introduction
I recently encountered comments here complaining that I am pretending to be neutral, while I am presenting a position that represents one side.
Full disclosure: I am not neutral when it comes to the fate of the country I love – the only country I have. In the following lines I will try to explain why I and everyone who fears for our future here cannot afford to be neutral.
To the best of my knowledge, any person with independent thinking, with a basic understanding of citizenship, and who is not captive to the almost religious belief in the "genius" of the Supreme Leader, can understand that Netanyahu's conduct endangers the State of Israel.
To anyone who would hasten to accuse me of belonging to the "Ral"B cult (just not Bibi)" – a rather worn-out claim – I would say that a cult is not characterized by criticism of any person. The opposite is true – a cult is characterized by uncritical worship of an object of adoration that is attributed with superpowers.
And to those who call me "radical left" (it turns out there are some who are): Politically, I try to be matter-of-fact, and over the past decades I have voted for different parties, always according to the circumstances. By the way, so far I have never voted for Likud and the parties "to the right" of it, nor for Meretz and the parties "to the left" of it. Therefore, I do not see how I can be associated with the "right" or "left" - unless we adopt the Bibi definition of "left", which includes everyone who does not worship the "Supreme Leader". By the way, it is not clear to me what is "right" in Netanyahu - in the man who gave the Bar Ilan speech and voted for the disengagement, I mainly recognize opportunism free from any ideology.
And after all that, I make sure to base my words on facts that stand the test. If anyone wants to challenge my words – I am ready to face them, and I will even be happy to admit a mistake if I am convinced.
Things that speak least to me are lies and empty rants.
"Just not Bibi?"
In my understanding, anyone who, after everything that has happened here in recent years, still sees Bibi Netanyahu as a "genius," a "supreme leader," or even a worthy leader, lives in a parallel universe. Of course, "just not Bibi" is not a sufficient condition to return the State of Israel to the path of growth and sanity, but it is undoubtedly a necessary condition.
There are two types of audiences that have not yet internalized this:
- Those who are served by this deterioration – mainly non-Zionist Haredim (meaning mainly the Haredi leadership and less so the public), people who owe their livelihoods and jobs to the existing establishment, and messianics who are thinking of establishing the Kingdom of Israel here.
- People who have fallen into the trap of the "Supreme Leader," and whose cognitive dissonance prevents them from drawing logical conclusions. These people have completely lost their ability to criticize, and like Goel Ratzon's wives, they will interpret every event as further proof that the "Supreme Leader" is larger than life, or alternatively that he is a victim who was persecuted for no wrong he did.
These two publics are a minority (even if not a negligible minority) in today's Israel. In order not to be considered someone who pretends to be "neutral" on the issue of the "Supreme Leader", I will present my view in the following lines.
The years before the default
It would be too short to list all the damage that man brought upon us in the years before the failure. I will not go into detail here, but I will list a number of huge, undeniable mistakes. Each and every one of them made a significant contribution to the situation we have deteriorated into:
- The "Hamas is an asset" policy came from Netanyahu's seminary
- The inclusion of Hezbollah and Hamas coincides with Netanyahu's almost continuous term in office (which began in 2009).
- Netanyahu has made a decisive contribution to strengthening the non-Zionist ultra-Orthodox public and to encouraging it to become unproductive and devoid of life skills. This is no less a risk to the future of the State of Israel. I would be happy to refer anyone who wants to understand the depth of this trouble toAn article I published on the subject Almost two years ago.
One could go on and on detailing the damage caused by the man up until October 7th – the failed management of the Iranian nuclear deal, the emptying of the Likud of its ideological and personal content, the war on the police and the legal system, the cultivation of division in the people, the alienation of the Druze and Circassians, and so on and so forth, but let's leave those alone for now.
The period after the default
Even those who prefer to ignore all of this will have a hard time not seeing what is happening to us these days.
Below is a list of issues that are very urgent for the government to promote these days:
- Transferring funds to the non-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sector
- The law of evasion
- Changing the Judicial Selection Committee
- War in a State Investigation Commission
- Gender-segregated tracks in academia
- A full immunity law for Knesset members to do whatever they want (a personal law that came to protect Tali Gottlieb, who exposed (burned) a senior Shin Bet employee)
- Increasing the burden on those serving in the IDF
- Increasing the burden on the productive sectors of the economy
- Closing the broadcasting corporation responsible for most of the quality original and documentary programming in Israel
- Incentives for Channel 14, which supports Netanyahu
- War on the Supreme Court and incitement against it
- War on the Shin Bet and incitement against it
In contrast to all of these, issues that are not being properly addressed at the moment:
- Full commitment to the rehabilitation and development of surrounding communities
- Financial and psychological rehabilitation for reserve servicemen
- Commission of Inquiry into the State's Greatest Failure
- The rampant prices in the economy
- Crime in the Arab sector and in general
- The fiasco of the reckless and unprofessional budget that will likely lead to further credit cuts
- The deterioration in the level of state education and the resources allocated to it
- Increasing the IDF's military budget
The immediate results of two years under this government:
- The Catastrophe of October 7th
- A decrease of approximately 150,000 Israelis from the country
- Negative growth in the economy
- Continuous (and expensive) credit rating downgrades
- Dangerous manpower shortage in the IDF
- Increase in crime, increase in traffic accidents, professional bankruptcy and destruction of the police
- Directing huge budgets to non-Zionist and non-productive sectors at the expense of the displaced, those who serve and those who bear the burden
- Loss of public trust in almost all state institutions
"Churchill?"
Netanyahu, ironically, sees himself as a modern Churchill, a model for leadership, when in my opinion, he is an anti-leader.
- He is unable to visit the surrounding kibbutzim that were destroyed and damaged during his shift.
- He is not willing to look directly at the citizens of his country and admit his failure.
- He is unwilling to take responsibility for anything, including his part in the ongoing failure that led to October 7.
- He is not willing to be interviewed by real journalists in Hebrew and answer pointed questions.
- He sends the IDF spokesman to deliver the bad news, and is quick to take credit for the successes.
Between us, not really Churchill…
Netanyahu preached convincingly in the newspaper about the importance of a prime minister's personal responsibility (when it concerned Olmert, of course), he spoke highly of the crucial importance of an independent judicial system for democracy (before his trial, of course), he railed about the lack of a substitute for a state investigation committee (in the spying affair...). Netanyahu is preaching today the exact opposite of what he preached until recently.
The man won election campaigns based on false statements ("We will collapse Hamas," "The Arabs are moving in huge numbers to the polls," etc.).
In this he at least remains consistent.
Netanyahu likes to present himself as cool-headed and "unpressurized." Is that true?
- He panicked and disappeared in the days after the default.
- He left the IDF spokesman with the task of standing up to a confused and shocked people.
- The man who "is not afraid of the president of the United States" has become a rag next to an American president who supports Israel, but does not count it out. Trump, to whom Netanyahu has already given the go-ahead for the assassination of Soleimani, understands that if he doesn't do the job, Netanyahu won't do it.
Netanyahu is the man of the day who declared war on the state's institutions, leading to the departure of about 150,000 Israelis, the vast majority of whom were burden-bearers. They simply despaired of the path the State of Israel had taken under his leadership. But don't worry, they have an alternative - a portion of the state budget is dedicated to bringing in ultra-Orthodox people from abroad to staff the anti-Zionist yeshivahs, so that another portion of the budget can fund them.
So is it any wonder that this man has become the bitter enemy of the sane camp in the country?
The bomb identified by Danny Elgert
It's worth listening to what Danny Elgert said this week in one of the Knesset committees. Itzik, his brother, was kidnapped and murdered in the October 7th incident, and Danny said the following to Yuli Edelstein:
"I was in the Israel Police in the sabotage unit for 24 years. Then I moved on.
I got up every morning to deal with explosive devices. …
I did this so that you would return home safely, and you, and you, and all of you here….
…and the next bomb that I need to neutralize is the Israeli government.
I will get up every morning to neutralize this bomb you dropped on us...
And I will succeed, along with more help from others.
This bomb that fell on us in the last elections must be neutralized.
We need to stop him before he explodes with us and wipes out everyone here.
It's a suicide charge.
We will not be afraid.
I wasn't afraid of explosive devices. I stood there, looked them in the eye, and neutralized them.
July, you don't scare me, and no one scares me.
And just as I saw bombs before my eyes, I will see you too, and I will neutralize you.
You will be neutralized. You will not continue to blow us up. You will not continue…”
And I will end with two quotes regarding "neutrality":
"The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the people who do wrong, but because of those who do nothing about it."
— Albert Einstein
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."
I disagree with your opinion column, it is biased.
Besides, you on the left avoid giving voice to the families who support a return to fighting and support the government's measures.
You only voice the critics with whom you are comfortable slandering the right-wing government and Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is very transparent to the public.
What are you talking about? Prime Minister Netanyahu entered Rafah and all the other achievements that the leftists Gantz and his friends in the army and the Shin Bet feared. How can you turn the facts around and present it this way? The people are not that naive, except for older/elderly people, some of whom watch panic channels and are forced to believe some of the nonsense that is being said there.
At the same time, criticism of Netanyahu and the government should be heard from a right-wing position: It is unclear how until now they have not acted on Trump's plan to transfer the Gazans by choice to their mother countries and empty the Strip? Truly a shame.
Again on Netanyahu? Again on the right? When will you criticize the left and the shortcomings of the opposition?
What is your obsession? You write about Netanyahu almost every week? Day and night you just dream and think about Netanyahu. What to write to the readers? Netanyahu is responsible for all the failures of the world here and what else is left for you to write about him.. What reason and muse would you have to get up in the morning and write about him? And who exactly would be interested in Netanyahu wanting to retire voluntarily one day?
The leader who provided the left-wing reporters with the most work, and thanks to him, most of them made a living and were relevant, even though some of them were barely worthy of writing in a gossip magazine in the brigade.
On the other hand, it may be mutual - and it is possible that they are serving him and a large part of the public sees him as a victim of the rich left-wing channels with huge budgets and that broadcast left-wing propaganda and gossip about him and the right almost constantly, and in the end go to the polls with feelings of deprivation to vote for Netanyahu, who is considered "good" in their opinion, compared to the "bad and rich."
Netanyahu deserves much more than a small statue in AI
The greatest leader of Israel since its founding, with all due respect to all the others, he signed the most peace agreements.
He held the most ministerial and prime ministerial positions, and rescued the country from recession 3 times.
Harish deserves to be named after him and renamed "Netanyahu Hill"
The traitor is indeed the supreme leader of corrupt parasites and leeches. He is the greatest enemy that has arisen for the people of Israel since the Holocaust and can serve as the supreme leader of the haters of Israel. He and the malicious government he established are dragging us down to the abyss. Our right hand is his crazy wife and the bearer of his childish weapons. With such a collection, the road to the depths is paved.