'My Name is Binyamin Netanyahu and I am Here to Help You"

We sat around the table on Thursday night, eating brought-in pizza and drinking fine Italian wine. The television was turned to face the dining room table where we sat with two friends, like us Anglo-Israelis.

Rumors swirled that at 7:30 PM Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party would – in the “name of national security” – call on Netanyahu to declare a moratorium on his catastrophic regime changes crusade. He'd save face – and the country. 

The Tel Aviv stock market went up, and the shekel’s value strengthened.

Seven-thirty came and went with no Gallant. The sound on the TV was off, so I raised it and heard that the defense minister would not speak after all but that he had been summoned to the Prime Minister’s Office. And that Netanyahu would speak at 8 PM.

Eight came and went, and no Netanyahu.

The wine was gone now.

Someone said that there were two scenarios. Either Gallant backed down, or he quit in protest.

“Does he have the balls to quit,” someone else wondered.

Then a newly invigorated Netanyahu appeared on the screen. Lately, he had been going about without makeup, looking pallid. He spoke in a firm voice, reporting that he had met with ministers, including the defense minister. He said that until now, he had been blocked from speaking to us about “judicial reform,” implying that it was out of fear that the attorney-general (who is autonomous) would sack him. The AG never made any such threat, but since Netanyahu was on trial for a criminal offense, it made sense that he should not be seen to tinker with the system of selecting judges.

Shortly after dawn on Thursday, the Knesset (which he controls) essentially robbed the AG of the power to demand Netanyahu recuse himself. So now, he announced, he was back and "in charge" and would personally serve as the vicar of "judicial reform."

He knew there were two sides to the issue, and he was elected to be prime minister of the entire country.

He outlined the concerns of both sides with just a hint of petulance when he summarized the views of his critics.

With the pizza gone, someone said, “I am waiting for the punchline….”

But there was no moratorium announcement. 

The opposite. Netanyahu said he planned to double down to get his program passed. To alleviate any concerns about civil liberties, he said he himself would see to legislation to safeguard minorities (meaning about half the country). He gave us his word that the new regime would bolster “democracy,” not undermine it.

It was time to clean up and take the pizza boxes to the recycle bin.

I went to bed wondering why I allowed my hopes to be raised. Why did I imagine that Netanyahu would second guess – would reverse – himself? That he would put unity and country first...

I'm not sure why I had those hopes. Netanyahu has a track record of manipulating mentors and devotees alike, from Moshe Arens and Naftali Bennett to Avigdor Lieberman and Gideon Sa’ar (the list is endless). Even by Israeli political standards, he is unprincipled.  Actually, his allies call him שקרן בן שקרן. And he can boast, too, of an international reputation for mendaciousness. 

Nevertheless, many Israelis really believe that all Netanyahu wants is “judicial reform.”  In fact, he and Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin have proffered judicial revolution and regime change. If they get their way (which seems more likely than ever), the government he leads will appoint the judges who will hear his future legal appeals. 

The Netanyahu-Levin approach of majoritarian democracy elbows aside civil liberties, minority rights, and checks and balances that give meaning to representative democracy. Under their vision, the majority would rule the roost just like in the UN General Assembly, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Islamic Consultative Assembly in Teheran, and the Hungarian National Assembly. If Israel’s Haredi and Hardal parties of God have their way (and together, they already equal Likud’s power), the Knesset could devolve into a Majles-like vanguard for theocracy. 

So, after Shabbat, all being well, I will be demonstrating outside the President’s House here in Jerusalem. The bigger rally will be in Tel Aviv. There is little more that I can do.

Nobody’s mind will be changed. The lines are drawn. The split is over values, political culture, and sensibilities. 

I don’t bother trying to convince ex-colleagues, acquaintances, or family who are on the other side. It's the herd of elephants in the room; it's painful to spend too much time with them. 

Never did I imagine that in making aliya, I would have a front-row seat to the wrecking of the Zionist enterprise. It is heartbreaking.

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For Coverage of Netanyahu’s Speech see

Netanyahu Digs In on Court Overhaul, in the Face of Mass Protests

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-protests.html

PM: I’ll intervene to make overhaul ‘balanced’ — but judge selection bill will pass

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-ill-intervene-to-make-overhaul-balanced-but-judge-selection-bill-will-pass/

פרשנות | נתניהו סיכל את נאום גלנט ונתן שואו משלו. במוקד: דקלום שקרים

https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politi/2023-03-24/ty-article/.highlight/00000187-102f-d7c4-ab8f-fc2f662e0000