TEL AVIV — Hundreds of Israelis living in London demonstrated Friday against the judicial reform plan, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. If Netanyahu thought he could leave Israel behind, at least over the weekend, the ongoing political turmoil, demonstrations in the British capital proved him wrong.
The series of dramatic upheavals that rocked Israel at breakneck speed this week would have been considered outlandish doomsday scenarios just a few months ago.
Israel has skillfully created a bubble of normalcy and routine over the years to cushion the adverse social, economic and security impacts of the many challenges it has faced. Israelis had watched in awe at the social and political upheavals that rocked their Arab neighbors — Egypt’s 2011 Tahrir Square uprising and the Arab Spring protests — and sighed with relief at the relative stability and democracy they enjoy despite periodic political turmoil and significant security threats. Clearly, that inner calm reality is now gone.
The heads of Israel’s strategic security agencies have issued stern warnings in recent days to Netanyahu about the disastrous effects of the far-reaching constitutional changes he is spearheading, especially legislation giving the government control over Supreme Court appointments. After midnight on Friday, the commander of Israel’s air force, Major General Tomer Bar, received hundreds of messages from reserve pilots who form the backbone of Israel’s air deterrence, informing him of the immediate termination of his volunteer service. and explaining that they would not risk their lives. to serve a dictatorship.
The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, informed Netanyahu that an increasing number of reservists, including special forces and intelligence and cyber personnel, are refusing to report for duty and expressed fear that disobedience extended to the regular army. Shin Bet national security chief Ronen Bar also expressed stern warnings in conversations with Netanyahu about the threats to Israel’s social fabric and the encouragement that Israel’s enemies draw from this internal breakdown, fueled by the violent potential of the month of Ramadan. Netanyahu heard similar dire warnings from Mossad director David Barnea.
Events appeared to come to a head on Thursday, when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced he would hold a press conference at 7:30 p.m., urging him to enter into dialogue with the opposition who have been staging angry protests in the whole country before the legislative bombardment.
Gallant has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, exposed to signs of rebellion in the ranks, as well as dire warnings of the strong economic and social impact on the country. He has held several secret meetings with former colleagues, including former chiefs of staff and current opposition Knesset members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot.
But as Gallant was putting the finishing touches on his planned statement, the Netanyahu family intervened. The prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, considered the most radical element in Netanyahu’s circle, sent his own troops into action. The group of outspoken Likud members in the Knesset that he is said to have influence over, as well as the Likud-allied radical nationalist Jewish Power party, immediately issued statements demanding that Netanyahu fire Gallant and stating that the latter no longer He was part of the political party. on the right.
Netanyahu himself then summoned Gallant from his Tel Aviv office to Jerusalem and, in typically Machiavellian fashion, dissuaded him from going public with his warnings. There is no need for you to expose yourself, Netanyahu reportedly told Gallant. I will address the nation, propose dialogue and put an end to this madness.
Earlier rumors that Netanyahu was about to make a public speech and get it right sent the stock market and the value of the shekel soaring just before the close of trading. But hopes were dashed when he approached the microphone shortly before 9 pm with a jumble of platitudes and conciliatory deceptions that the smokescreen he spread failed to disguise.
The only real, clear message Netanyahu delivered Thursday night was that he would wade into the judicial appointments crisis, violating a conflict-of-interest promise he had made to the High Court and the attorney general to stay out given his trial. Ongoing corruption charges, which are expected to face an appeal in the Supreme Court.
“Until now my hands were tied. Now I am getting involved,” he announced, buoyed by legislation passed earlier in the day that prevents the attorney general from declaring him unfit to govern. Under the newly adopted amendment, a prime minister can only be deemed unfit for physical or physical reasons. mentally disabled, and only by a 75% majority vote in the Knesset. In other words, Netanyahu felt invincible by announcing to the nation that he was ignoring his conflict of interest pledge and spitting in the eye of the law.
Various petitions against law against impeachment They have already been submitted to the Supreme Court. If the judges overturn him, a big “if” given the determined campaign to weaken the court, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara will face the toughest decision an Israeli attorney general has ever faced: declaring Netanyahu unfit to rule given her rape. of the Law. Such a decision would likely trigger a war between Netanyahu’s opponents and his loyal political base.
It would not be an exaggeration to describe these days as the most fateful of modern Israel. The Jewish state has experienced serious existential threats in the past, including the 1948 War of Independence, the 1967 Six-Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Its people rallied and united to defeat their enemy and prosperous. Prime Minister Golda Meir once explained this phenomenon to the young US Senator Joe Biden. “We Jews have a secret weapon in our conflict with the Arabs, and that is that we have nowhere to go,” she told him shortly before the 1973 war.
Fifty years later, after Israel normalized relations with many of its former Arab enemies, Israelis are free to travel and live abroad in countries previously prohibited. The concern these days is that those who want to return will find that their country has become a dictatorship.
