Netanyahu needs to go, Israel needs a reset It is sad to say, but Netanyahu today is a danger to the State of Israel. Even his longtime supporters must recognize that this country is more important than this prime minister.Jerusalem Post, Apr 29, 2021
Back in the summer before his criminal trial moved into high gear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ordered by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit to sign a conflict-of-interest agreement that was mandated by law, following the establishment of the unity government with Benny Gantz last May. Typically, Netanyahu delayed.
Mandelblit then sent a letter to Netanyahu’s attorneys explaining that the prime minister would not be allowed to participate in the appointment of law enforcement officials, including a police commissioner, an attorney-general, judges in the Jerusalem District Court where his trial is ongoing, and more.
A conflict-of-interest settlement for a prime minister on trial for corruption was not only logical, but also needed. Every decision a prime minister makes while on trial is by nature suspect. Mandelblit was trying to minimize the damage to Israel’s sensitive democratic and social fabric.
As expected, Netanyahu rejected the agreement and refused to sign it. A petition was filed to the Supreme Court, and there too Netanyahu argued that he should not be bound by such restrictions. The court heard him, debated, and delivered its decision at the end of March, ordering Netanyahu to comply with the agreement drafted by Mandelblit.
Did he ever sign it? You already know the answer. Does he comply with it? You know that answer too.
And if you needed a reason to understand why such an agreement was needed to begin with, just look at what we experienced on Tuesday, when Netanyahu flagrantly violated the law inside the cabinet and tried to steal the illegal appointment of a justice minister.
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The writing was on the wall. When Netanyahu was indicted in November 2019, it was clear that he would not be able to do what a prime minister needs to do: run the country, while always putting the nation first. It was obvious then that he would always put his own political survival first and before anything else.
What happened on Tuesday was just the latest example. When he refused to pass a budget even though one million Israelis were unemployed, was it not obvious that he did so in order to bring down the government and evade the rotation with Gantz like he had promised?
When Israelis were dying of corona and businesses were shutting left and right, what did Netanyahu do? He went to the Knesset to get himself a tax reimbursement of NIS 1 million. What kind of leader does that? How disconnected can he be?
AS ISRAELIS fight among themselves, the world is moving on. The United States is racing into a new nuclear deal with Iran that seems unstoppable, as illustrated by the statement made after Israel’s national security team held meetings in Washington this week: Israel and the US were setting up a working group to tackle the drone threat from Iran.
Not the nuclear threat. The drone threat.
It would come as no surprise if the Biden administration was using this vacuum to plow ahead with its Iran talks knowing that there is no one in Israel who can resist it. This isn’t 2015, when Netanyahu was a powerful prime minister who stood under the dome of the US Capitol and lobbied Congress against the deal. Today he is too busy fighting Gantz, Bennett and Sa’ar, because they are anyhow a greater threat to him than Khamenei, Rouhani or Zarif.
Iran is not the only challenge that might be falling to the side due to this government’s incompetence. The Palestinian Authority seems bent on canceling its upcoming parliamentary election in May and using Israel’s refusal to allow voting in east Jerusalem as its excuse. Why aren’t we hearing anything about it from Israel? Why is the government not preparing for the international diplomatic onslaught that is just around the corner?
We all know the answer, and we all know what needs to happen. It is time for change in Israel. It needs a new start. It needs new leadership.
More:
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/netanyahu-needs-to-go-israel-needs-a-reset-opinion-666785
