The most important achievement of the women’s protest that swept across the country Dec. 4 was the intensity of its media coverage. It topped the news — even if that same morning the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a military operation along the border with Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s network of tunnels penetrating Israeli territory.

Every available studio was used to provide live coverage of the security incident in the north. As such, it was only natural that this would draw public attention. After all, Israelis had long been preparing themselves for just such a military conflagration. The leaders of a coalition of women’s groups skipped a beat, fearing that the tense security situation would sideline public attention from their campaign. In the past couple of days, they actually felt the seething outrage at the government’s apparent inability to act against the phenomenon of violence against women.

The protest began on Facebook following the murders of two young girls just two days apart last November. From there it spread like wildfire across social media. Sylvana Tsegai, 13, from Tel Aviv, and Yara Ayoub, 16, from Jish, were both victims of serious abuse by men just before they died. The murders sent shockwaves across Israeli society. They succeeded in breaking through the apathy and touching a raw nerve.

Two women, Ruti Klein and Dror Sadot, set the ensuing protest into motion. Both of them work in the public and social sectors. Together they decided that it was time to act — and they did. About a week ago, they started a Facebook campaign under the name “I am a woman. I am striking: Dec. 4, 2018.” In less than a day, some 10,000 people, men and women alike, announced that they would be taking part in the demonstration. Soon, women’s groups, businesses and local authorities announced that they would allow women who work for them to strike so that they can participate in the protests.