There is something ironic about the name of the New Right party. At first, it appears to offer something new compared to the old, conservative, traditional Right that has existed in Israeli society since its inception and during the pre-1948 Jewish settlement in the land of Israel.
But this is not the case. In Israel, the real new Right can be found in the Likud party. This is a radical Right that has turned its back on the ideology of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Likud of late Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir and that embodies values that are in opposition to the traditional Israeli Right.
I am not referring to foreign and security issues. Here, the Likud is now more moderate than it was under the leadership of Begin and Shamir. But the Revisionist movement – the Herut party, the Israeli Liberal party and the Likud – were always statesmanlike and liberal. The movement raised the flag of a state predicated on the rule of law, statesmanship, equality before the law, public service, the supremacy of law, political integrity and the fight against corruption and leadership based on public service and personal example.
The Likud of today has lost its way thanks to ethical and moral bankruptcy and now encompasses the opposite of these values.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wont to say that those who want to understand the path he took in his last term should read Erez Tadmor's book "Why You Vote Right and Get Left." This is a theory that disparages Begin – who as prime minister made historic and far-reaching and, yes, controversial decisions that were carried out entirely by the civil service – as a weak figure who did not lead but was instead led by the baseless "deep state" that is purportedly really in charge here. This conspiracy theory is the justification and excuse for the revolt Netanyahu is leading against a state predicated on the rule of law. It is aimed at allowing him to do as he sees fit because, as he claims, his election means he embodies the will of the people. This path is the opposite of the one taken by Begin, who considered himself a public servant subject to the law.
And so Coalition Chairman Likud MK David Amsalem has threatened that millions of people would not accept a decision by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit to file an indictment against Netanyahu. And so, as evidenced by a headline in this very paper, the Likud is now threatening the attorney general. And the height of this revolt against the rule of law is the so-called "French Law," which, if passed, would prevent a sitting prime minister from being subjected to criminal proceedings.
Netanyahu is trying to implement the most problematic clause that can be found in a democratic constitution – France's law that puts the president above the law. But in France, this drastic law is balanced by limiting the presidency to two terms, while Netanyahu is now running for his fifth.
The incitement against the Israel Police and the chief of police, along with the conspiracy theories about the police, the State Attorney's Office and as the process progresses, the attorney general and the courts, all accompanied by the leader's cult of personality, are the opposite of a democratic and stately attitude. That was never the way of the Likud.
