Where is Netanyahu?

We do not know precisely what is going on in Benjamin Netanyahu's head. There are compelling and confirmed analyzes by his opponents and political opponents that he aims mainly to get rid of his trial by electing the panel of judges that will be under his influence and perhaps his command in his ongoing trial when he pronounces the verdict against him.

This is the prevailing opinion by groups of protesters and opponents who have been taking part in weekly demonstrations against him for a hundred days, that is, since the beginning of January 2023. As for the reality of the matter that many people ignore and do not know, it is that Netanyahu, who claims that Israel is the oasis of democracy, is referring, in fact, to that it is on its way if this situation continues to become part of the third world; He is not much different from the leaders of individualistic and dictatorial regimes in many countries with an authoritarian totalitarian regime, as he aims primarily to preserve his individual rule that began in 1996 and continued to rule intermittently until 2009, and then continued at the helm of power until 1996. 2021, thus becoming prime minister for the longest term of an Israeli prime minister since the establishment of the state.

In the early years of his rule, Netanyahu relied on the support of the traditional right-wing movement, especially supporters and followers of Menachem Begin in the Likud party. And it was that things went well until his comrades discovered the depth of his dictatorship and his absolute domination in government, which led them to move away from him and then withdraw from the party, headed by Dan Meridor, Moshe Arens and Ronnie Milo.
And soon he excluded them from his government, and soon after that, that is, in early 2003, the biggest split occurred when Ariel Sharon founded the Kadima party and was able to remove Netanyahu. After several years, Netanyahu was able to repeat the ball, but this time he resorted to forming new alliances supported by the eastern sects, the extreme right, and fundamentalist religious parties, and he continued to do so during the period between 2009 and 2021; Then the political map in Israel began to transform and crystallize again. New parties began to rise, such as the Lapid party, the Jens party, and Lieberman. Many of the leaders of these parties, after working with him and experiencing him for a long time, saw the difficulty of dealing with him in any way.

It has been confirmed that Netanyahu has already excluded many political leaders from the Likud and outside it, as it has become certain that many of the rising Israeli political leaders at the time have become hostile to him, led by Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert and Avigdor Lieberman, who worked with him as director of his office since the late eighties. For 10 years, then he became Minister of Finance and later Minister of Defense, and Naftali Bennett, who later succeeded him when establishing an anti-Likud government and headed it for a year and a half, in cooperation with Yair Lapid as prime minister and current opposition leader.

And at the beginning of 2021, all those forces and parties were able to unite and ally against him, as they set their sights on one and only goal, which is to overthrow him and his government, and this was crowned with success. Although the previous government lasted about a year and a half, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, the differences between its members were strong and fundamental, which led to its rapid collapse. It is worth noting that the United List, led by Mansour Abbas, supported this coalition and helped its survival and cohesion until it began to collapse internally. The United Islamic List party, led by Mansour Abbas, is considered the first Arab party to support a government with a completely Zionist agenda and work program in 30 years. It was promised financial support without agreeing with that government on any political programs.

As for Netanyahu, he rearranged his cards and proceeded to unify all the extremist parties represented by the settlers in the West Bank, and included many easterners as main candidates within the framework of the Likud Party to fight the battle and sweep the central parties and establish a government with a majority of 64 seats out of 120 in early 2023.

Thus, Netanyahu has begun a new chapter of government in Israel since he was elected for the first time in 1996, and during the 3 and a half years of his election at that time he was able to completely destroy the Oslo Accords, and in the years between 2009-2020 he grabbed the Iranian file as an existential security threat to Israel and tried to contain Hamas In the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, all of this with American support and cover. When he was elected this time, he wanted to run the same game, that is, to exploit the Iranian threat with the aim of strengthening Israel’s hegemony in the region. But all of this quickly collapsed when he united and coalesced with the settler parties led by Smotrich and Ben Gvir, who They assured him that their demands did not differ much from his ideas, and that he should put at the top of his agenda deepening settlement in the West Bank, building new settlements, and taking strict military and repressive steps against the Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem.

All the Israeli political forces unanimously agreed on that, but the biggest mistake he committed was when he tried to pass what he called the judicial reform, which aims mainly to control the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and the head of the electoral fund in any future elections. On the results of any elections that can be held at any time, but Netanyahu was surprised by the fierce opposition to this judicial coup, and many political, social and security forces gathered against him, which organized unprecedented popular protests since 1974 when Israel was surprised by the results of the October War, and the popular protests led to the fall of the Mapai party and the rise of The Likud in 1977. All the protest forces unanimously agreed that Netanyahu is transforming the system of government in Israel from a Jewish-democratic rule to an individual dictatorship.

There is a remarkable security opposition represented by the leaderships of the army, the Mossad, and the intelligence services in all branches. Despite their strong opposition to him and the declaration of disobedience in some security branches, they are trying to adopt a democratic protest path that goes along with what other popular forces are doing so that no one will accuse them of intending to carry out a military coup against him, and that is why we have seen it recently, and in order for Netanyahu to rectify the situation, he announced that he had settled his differences with Defense Minister Gallant, and reinstated him; However, the crisis and the political division are still raging, and we do not see any light at the end of the tunnel!

* Journalist and editor of the quarterly Mawaqif magazine, which is published in Haifa