An Argument for the Subversion of Justice, and Other Things That I Despise
Justice is the cornerstone of any free society, and it is in fact the cornerstone of humanity itself. Action and consequence govern our lives and restrict our actions.
This is a good thing.
We have all seen those people who live life without restriction and consequence. The Jefferey Epstein’s of the world, the celebrities and superstars of the world, those rich and powerful enough to no longer care about consequence. Their lives are a hedonistic misery punctuated by botched plastic surgery and drug overdoses.
There before the grace of God, go I.
These people reject the concept of action and consequence, and in doing so they reject their humanity.
Our limitations help to suppress our worst instincts and they help to buoy our best instincts. Our understanding of action and consequence helps force us to obey the law when we’d rather not. It helps us resolve problems without violence. It makes us kinder to our fellow man.
Great evil comes about from subversion of justice, and bad people thrive in a world where they can break the law and get away scott-free.
But.
But, ideology cannot be rigid. Life is just not that easy.
The President should pardon Bibi Netanyahu.
I will extend this even further: we should, as a united humanity, be very careful about prosecuting our leaders.
Did Netanyahu take bribes, subvert justice, and break the law? Yes, it seems very clear that he did; but, Bibi knows that his only path to safety is continuing to be the Prime Minister.
Being Prime Minister affords him an immense legal protection, a legal protection he needs to stay out of trouble and likely to stay out of jail, and his clinging to power is hurting the country.
We don’t need Bibi Netanyahu. He is hawkish when Israel should be preceding carefully, he is letting the US President guide Israeli politics even as the President’s Iran strategy spirals into confusion and chaos, and he is tearing the Israeli people apart, pitting family against family and friend against friend in the pursuit of defending or decrying him. Netanyahu seeks coalition from the extremists, the insane, and the criminal. He doesn’t ally with the Charaidim and the crazy settlers because he likes them, it’s a move of self preservation. He knows that the second that he leaves office, the danger grows too great to bear.
He is one of the most divisive figure in Israeli politics, and he must go.
But he will not go when going means losing everything.
Subversion of justice? Yes. Creating an exception for one person that wouldn’t be given to you and me? Yes.
But some things are more important than ideology, and the stability and safety of our nation, and the social cohesion of the land of Israel, are two of those things.
We need Netanyahu to go away; slink off into retirement and start a podcast, or be a guest lecturer to a political science class, or (God forbid) spend time with his family. He is doing more harm than good at the helm of our nation, and he stays there because we are forcing him to stay there, because we have all been very clear about what will happen if he doesn’t.
President Herzog should fully pardon Netanyahu on the condition that he go away and stay away. When that is done, we as a country can take a deep breath, and try to stitch together our flailing political system once again.
