One thing stands in the way of Netanyahu and fanatical right to a dictatorship

It’s as if just over a year ago, we didn’t experience the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the greatest failure in the history of the State of Israel, the destruction of an entire region, with more than 1,200 dead and over 250 kidnapped in one day. Today, over a year later, there are still 101 hostages in Gaza, most of them are no longer alive, and those who are still alive are of no interest to our decisionmakers.

Netanyahu has returned to his status as an almighty ruler, thanks to one brilliant Mossad operation that managed to sell rigged pagers to Hezbollah post October 7th – a visible miracle that changed the reality in our region within days.

Netanyahu is now in a better political position than before October 7th. The man who has been running Israel for 15 years, who bears responsibility for the October 7th failure and many other serious security issues kept quiet during these years, has moved on.

Until a few weeks ago, Netanyahu was a puppet in Sinwar’s hands, transferring protection fees of hundreds of millions of dollars, and terrified of Nasrallah. One pager operation that neutralized Hezbollah’s command echelon, which evolved into targeted bombings and the elimination of Hezbollah’s old leadership and then Sinwar, has changed everything.

Now, in the eyes of the right, Netanyahu is the man that “defeated Hezbollah and Hamas.”

It doesn’t change the fact that for over a year, northern residents have been evacuated and the north is bombarded daily by hundreds of missiles and drones. October 7th, the hostages, the murdered, and the wounded don’t seem to matter. He is King Bibi to half of this nation – today more than ever.

Recently, we’ve witnessed renewed unrestrained attacks by Netanyahu and his partners. After a year’s hiatus, they’re again working to dismantle the legal system, attacking legal advisors, initiating legislation against free communication and in favor of propaganda channels, doing as they wish in all government systems. Just like before October 7th, but now with complete disregard for the gatekeepers.

The police are in their hands, the justice system is crumbling, and much of the media is controlled by right-wing outlets that have received benefits from Netanyahu over the years or give center stage to Netanyahu’s mouthpiece on “free” channels. Every restraint has been breached.

The only thing still holding us back from a complete dictatorship is the government’s legal advisor and her deputies. That’s it.

So Netanyahu launches a direct attack against them, backed by his attack dogs in the media that give them a platform for their spins and lies.

I was asked this week if the newly exposed security affair from Netanyahu’s office will finally lead to his downfall. I asked back how this could happen when Netanyahu and his people completely control the law enforcement system, have dismantled the judicial system, and took the teeth out of the Supreme Court.

There will be no elections here in the near future. Netanyahu is at his political peak. Only if Bibi decides he wants to improve his position in an election because he’s tired of any of his coalition partners. That’s it.

And what about democracy? No good news on that front either.

The sad thing is that even if Netanyahu’s medical condition deteriorates as happened to Ariel Sharon, who is his replacement? Yariv Levin. The fanatical right has grown roots in the biggest party and in all government systems, causing rot, mold, and mildew in every office, authority, media outlet, police force, and judicial. Nothing is working properly in the interest of Israeli citizens. Nothing at all.

So even in post-Netanyahu days, the rot created by Netanyahu and his partners will have overwhelmed Israel. We saw the results of this decay on October 7th. And from there, we failed to rise up, depose, or change. This is unfortunately an advanced stage of destruction.

Gali Baharav-Miara, Gil Limon, Avital Sompolinski, and Sharon Afek are heroes fighting the fight for democracy, but unfortunately cannot save Israeli democracy.