Netanyahu and Trump, Iran, dissent and hypocrisy
When you consider which leaders called on the Iranian people to rise up and bring about regime change, and how they themselves react to the slightest hint of dissent, it is hard to decide whether to laugh or cry.
Iran’s rulers are bad, and it is tragic that the Iranian people do not enjoy a government that serves its citizens and their welfare rather than itself and its cronies. Having said that, it is worth asking: given their expectations of the Iranian people, how do U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister Benajamin Netanyahu deal with even a trace of opposition in their own countries?
Consider, briefly, Trump. Even as his standing in public opinion polls has reached historic lows, he sought to reward financially those who attempted to storm Congress after election results which he disliked. Those who criticize him are fired or otherwise humiliated, and a number of officials and witnesses who took a stand against him find themselves under scrutiny by government agencies. The message is unmistakable: oppose the supreme leader at your peril. Yet he expects Iranians to rise up against a violent regime?
The other prominent advocate of popular revolt, our own Netanyahu, provides a living demonstration of why such expectations of oppressed Iranians are arrogant, unrealistic, and detached from reality. To understand how difficult it is to stand up to authority that does not hesitate to use every means at its disposal, one need only look at the recent process of selecting Israel’s State Comptroller.
To ensure that his personal attorney would be chosen for a position designed to serve as an impartial watchdog, members of the Likud party in the Knesset were reportedly required to photograph themselves depositing the “correct” ballot, thereby proving their loyalty to the supreme leader. Freedom of choice? Of conscience? Secret ballots, as required by law? Not when the leader’s wishes and interests are at stake.
There is no need to dwell on the growing list of anti-democratic laws – some already enacted, others making their way through a compliant Israeli legislature – designed to shield our ruler and his allies from scrutiny. I will mention only the so-called “Yair Golan Law,” intended to strip benefits from individuals who devoted their lives to Israel’s security, should they dare criticize government policies.
Iranian protesters risk losing everything: their livelihoods, freedom, even their lives. What, by comparison, did those frightened Knesset members risk when they voted for attorney Michael Rabilo as State Comptroller? A rebuke from someone in the Prime Minister’s circle? Damage to their position in future party primaries? No one threatened them or their families, yet fear was enough to paralyze them. They fell into line and acted as power demanded.
Incredible as it sounds, someone who specializes in cultivating fear, as Netanyahu does, Trump too, who demands absolute loyalty, has the audacity to expect Iranians to rise up against a violent regime, and is surprise when they do not. It is difficult to know whether to laugh or cry in face of this.
One can laugh at the tragicomic gap between Netanyahu’s treatment of his own subjects and his expectations of others. Or perhaps, for precisely the same reason, one should cry instead.