Netanyahu and the Trial of Socrates

“Plato wanted the rule of a philosopher, exalted above the people and he replaced the democracy that was there [in Athens],” announced Netanyahu in yesterday evening’s explanation as to why he thinks the judiciary should be subject to Knesset control. “Athens, Washington, [and] Tel Aviv,” he continued, “are trying to take this to a place where the court and the legal advisors will be exalted above the people and will rule over everything.” Netanyahu’s point was not only to equate the rule of the philosopher-kings with the Israeli court system, but to claim that both are somehow equivalents of the “deep state.”

Plato, of course, did not replace Athenian democracy, which lived on rather well until Athens was conquered by the Macedonians about 25 years after his death. Nor did Plato subscribe to the “deep state” conspiracy theory – a theory which is also so foreign to Hebrew that it can only be expressed in English. Plato does discuss philosopher-kings from the middle of Book V of the Republic on, but does so as a thought experiment intended as a way of exploring the question of whether it is good or advantageous to be just – that is whether it is good for the just person to act in a just manner toward others. Plato’s hero, Socrates, suggests that only a true philosopher will know what is truly good and what is truly just and can act accordingly. Such philosophers would have no need for checks and balances, since they already know and do what is good and just. Philosophers do not usually want to rule, and Socrates, to my mind quite whimsically, says that the police should force them to do so after the age of 60. People, too, do not want philosophers to rule, a problem Socrates solves by saying that this ideal city should be founded only with residents under the age of ten so that they can be properly educated in justice. Of course, these conditions make such rule impossible in practice, but Plato’s Republic is primarily interested in exploring education for just citizens and philosophical questions of justice and doing good.

Plato’s Laws gives another theoretical city, one without philosopher-kings, and one that praises the mixed regime. In such a regime, there a numerous political institutions with various methods of appointing members. These methods are sometimes by lot, the hallmark of Athenian democracy, sometimes by election, which Plato considers monarchical, and sometimes through professional considerations. The different institutions are to balance each other out and provide stability for the citizenry.

Yet, Plato’s belief in democracy can be seen best in the Apology and Crito, where he tells of the trial and execution of Socrates. Socrates was convicted in public trial of impiety and corrupting the youth by jury of perhaps 501 Athenian citizens. It is possible that the trial was connected to the fact that several of Socrates’ students (but not Plato) had betrayed Athens to Sparta and instituted a temporary Spartan controlled regime, known as the “Thirty Tyrants.” When his friend, Crito, comes to the imprisoned Socrates with a plan for escape, Socrates speaks in praise of the laws of Athens. He speaks of how the laws of Athens married his parents, raised and educated him, and given him a living within the city. He says that disobeying the laws would be an attempt to destroy them and thereby destroy Athens itself (Crito 50a-b). So, he stays in prison and drinks the hemlock in order to protect the laws of Athens.

Netanyahu’s understanding of Plato is just as garbled as his understanding of the deep state. But what else could we expect from someone claiming to represent “the people”, long after the standards of parliamentary democracy would have a call for elections. Millions have demonstrated against Netanyahu, perhaps as much as half of all Israelis. Netanyahu himself never goes out in public and no longer meets with mainstream reporters or attends public ceremonies. Last night, when awakened at 4:00 am by a Houthi missile attack, I learned that Netanyahu was still in the Knesset, working on legislation to convert the Shin Bet and the High Court into forces loyal to him personally, rather than to the laws of Israel. Even the hardiest protestors among the people Netanyahu claims to represent are unlikely to bother him at 4:00 am.

Actually, Netanyahu would do well to read Plato, to learn about democracy and the rule of law, and to stand trial and accept the verdict. Instead, he is proving Socrates right: subverting the laws, avoiding trial, undermining the possibility of rule of law, and leading us all to the destruction of Israel.