Mr. Security or Mr. Conspiracy?

Beware, the leftists are everywhere: plotting, scheming, trying to bring down the country. This is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes, as he is now even warning the public against a “leftist deep state,” that is trying to topple him and his democratically elected government. The good thing about this accusation is that he does not have to provide any tangible evidence. The schemers are there, working for the Supreme Court and include bureaucrats as well. They are hard at work, not just trying to endanger Netanyahu but the entire country and thus all of the citizens of Israel. It is the benefit of repeatedly conjuring up the leftist bogeyman to instill fear in the hearts of Israelis. There are all kinds of machinations the public does not know about. If you want to defeat this threat from within, you need to support Netanyahu. Simply trust him and all will be well.

Several polls in the past years have shown that a minority of Israelis define themselves as left-wing. When looking at the country’s political parties, Meretz is considered left-wing, while Hadash-Ta’al would be seen as a far-left political party. Indeed, one of its members, Ofer Cassif, keeps busts of Marx and Lenin on his desk. The bust of the latter truly amuses me, I wonder if Mr. Cassif actually understands what Lenin stood for and what his legacy is? Apart from that, it becomes more difficult to identify parties that consider themselves to be left-wing. The Labor Party has steadily moved to the center over the past decades, Yesh Atid is centrist, Benny Gantz’s party is also centrist, maybe even center-right, and Avigdor Lieberman is right-wing. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is definitely right-wing. And the current coalition is a right-wing dream team, a combination of the Israeli right and far-right political parties – though, the Haredi parties cannot be considered truly right-wing. No centrists here and definitely no left-wingers. For years Netanyahu actively helped to widen this divide in Israeli society, by promoting the use of the word left-wing as a slur. Left-wingers are undemocratic, they are willing to compromise Israeli security, they will willfully endanger Israeli society when they are in power and, of course, left-wingers are traitors. Steadily, Netanyahu and other hardline members of Likud have railed against the Israeli Left, even though its power as a political force has steadily declined over the years. His coalition partners such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have done the same. And the left-wing threat has been expanded to include others over the years, even those who would consider being called left-wing an insult. When the fragile change government took the reins in Israel, Netanyahu decried this dangerous “left-wing government,” even though it included people like Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman – apparently, they are left-wingers, too. During the judicial overhaul protests it was expanded further. Pilots were accused of being traitorous and members of a privileged elite, yet the current government made no apologies for these slanderous accusations when they called upon these same pilots to operate around the clock in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran during this war. Even the hostage families have been verbally attacked by members of the coalition, accusing them of having joined the “leftist cabal” that wishes to topple the government. And now, there is a deep state in Israel that should be feared. How long will it take before an Israeli storms into a random shoarma restaurant in Tel Aviv, demanding access to the owner’s basement, because he believes that there are leftists down there plotting against the state of Israel?

Of course, nothing has to do with the corruption charges that have been following Netanyahu for the past years like a bad smell. Nothing has to do with the dubious arrangement, which is now known as “Qatargate.” No, everything is a lie, a revolting attack on the Prime Minister. A scandalous attempt to remove him from power, despite the fact that he is a democratically elected official. Israel is still a democracy and Netanyahu will have his day in court. He will be able to mount a proper defense to the charges, he has the right to do so. Perhaps, the actual facts are not as bad as people seem to think. Maybe Netanyahu can even prove his innocence. But before any of this happens, Netanyahu has already chosen to dismiss the court as biased. He is trying to convince everyone that the game is rigged, he will not get a fair trial. And the ones to blame are the unelected, leftist Supreme Court judges, the reprehensible Attorney General who seems to be a perennial thorn in his side, the deep state that truly governs Israel.

We could and should expect more from the Prime Minister. He can be critical, but should present his defense in court. Respect the judicial process, instead of viciously attacking it. But, in the end, it seems that everything is illegitimate. If we would believe the Prime Minister, everyone is out to get him. From judges to protesters, they are all trying to harm him and thus harm the country. Because accusations against the Prime Minister do not simply harm his interests, they are an attack on national interests. Because Netanyahu is Likud, Netanyahu is the government, and Netanyahu is the protector of the people. An attack on him is an attack on everyone.

It seems to be linked to his steadfast refusal to take any responsibility for the tragic collapse of the Israeli security apparatus on October 7^th. The people of Nir Oz were even left to fend for themselves completely on that day. But while the IDF has investigated its own conduct on October 7^th and admitted failures, while chiefs of the intelligence services have noted that mistakes were made and expressed regret, while Yoav Gallant already took responsibility in October 2023, the Prime Minister himself refuses to do so. He has argued that this will come later, that his actions will be reviewed, but that this is not the time. He could not express even once that he failed as well. But while he claims that stepping down is not an option, let alone calling for elections due to the war, he has no issue with allowing changes at the top of the defense establishment. Herzi Halevi has been replaced and Ronen Bar must be fired. In the latter’s case, Netanyahu argued that he was firing Bar, because he lost faith in him due to October 7^th. So, why keep him on until now? We have entered 2025 already, would this delay not be incredibly imprudent, considering that Bar is incompetent? The Prime Minister’s logic is difficult to follow. But, naturally, Mr. Security himself could not possibly be responsible for any of this. With him at the helm, Israel should have been more secure than ever. So, when October 7^th happened, a massive slaughter taking place on Israeli soil that had never been experienced in the country until now, how could he be blamed for any part of this? It must have been everyone around him who failed, but not him. It was the promise made by this government when it was ushered in, Israeli security was finally in good hands. Under the leadership of this government certain achievements have been made, for which Netanyahu eagerly took credit and understandably so. The elimination of Nasrallah and the heavy blows delivered to Hezbollah, the defeat of Hamas’ batallions and elimination of leaders like Haniyeh and Sinwar, and the return of many hostages through ceasefire deals. However, if you can take credit, you should also admit failures. As US President Harry S. Truman once said: “the buck stops here.” But this is where it gets tricky. Netanyahu will claim success, but not failure.

Many Israelis call for unity in these difficult times and fear the political divide that seems to be growing within the country. I support this wholeheartedly and consider statements made about the descent into civil war, such as the one made by Aharon Barak this week, to be unnecessarily fanning the flames, even if meant to be a desperate warning. It might not be a wise decision to call for elections at this point. And the perennially fragmented opposition consistently fails to present itself as a credible alternative to the current government. However, people are allowed to protest against this government due to its decision to resume the war, despite the fact that hostages can and will be punished for this. When the change government was in power, supporters of the current coalition would protest and even harass members of the government. Especially the right-wing members of the coalition were accused of being traitors. With every terror attack, they would vilify the government and politicians such as Netanyahu and Ben Gvir would rail against the “weak, leftist government” as the cause of these attacks, claiming that they were endangering Israeli security. But October 7^th happened on their watch, did it not? Violence within Arab Israeli communities continues to spiral, despite the fact that Abu Yair is in charge. Is Israel truly more secure because of them? Hardly.

The government has tried to address some grievances of the Israeli public, such as the decision to allocate more funds to the Druze and Circassian communities. However, this was something that Shas minister Moshe Arbel started pushing for a long time ago, it is not an idea introduced by Netanyahu. Yet, I would not be surprised if he took credit for this as well. This government should show some humility and ask forgiveness. In hindsight, that lasted about a month after the war had started and then the coalition returned to its defiant stance. Even in power many of its members act as if they are fighting the establishment, such as May Golan, Itamar Ben Gvir, David Amsalem, Shlomo Karhi and, of course, the Prime Minister himself. Someone should inform them that they are the establishment. But it does not matter, the government is just as invested in fighting members of Israeli society, as it is in fighting the country’s external enemies, apparently.

Political leadership means fostering unity among the citizens of Israel, laboring to improve their security, as well as listening to and addressing their grievances. Watching Netanyahu trying to convince the Israeli public that his personal interests are equal to Israeli interests is deeply disappointing, to say the least. Seeing him continue to act as a divisive figure by claiming that a sinister deep state is at work in Israel is utterly shameful. And firing the chief of the Shin Bet because he claims that he lost faith in him after October 7^th, while he only slightly took responsibility himself once, is preposterous.

Only a year and a half until Israeli elections will take place once again. Israel deserves better leadership than this. Hopefully, this is what the country will have in the near future.