The last six years of raucous street protests seeking to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his position, after the opposition’s repeated losses in elections, have been unsuccessful. Attempts to remove him, pushed by government bureaucrats, through prosecutorial charges of corruption or administrative maneuvers that persistently seek to impede his policies have also failed.
There were also the injections of large sums of money from abroad in an attempt to take down the prime minister, as seen during the V15 campaign. As this paper reported last month, US Reps. Jim Jordan and Brian Mast wrote to six Israeli NGOs, demanding they provide details on alleged Biden administration funding for Israeli protests.
Gidon Dokow of Makor Rishon revealed on February 17 that documents submitted to Israel’s Registrar of Nonprofits by the Blue-White Future NGO confirm that in 2023, protests received NIS 120 million ($33.8m.) that directly funded the anti-Netanyahu campaigns. Additional sources of funding cannot be discounted.
Despite all this largesse, the raging street cadres have failed. They hounded coalition politicians, vilified them with displays of guillotines and hangman’s nooses, and even fired flares at Netanyahu’s home but have not won.
Across social media, Netanyahu was labeled as Hitler, an authoritarian ruler, and a populist. Moshe Gorali, on April 21 in Calcalist, accused the prime minister of being a “dictator in the making.”
Each day brings another charge of assumed misdeeds, with the mainstream media outlets plying a trade based on leaks that, within hours, are shown to be demonstrably false. The state’s “sacred” institutions – the IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), judicial system, state lawyers, and others – are being shown to be political actors, running on thinned-out ideological fuel.
Moral standards have been eroded. On Tuesday, a protester showed up at the school bus stop of Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s two children – in first and fourth grade. He displayed a yellow-colored sign reading, “Chiklis – you are not wanted here.” This was two days prior to Holocaust Remembrance Day. He intentionally chased down underage children who have nothing to do with their father’s politics.
Similarly, Avner Netanyahu, who is about to be married, is completely divorced from the world of politics, unlike his brother, Yair. Yet, as Passover ended, a party at his future in-laws’ home was besieged by dozens of protesters who saw the opportunity of his father’s presence as a license to try to break down barriers and invade the private affair.
The opposition leaders have been gearing up their masses for a civil uprising, which could include shutting down the economy, disabling the army, and possibly violence. Among them are Yair Golan, Ehud Barak, Ronen Tzur, Dan Halutz, and Ami Ayalon. Unfortunately, even President Isaac Herzog, whose role is supposed to be apolitical, was drawn in.
This paper reported on March 15 that Herzog declared, “Those who think that a real civil war with lives lost is a line we will not cross have no idea. Precisely now… the abyss is at our fingertips.” We then discovered that on April 17, Herzog met with some of those trumpeting the call for a “civil war,” among them Halutz and Ayalon.
Can we assume the anti-Netanyahu poison machine has succeeded in weaponizing hypocrisy, if not outright undermining the role of Israel’s president and his judgment?
Ronen Bar's affidavit
I HAVE read the sworn affidavit Shin Bet head Ronen Bar submitted as part of the deposition requirement in an appeal he did not initiate before the High Court of Justice. He did not bother to be present at the cabinet meeting that discussed his employment, and I wonder whether every government official facing employment termination gets to act with such impunity.
Even before dealing with its content, a troubling aspect is the legal assistance provided to Bar by four senior government-employed lawyers: Aner Helman, Netta Oren, Yonatan Berman, and Matar Ben Ishai. Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has denied government ministers representation from state-paid lawyers on multiple occasions.
Yet, in this instance, Bar was assisted by four lawyers, one of whom is the head of the Bagatz (High Court) Department, whose salaries are paid by the taxpayers. According to a complaint to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, their work on Bar’s behalf could have been illegal.
Will this matter be brushed aside or under some bureaucratic rug at the whim of the attorney-general or her deputy, Amit Aisman, as things have been in too many previous instances? Or is she too busy planning her next move – a declaration of incapacitation, as the crowds of protesters are demanding?
If Bar’s affidavit is the standard of truth, it is obvious that the Shin Bet and Israel’s security are being woefully led and served. Was Bar a supporter of an aggressive anti-Hamas policy, or did he tell the government otherwise? On January 23, 2023, didn’t Bar determine the entry of workers from Gaza into Israel to be a preventive factor against armed engagement?
In February 2023, did he not express his assessment that Sinwar is a sober leader, “who will not go to a war of revival?” Did he not declare several times that spring that Sinwar would not “change anything” and that “Hamas is restrained and deterred?” On June 23, 2023, did he and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi not assure the cabinet that the enemy leaders are “rational” and, therefore, “will not try to advance a decisive move against Israel?”
On Tuesday, Ben Caspit published an op-ed in this paper applauding Bar. Why? “Bar is fighting to preserve the… independence [of] the gatekeepers… to stand firm against the prime minister.”
I would suggest a more circumspect review of Bar’s version of events and the motivations of those currently supporting him. They may be engaged in activities dangerous to our democracy.
Declaring Netanyahu incapacitated, as is rumored, may be a step too far and would be a step to incapacitate Israel’s democracy.
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.