Opinion: The fall of Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu may not realize it yet, but his courage in the face of political differences is over. The longest-serving prime minister of Israel. re-elected in November despite an ongoing corruption trial, and whom even his rivals have recognized as a political magician, he is at odds. This downfall won’t happen anytime soon, but his coalition of ultra-nationalists, religious fundamentalists, and just plain corrupt people is losing moral legitimacy even among its growing constituency.

Netanyahu’s fatal mistake was that he fired his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday for calling on the government to stop his judicial revolution, a law that would undermine the independence of Israel’s Supreme Court and destroy the country’s fragile checks and balances, effectively placing control in the prime minister’s hands. . Gallant noted the deepening division in the army over the plan and the growing protest movement among army reservists refusing to serve, and warned that the country’s security was in jeopardy.

By sacking Gallant and ignoring his warning, Netanyahu has prioritized loyalty to himself over loyalty to the country. WITH Iran approaching the nuclear threshold, perhaps within weeks, even if the Palestinians terrorist attacks increase and Hezbollah By examining weaknesses in the defenses of Israel’s northern border, perhaps in preparation for the next war, Netanyahu is leading the erosion of military cohesion. The man who convinced the Israelis that he was the only one strong enough and shrewd enough to ensure the security of Israel in the Middle East betrayed the security of Israel.

Immediately after Netanyahu announced Gallant’s dismissal, tens of thousands of young people gathered in the streets, blocking traffic and burning fires all night. Their ranks and the general strike continue to grow as I write today. Meanwhile, several members of the Netanyahu group Likud party in the Knesset have declared their support for the suspension of its judicial legislation and instead talks with the opposition about reform. For the first time, Netanyahu’s hold on his party has waned.

In a nationwide speech Monday night in Israel, the Prime Minister announced a temporary suspension of the legislation.

Netanyahu’s miscalculation was that he assumed that the Israeli public would go along with his transparent attempt to extricate himself from his legal problems. he faces several charges — by initiating the most far-reaching judicial transformation in the history of the country. Instead, a startling protest movement has sprang up spontaneously since January, drawing first tens of thousands and now hundreds of thousands in weekly demonstrations across the country.

Simultaneously attacking liberal Israelis on multiple fronts—from the decline of democracy to the rise of ultra-Orthodox power, condoning political corruption, and tolerating growing settler violence—this government has left large numbers of Israelis feeling disenfranchised and desperate.

Using the divisive political strategy that has served him in the past, Netanyahu has attempted to delegitimize the protesters by denouncing them as anarchists and leftists, by which he meant, not patriots. His son Yair went even further, calling the protesters Nazis. Meanwhile, some Netanyahu supporters began physical attack on demonstratorswithout reproach from the prime minister.

But this time, the usual tactic didn’t work. Nowhere is there a more patriotic protest movement than this movement for Israeli democracy, led by veterans of the country’s toughest combat units and whose symbol is the Israeli flag. Even more than anger at Netanyahu, the strongest emotion that can be felt among the protesters is an overwhelming love for Israel and fear for its future.

The man who came to power as a defender of Israeli patriotism was defeated by the patriot movement.

The tragedy of Netanyahu is that, at the end of his long political career, he is now putting his most precious legacy in jeopardy. The leader who led Israel’s high-tech revolution is endangering the Israeli economy with his judicial recklessness as tech companies contemplate moving abroad and leading economists warn of a looming disaster.

Through the Abraham Accords, initiated by the Trump administration and endorsed by Netanyahu, Israel established relations with four Arab countries, effectively ending the Arab world’s siege on the Jewish state. However, by including extremist anti-Arab parties in his coalition, he is jeopardizing the longevity of these agreements.

No world leader has done more to draw the attention of the international community to the danger of Iran becoming a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu’s solemn vow was that the Jewish state would never allow a regime that promotes Holocaust denial and is committed to the destruction of Israel to acquire a nuclear weapon. However, Netanyahu’s judicial plan has left Israel and its army distracted and divided. If Iran gets the bomb, that too will be Netanyahu’s legacy.

There is something biblical about the tragedy of Benjamin Netanyahu. Followers often greet him with an old Hebrew song praising King David but replacing Netanyahu’s nickname: “Bibi, King of Israel!”

No doubt Bibi was tempted to compare himself to David, the greatest king of ancient Israel. But in an interview with journalist Bari Weiss Shortly after he was elected to a fifth term last fall, Netanyahu inadvertently displayed a dark premonition about his place in history. When asked to name his favorite biblical character, Netanyahu replied: “King Saul. He was tragic.”

Saul, the first king of Israel, ended his reign in defeat, half-mad and disgraced, replaced by the upstart David. Netanyahu, the most talented and ambitious leader of his generation of Israeli politicians, could be the second David. Instead, as more and more sections of Israel’s society rise up against him, and as his hero’s story turns from savior to destroyer, it is the ghost of Saul that torments his end.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and the author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.