As always, Benjamin Netanyahu sees no one but himself. At the government meeting on Sunday he said, shocked, that “there is a clear threat to murder a prime minister in Israel,” and that this is “the result of irresponsible incitement encouraged by the opposition… A true danger to democracy, which everyone should strongly condemn.”
So first, before all the cries of gevalt, everyone has already strongly condemned the threat, including the opposition. Second, even the person who made the threat has apologized by now, retracted his comments and deleted his post. We saw no such condemnations and apologies from the opposition leading up to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. They called him a traitor, a murderer, a Nazi, the undertaker of Zionism who merits “din rodef,”(rabbinical decree permitting extrajudicial killing) meaning death. Netanyahu led the chorus of incitement back then.
Despite Bibi’s boo-hooing about his bitter fate, it’s the left that is truly under threat. In the 75 years of Israel's existence, both political murders were committed by perpetrators from the right. The first claimed the life of Emil Grunzweig 40 years ago, and the second claimed Rabin. But Bibi keeps playing the victim card.
Going by the severity of comments on social media, the one whose life is truly under threat is Gali Baharav-Miara, the attorney general. Due to the insane incitement against her and the threats she receives, the police have raised the threat assessment against her to the highest level, and her security detail has been massively increased.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused her of delaying the sealing of the home of the Neveh Yaakov terrorist – a baseless charge that tacitly brays for her blood. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called upon her to resign, and Likud MK Tally Gotliv said she should be removed from office. But Baharav-Miara doesn’t scare easily. She wrote a series of courageous opinions, thus positioning herself as the main fighter for democracy. She wrote an opinion against the appointment of Arye Dery as minister, and has recently submitted an opinion against the amendment of the Police Order, which compromises the police commissioner’s independence.
Last Thursday she published a detailed opinion, explaining how Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s plan will bring about a regime coup, in which the government will have unlimited power and the court will be neutralized, meaning the end of democracy. Another of her opinions states that Netanyahu is barred from involvement in Levin’s plan, as there is a clear conflict of interest between his trial and the reforms, aimed chiefly at extracting him from his legal predicament.
In May 2020, 11 High Court justices made an erroneous ruling which is the original sin. They ruled that Netanyahu may form and head a government, despite the trial underway against him. It is absurd that a man indicted on [criminal] ethics violations should be prime minister. And to somewhat obscure the degree of absurdity, the justices ruled that Netanyahu must sign a conflict of interest agreement, so that he wouldn’t be able to influence the conduct of his trial.
But then Bibi embarked on a massive stalling maneuver. He rejected any arrangement proposed by then-attorney general Avichai Mendelblit, and so nine exhausting months of negotiations went by. The conflict of interest arrangement was whittled down to pathetic dimensions, until Mendelblit gave up and submitted it to the High Court unilaterally, without Netanyahu’s signature. Today, this allows Netanyahu to claim that he is allowed to intervene in the regime coup, which is precisely what Baharav-Miara seeks to amend. This is why she submitted an opinion in which she states, for the second time, that Netanyahu is in a grave conflict of interest and may not intervene in the “judicial reform.” But Netanyahu has announced that he rejects this opinion as well – a brazen act against the rule of law.
This is the moment in which the High Court should intervene and reverse its May 2020 decision. The High Court should rule that since Bibi is unwilling to accept any conflict of interest agreement, he must resign. This is the last moment at which the High Court can save itself, and democracy as well.
Israel's AG Is in Danger - Not Netanyahu
As always, Benjamin Netanyahu sees no one but himself. At the government meeting on Sunday he said, shocked, that “there is a clear threat to murder a prime minister in Israel,” and that this is “the result of irresponsible incitement encouraged by the opposition… A true danger to democracy, which everyone should strongly condemn.”
So first, before all the cries of gevalt, everyone has already strongly condemned the threat, including the opposition. Second, even the person who made the threat has apologized by now, retracted his comments and deleted his post. We saw no such condemnations and apologies from the opposition leading up to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. They called him a traitor, a murderer, a Nazi, the undertaker of Zionism who merits “din rodef,”(rabbinical decree permitting extrajudicial killing) meaning death. Netanyahu led the chorus of incitement back then.
Despite Bibi’s boo-hooing about his bitter fate, it’s the left that is truly under threat. In the 75 years of Israel's existence, both political murders were committed by........
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