The dramatic events currently unfolding in Israel, shaking the very foundations of its society, underscore the myopic naivety of the Israeli "Right" and its utter inability to fathom the all-consuming, incandescent animosity that its political rivals on the "Left" harbor for it.
No room for rational debate
Indeed, in a recent Opinion piece, I warned that Israel was poised on a perilous slide into civil war. I wrote: "An irreconcilable rift is beginning to open up between rival segments of Israeli society, which no amount of unilateral goodwill can amicably bridge. The rupture is not one that can be bridged by rational reasoning or argument."
This mirrors my dour assessment in a previous piece I published, over two years ago, with the protests against the proposed judicial reforms raging through the streets of Israel: I asserted that "the ongoing dispute, allegedly about a substantive difference of opinion is nothing but a façade, a stage prop in a visceral fight for control of the reins of power, in which there is no place for any rational debate."
In the interests of methodological rigor, I stipulated the tectonic fault lines, threatening to split the nation's societal fabric asunder, centered on the animosity toward Benjamin Netanyahu and the frustration that his obstinate hold on power engendered in his political adversaries, foiling their multiple endeavors to unseat him. Thus, although Israeli politics has always been characterized by fractious rivalries, the traditional Left-Right divisions have shifted slightly and been replaced by those between virulent anti-Netanyahu zealots and those who are not.
A shifting schism?
Note that while this in some measure coincides with the old Left-Right divisions, it differs somewhat from them in significant ways. Firstly, the anti-Netanyahu faction includes several factions that fall into the "Right" wing categories, such as those led by Avigdor Liberman, Naftali Bennett, and, at the time, Gideon Sa'ar. Secondly, the opposing faction includes not only explicitly pro-Netanyahu supporters but also anyone who is not overtly anti-Netanyahu, who are also classed by his obsessive antagonists as being among his supporters.
However, because of accepted semantic convention, I retained the use of "Left" to denote the anti-Netanyahu bloc, and of "Right" when referring to the opposing bloc.
With this methodological/semantic clarification in mind, we return to the current turmoil in Israel. For what emerges unmistakably from recent events surrounding the conduct of the senior echelons of the distinctly "Left"-leaning legal establishment in both the judiciary and prosecution, as well as in several investigative arms in the police.
Lamentably, they have shown themselves – either directly or indirectly – willing to imperil the country's most vital interests, undermine its national security, jeopardize its economic wellbeing, risk the safety of its citizens, and sacrifice its most sacred values.
Having seemingly despaired of the possibility of defeating him at the polls, his adversaries have turned – more clumsily than not – to weaponising the legal system as a means of realizing their political goals.
When the prosecution strengthens the defense
Nothing illustrates this dire state of affairs more vividly than the farcical trial against Netanyahu currently underway, in which the defense's case is strengthened every time a prosecution witness takes the stand. Indeed, with its "flagship" accusation of corruption crumbling before the public's very eyes, with the judges – hardly ardent Bibi-philes – warning the prosecutors (before a single defense witness took the stand) that they had failed to make their case. However, despite the judges' specific recommendation that the bribery charges be dropped, the prosecution declined to do so.
Shorn of any tangible chance of securing a conviction for bribery, prosecution was left with two flimsy and somewhat ephemeral charges of "breach of trust", which numerous prominent American figures – including President Donald Trump and renowned jurist Alan Dershowitz – called to be dismissed.
Indeed, as proceedings progressed, the case appeared increasingly far-fetched and indictments ever-more maliciously concocted. Thus, earlier this month, dramatic new evidence, indicating prosecutorial malfeasance, emerged when a senior investigator in the Netanyahu case, Chief Superintendent Tzachi Havkin, informed the court that he would only testify truthfully about what transpired during the probe if the court granted him immunity from self-incrimination. Following the court's decision to grant his request – despite the prosecution's evident reluctance and even explicit prior attempt to prevent it – he laid out a litany of excesses and abuses by the police in its probe against the PM.
"Political prosecution on steroids…"
Indeed, the murky picture that emerged was so troubling that it prompted one prominent M.K. to describe the proceedings against Netanyahu as "malevolent political persecution on steroids."
Despite all the emerging evidence of blatant misconduct, the all-consuming animus in the legal establishment continued to manifest itself unabated in its prejudicial and unequal application of the law to suspects and defendants, depending on their perceived political affiliation – with those associated with Netanyahu receiving excessively harsh treatment (notably in connection with the far-fetched "Qatargate" allegations), while those associated with opposition to him were treated with far-reaching leniency and compassionate kid gloves.
This institutional bias carried itself to the recent events surrounding and allegations of IDF abuse of Hamas prisoners at the Sde Teiman facility, where perpetrators of the October 7th massacre were incarcerated. The prosecution's proceedings against the IDF guards were accompanied by the release [i.e., leak] of a clearly "doctored" video, reportedly taken prior (!) to the arrival of the purported victim at the facility.
The phony video was seized on by Israel's detractors around the world as proof-positive of the Jewish state's inhumane treatment of Gazans in its custody – with nary a mention of the heinous deeds they had committed and of which they openly boasted. Indeed, the video generated a staggering 100 million views worldwide, resulting in dire diplomatic damage to Israel and its standing in the world, as well as increasing the international antisemitic sentiment, further endangering already harassed Jewish communities across the globe.
Hurried and hysterical responses
As the outcry escalated, appalling facts began to emerge. Thus, with Israel fighting a multi-front war, and increasingly beleaguered and isolated internationally, it turned out that it was none other than the head of IDF legal corps ( the Magistrate Advocate General or MAG), who was behind the media leak of the purportedly offensive video – along with several of her immediate subordinates, who were either involved in/aware of the affair.
It is difficult to diagnose the motivation behind these patently perverse actions other than the desire of the anti-Netanyahu establishment (including upper echelons in the military, the media, and legal elites) to discredit his conduct of the war, which the adversarial Biden administration sought to end. For this, they were willing to pay any price, including sullying Israel's name, risking its soldiers and the welfare of its then-held hostages, so long as they could harness their efforts to tarnish Netanyahu and his coalition.
However, as the flaws and the falsehoods that riddled the official account of the Sde Teiman began to surface, its architects were compelled into hurried and hysterical responses in a desperate attempt to cover their tracks. The result was an unbecoming process of submitting false affidavits to the Supreme Court, concealing – even destroying – evidence, and finally – almost inconceivably – deporting the alleged victim back to Gaza, raising speculation that this was done to prevent him from testifying and exposing the part that the IDF legal apparatus played in this sordid affair.
Remorseless and obsessive malevolence
Indeed, the Sde Teiman affair has turned the legal establishment into a pathetic caricature of its former self – along with its media sycophants. Thus, as the cracks in the official narrative began to emerge, so did cracks in the ranks. As the pressure mounted to expose the truth, the façade started to collapse. The first major element to buckle was MAG Tomer-Yerushalmi, now in detention, after two suicide attempts, and several efforts to dispose of/destroy evidence.
As the erosion of public trust accelerated – catalyzed by her blatantly biased and ill-conceived legal opinions – the flames began to lick the heels of Tomer-Yerushalmi's superior, the woefully incompetent and patently partisan Attorney-General, Gali Baharav-Miara, recently barred from any involvement in the investigation of the Sde Teiman affair.
Accordingly, with the Left's remorseless and obsessive malevolence laid increasingly bare, the Right must recalibrate both its overall political conduct and its specific responses to Left-wing skullduggery. For as the Left's electoral base contracts, so its malice increases – even channeling it against their own when some might have the temerity to admit the errors of their way (like the vicious response of the Left-wing media to the recent court decision to bar the Attorney-General from taking any part in the Sde Teiman affair probe because of blatant conflict of interest– for example, see here.)
Time to "fight fire with fire"
Accordingly, for the Right, the time has come to "fight fire with fire". It is time to drop the assumption that the political divide in Israel is one of opinion, which can be bridged by rational argument and compromise. It is a visceral struggle for power, where few, if any, holds are barred. The niceties of political debate must be discarded. It is time for a cataclysmic purge of the "plumbing" of the state.
It must mobilize its public and harness its anger to drive from their positions of (largely unelected power) those who prioritize partisan affiliation and personal animus over common-sense identification with the national interest.
This is the only effective way to fight the Left's once-vaunted "lords of land", now poised to morph into forlorn lemmings on their downward spiral to oblivion. It is time to nudge them over the brink.
