Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or “King Bibi,” always knew how to deceive, exploit situations, and get out of complicated situations. He engineered reality according to his needs, while mocking his opponents. This elusive quality characterized him throughout the last 13 years of his position, says Yehuda Sharoni, a writer for the Israeli newspaper Walla, but today “he must leave after the collapse of his deceptive theories and his failure to protect the lives of Israelis.”
How does Netanyahu deceive the Israeli public?
Sharoni says on the Hebrew "Walla" website: Netanyahu often draws concepts from the world of "life" to put things in perspective and avoid strong events that might harm his political future. Amazingly, he continues to deceive, even in the midst of the Gaza war and the events following October 7, 2023.
The mistakes, blame, and apologies that followed are no longer useful. The magic has ended, and with it the culture of eye contact and lying.
“This is life,” Netanyahu responded to the circumstances of the killing of the Israeli settler, Yuval Castleman, in the attack that took place in Jerusalem at the hands of the Israeli army, simply because he was suspected of carrying out a Palestinian attack, without knowing the truth about what happened there. This was a death that was not necessary.
According to Netanyahu, the correction, which came late as usual, is tantamount to an apology, after he attacked the leaders of the Israeli army and the security establishment in the midst of the war, and held them alone responsible for Hamas’ failure.
"No one will lack money"
During a press conference this week, Netanyahu once again referred to what he calls free life and hate, and in response to a question about the economic and government funding crisis that the country has become embroiled in, he said: “The issue has become populist, and the discussion is saturated with unjustified hatred. No one will lack money.”
When Netanyahu claims that no one will lack money, he is certain that Israel is an American factory for printing dollars, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The argument that "no one will lack money" may be true for Orthodox religious, Sharoni says on the Walla website.
But in the 2024 budget, Israel will feel a lack of money, and the decrease in disposable income will also be reflected in an increase in taxes. When Netanyahu responded to the State Comptroller’s report, in February 2015, about the shameful failure to reduce housing prices, he said: “We talk about housing prices and the cost of living, but I do not forget life itself.” Since then, housing prices have risen by tens of percent, and “life itself” has become death for thousands of families whose relatives were killed in the events of October 7.
“The Israelis are tired of Netanyahu and his promises.”
The Israeli writer says: Israelis are fed up with Netanyahu and the empty election promises he makes to improve the “quality of life” such as free education from ages 0 to 3, lowering mortgage interest rates, and freezing property taxes and water and electricity rates. Nothing happened from all these gushing promises.
Regardless of his trial, even if he stumbles on economic reforms, and even if he fails in his commitments to lower housing prices and reduce the cost of living, Netanyahu must step down and leave. If not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after.
Netanyahu has failed in the sacred mission of preserving “life itself.” Netanyahu claimed before the last elections that the next decade would be the calmest for Israel, but events do not prove that at all. “Bibi” has to go.
“Netanyahu must resign, and Washington can help him do that.”
In this context, the American Jewish writer Daniel Benjamin says in an article published by the American magazine The Atlantic, that the idea that Netanyahu is able to provide security for the Israelis while pushing the Palestinian issue into an indefinite future, an idea that he has been repeating for many years, has lost all credibility.
After October 7, Americans must help Israelis see their way toward understanding the idea of creating a Palestinian state, but before that, Netanyahu must go. The Biden administration must help him do this and offer Israelis a reasonable way forward once he is gone.
The writer adds that Netanyahu embodies the idea that Israel is capable of managing the Palestinian problem without making serious concessions to their national aspirations. Rather, this prompted him to maintain Gaza as a Hamas enclave, in order to prove that the Palestinians cannot be trusted, and in order to undermine the credibility of the Palestinian Authority, and thus justify Israel’s claim that it has no partner for peace to establish solutions with.
The writer adds: Regarding US intervention, the truth is that the United States usually interferes in the policies of Middle Eastern countries, and Israel is no exception. More recently, the United States has tried to disrupt Netanyahu's coalition by promoting the attractive idea of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Because the Saudis would have asked for some settlement with the Palestinians, Netanyahu would have been forced to choose between his ruling partners on the extreme right, who would never give up their desire to annex the West Bank and establish diplomatic relations with the largest Arab power in the region.
But the writer pointed out that American-Israeli relations are mutual in this regard. Netanyahu himself has had no qualms about meddling in American politics — most notably in his speech to a joint session of the US Congress, in which he mocked President Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal.
Pointing out that if Netanyahu remains in office for a longer period, the alternative to the two-state solution will be to redouble efforts to achieve the dream of Greater Israel. This would entail the impoverishment of Palestinians and their eventual expulsion from the West Bank and Gaza, a goal that settlers are already seeking to achieve through violence and confiscation of Palestinian lands.
In the end, as a general rule, voters do not change their leaders in the middle of a war. In this case, it is better for the Israelis to make an exception. With approval ratings at historic lows, Netanyahu is now, politically speaking, a dead man walking, with even many members of his party skeptical about his future. However, the great escape artist in Israeli politics - as the American writer in the Atlantic describes him - could lead a far-right coalition for additional years in office, if Washington intervenes.
source: Arabic Post
