel EU funding to the municipal level and share best practices for addressing urban challenges (Szpak et al., 2023). At the same time, the tension between cities and states is evident in various other political contexts as well. For instance, Barcelona has emerged as an exemplary case of ‘new municipalism’ (Russell, 2019), where the municipality presents a progressive alternative to national-level politics.

The recent protest wave in Israel is emblematic of this global trend, even though the protest is not explicitly framed in terms of urban versus national dynamics. The leading coalition parties at the national government openly promote an agenda of a Jewish state above all, hetero-normative, conservative family values and a judicial overhaul, perceived as a means to essentially transform Israel into a non-democratic state with no separation of powers. While the protest movement is still ongoing at the time of writing, and it is yet unknown how political developments will unfold, it has already been referred to as the country’s most meaningful protest movement to date. Every Saturday night, dozens of demonstrations are held in various locations, ranging in size from a handful of participants to hundreds of thousands. With a few exceptions, the epicentre of the protests has been Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, the ‘First Hebrew City’, Israel’s economic, secular and cultural capital, popularly referred to as the ‘Tel-Aviv state’ due to its distinct nature (Azaryahu, 2020). The municipality, headed by Mayor Huldai since 1998, has made great strides towards achieving greater urban autonomy, openly confronting state policies on many occasions and promoting different alternatives in areas such as transportation, services and civil rights. Mayor Huladi is also the head of Forum 15: The Israeli Forum of Self-Government Cities. Tel-Aviv-Jaffa is distinct from other Israeli cities in terms of voting patterns during national elections and wealth accumulation. The average gross wage in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa is 40% higher than that in the rest of Israel; 25% of employees in the high-tech services sector work in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, and although only 5% of Israel’s residents live there, it concentrates 11% of the country’s employees and GDP (Tel Aviv-Jaffa Strategic Plan, 2017). The city’s strong economic standing and relatively marginal geopolitical role have made it less susceptible to national government interference, especially compared to the capital, Jerusalem (Alfasi and Fenster, 2005). Tel-Aviv-Jaffa is a fitting example of how major cities are often portrayed, holding liberal, progressive and democratic values and institutions (De Shalit, 2018; Luca et al., 2023).

The 2022 newly-elected Israeli government, possibly the most right-wing, religious and illiberal to date, has accentuated the fragmentation between the national and ‘Tel-Aviv-Jaffa State’ agendas. Tel-Aviv-Jaffa municipality officially stands for minority rights, gender equality, diversity, liberalism, secularism and human rights. The national government promotes agendas that are in direct confrontation with Tel-Aviv-Jaffa’s ethos. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that Mayor Huldai has been quick to align himself with the protest movement, mobilizing the municipality in the process. Huldai gave speeches at some of the mass demonstrations and regularly tweeted against the national government’s current policies. In addition to its participation in the strike organized by Israel’s largest trade union at the end of March 2023, the municipality also initiated Democracy Week, ¹ a series of public talks, lectures and workshops meant to ‘religiously preserve the values of democracy and equality, pluralism and tolerance’ and celebrate the city’s position as ‘a beacon of values in the State of Israel [and] a home for every minority’. In July 2023, the municipality launched, in a symbolic gesture, ‘Democracy Square’, a landmark at the main protest venue.

While demonstrations also take place in various other cities, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa’s municipality stood out in its explicit and unapologetic embrace of the protest. Indeed, the municipality’s pursuit of greater autonomy did not begin with the protest or the last elections. However, recent events have intensified the municipality’s position and enhanced its image as a liberal democratic stronghold – even if for pragmatic electoral reasons, that is, to please the city’s primarily centre-left wing constituency. It remains to be seen whether the municipality’s symbolic stance will translate into further action and to what extent the outcomes of the judicial overhaul will threaten it.

The case of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa is not an isolated incident but rather emblematic of a much broader phenomenon, where clashes of values between national and urban agendas come to the fore (De Olde and Oosterlynck, 2022; Yiftachel and Rokem, 2021). This conflict is evident at different governance levels, urban, regional and national, that often espouse conflicting views on societal challenges. In Milan, for instance, protests emerged in response to the national government’s restrictions on the rights of same-sex parents; meanwhile, the municipality has enacted policies that defy Italian law (The Guardian, 2023). Similarly, liberal mayors in Istanbul and Warsaw have openly contested national anti-progressive policies. Paris, Barcelona and London municipalities consistently promote agendas that stand in opposition to their respective states, giving rise to significant social protests and urban activism.

The municipal level is often regarded as the ideal setting to mitigate global challenges (Barber, 2013). However, despite assumptions about cities’ liberal, cosmopolitan and democratic nature, much remains unknown about their motivations and degree of success in promoting alternatives to the national scale. While the demands for greater autonomy may not be entirely new, they have certainly become more prominent and pervasive across different cities throughout Europe and the globe. Viewing protest movements through the lens of urban autonomy allows us to differentiate them from events ‘that just [happen] to take place in cities’ (Schoene, 2017: 2) and recognize them as deeply intertwined with the core values, political affiliations, structures and modes of operation within the urban sphere.