A country cries out

(Originally published in The Times of Israel)

These are difficult, complex, challenging, tense, and often depressing days in the Land of Israel.  The 88 year-old former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, probably Israel’s most respected jurist, expressed his fear that the country could be heading toward a civil war.

The Israel Business Forum, which represents 200 of Israel’s largest companies, has threatened to “shut down the Israeli economy” if the government defies the High Court of Justice’s temporary injunction against the firing of the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency.

The head of the Histadrut Labor Federation asserted that the country was on the verge of anarchy and that a failure of the government to comply with the ruling of the Court would be “a final red line that cannot be crossed.” He promised that the Federation would not “sit silently and watch them take apart the State of Israel.”

Several universities have threatened to go out on strike if Bar is fired.  Forty regional council and municipal heads signed a letter calling on the Prime Minister to publicly pledge that he would comply with the court’s decision.

Bar’s dismissal would be the first time in the history of the country that the head of the Shin Bet has been fired.  Netanyahu claims that this unprecedented step is necessary because he and Bar have lost "mutual trust." Bar was planning to resign within months, but apparently the Prime Minister feels the lack of trust is so compelling that he must move the date up, even at the risk of a constitutional crisis.

Many others suspect that the real reason for the hasty sacking, against the admonitions of the Attorney General and possibly in defiance of the High Court, is more likely due to the fact that the Shin Bet under Bar’s leadership is investigating allegations that some of Netanyahu's closest aides were in the employ of Qatar, an enemy country that harbors terrorists and supports terrorism and that purports to be a good-faith mediator of hostage negotiations.

Many fear that firing Bar and installing a Shin Bet chief more likely to toe the line could result in the suppression of the investigation of this incredibly serious conduct. And, of course, this alleged scandal was quickly given the moniker of “Qatargate.”

As if this were not enough, there is this:

We have a renewed war whose timing, need, and impact on the lives of the hostages are in dispute, and the motivation for which by the Prime Minister is suspicious and political in the view of many.

Israel refused to negotiate about and proceed to Phase 2 of the agreement with Hamas.  If the breaking of the agreement advances Israel’s security, helps defeat Hamas, and/or keeps hostages alive and brings them home sooner, no reasonable person should have any qualms about Israel’s breach.

An agreement made under duress is voidable under the laws of just about every country with a credible justice system as well as under international law.  It is hard to conceive of an agreement made under greater duress than one made with a terrorist group holding in horrible conditions kidnapped babies, children, women, and men.

Not to mention that both then-President Biden and incoming President Trump imposed maximum pressure on Israel to take the deal, to the point of Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff demanding to see Netanyahu on Shabbat and conveying the incoming President’s wishes in no uncertain terms.

Netanyahu, not being dumb, knew he could defy Biden but that defying the incoming President would put his and Israel’s future in serious hot water.

Israelis are divided. All polls show that about two-thirds of Israelis are against the government’s resumption of military action.  They argue that Israel should have gone forward with Phase 2, securing the immediate release of more hostages in exchange for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and an end to hostilities, at least for the moment.

They contend that Hamas would have undoubtedly violated the ceasefire, giving Israel the justification for re-entering Gaza and finishing off Hamas.

About one-third of Israelis feel that the military option is the correct course for both security reasons and for the sake of the hostages, and that Israel cannot agree to withdraw even temporarily from key areas of Gaza.

They point to U.S. intelligence that shows that Hamas was regrouping and had already recruited 25,000-30,000 more terrorists.  They contend that Hamas would never agree to release all the hostages and that the hostages have been kept under horrific conditions and cruelly humiliated during bizarre release ceremonies. They argue that a failure to take military action encourages Hamas to stall and to negotiate in bad faith.

All of this, they argue, required immediate military action.  As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, any further negotiations will occur while Israel is imposing military pressure.

All of this is made more difficult because many Israelis, including a decent number who support the decision to resume the war, question Prime Minister Netanyahu’s motives.

Is he doing it because he truly believes it is the right course and because the alternative did not work or, rather, is he doing it to avoid an election, stay in office, and ultimately avoid going to prison if convicted of the crimes for which he is on trial?

The fact that many people are even asking this question, or are already convinced that the Prime Minister’s actions are due to his personal and political interests, represents a very sad point in Israel’s history, a nadir in its history. But the convenient way things have unfolded for Netanyahu are hard to ignore:

By resuming the war, the Prime Minister got the extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, undoubtedly the most unqualified Israeli to ever be Minister of National Security, back in his coalition.

With Ben Gvir and his party back in the coalition, Netanyahu can get a budget passed by the end of the month even if his coalition loses some Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) factions because he does not get an exemption from military service passed for them, an exemption some of his own Likud members object to and which the High Court would likely strike down, as it has previously.

Netanyahu is buying off other Haredi factions by doubling and tripling budgets for ministries everyone knows do nothing and had been on the chopping block.

If you are wondering, the answer is yes, Machiavelli would be envious.  Netanyahu is a master at political manipulation, for good and, unfortunately, for bad.

The hostage families and many others feel strongly that the government’s decision to restart military action effectively sentenced more hostages to death.  They are understandably devastated. The fact that they believe the decision was made to keep Prime Minister Netanyahu in power and out of jail has left many angry and bitter.

The Opposition Leader Netanyahu in 2008 demanding Prime Minister Olmert to resign because he was under investigation: “(A) prime minister who is neck-deep in investigations has no public or moral mandate to make crucial decisions… the right thing to do is for the government to go home.”

And there is more:

There is growing resentment by much of the population at the refusal of about 60,000 young Haredi men to join in its defense because, according to their rabbis, they must devote all their days and nights to studying Jewish texts and because military service would cause many to leave the Haredi world.

Reservists and their families have made and are continuing to make incredible sacrifices in their lives, livelihoods, and education in defense of the country.  Many have been in or in and out of reserves for over a year.

These are business people, hi-tech engineers, doctors, nurses, educators.  Many are the same people who for over a year came out onto the streets once, twice, even three times a week to protest the attack on Israel’s independent judiciary and its democracy.

And many are the same people who on and after October 7,^, 2023, dropped everything to run to defend their fellow Israelis and who thereafter caused civil society to step in and provide essential services and support when the government was paralyzed.

These people have made incredible sacrifices. Reports are that an increasing number of them are not responding to their call-ups to reserve duty.  Not because they have suddenly become unpatriotic or have become shirkers but, rather, that they and their families have no more to give.

And, yet, the Netanyahu government continues to try to deliver the Haredi, who seemingly throw tantrum and threaten to bring the government down on a weekly basis, an exemption from service from the military of the country that defends and funds them and their yeshivas.

And even more:

Netanyahu's government, stymied by Hamas’ attack in its pre-October 7 efforts to undermine Israel’s independent judiciary, is now trying to piecemeal elements of the attack through the Knesset.  The government is cynically taking advantage of the fact that many who protested their efforts are now serving the country or are understandably otherwise occupied.

And still more:

The government has declared its intention to fire the Attorney General who, among other things, advised that the firing of the head of the Shin Bet was not being done according to procedures required by law.

This is just one of many instances where the Attorney General has irritated the Prime Minister and his supporters because she has shockingly objected to proposed government actions that violate the law.

And desperation:

The Prime Minster asserts that Qatargate is “fake news” and that the left and the “Deep State” are leading the charge against him around Qatargate.  Even forgiving the complete lack of originality, one cannot overlook the “Deep State” charge. Need one point out that Netanyahu and his people have been in control of the State—deep, shallow, and in-between-- for virtually all of the last 20 years.

The Prime Minister also asserts that Shin Bet Chief Bar initiated the Qatargate investigation because he knew Netanyahu intended to fire him.  There is just one problem with this claim:  it is part of the very public record that the investigation preceded Netanyahu’s actions to fire Bar.

And finally:  The lawyers for one of the suspects in the Qatargate affair have come up with one of the most novel, or desperate, defenses one can imagine.  They contend that since a gag order about the suspects was in effect, and since a media outlet mentioned their client as a possible suspect, and since that outlet would never violate a gag order, their client must not be a suspect and, therefore, is innocent. Perry Mason would have blushed.

The result of all of this:

Demonstrations virtually seven days a week.  Anguish, anger, bitterness, division.

At a time when Israelis need a Prime Minister whose motivations and concern for the nation are unquestioned and unquestionable, and who engenders respect from across the political spectrum, Prime Minister Netanyahu has done the exact opposite.

Yes, these are difficult, complex, challenging, anguish days in the Land of Israel.  And the lives of hostages and soldiers, and Israel’s unity and democracy, are on the line.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And for peace among the Jews of Israel.

Show the 88 year-old former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak that he need not worry about a civil war in Israel.