March 26, 2023

Just when Israel needed a leader who can stand up to the growing threat of a nuclear Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned his steely fighting spirit against his own people.

By firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after Gallant warned that the judicial overhaul had become a threat to national security, Bibi made his priorities clear: Even if it tears his nation apart, he will do whatever it takes to stay in power.

This is not Bibi the “King of Israel”; this is Bibi the King of Bibi.

Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised: When a politician who’s going through a criminal trial is in charge of changing the nation’s laws, who can trust anything he says?

I can’t stand kumbaya commentators who preach pablum like “the two sides must talk” without pinpointing who triggered the civil turmoil in the first place. The hard fact is that there would be no turmoil or looming constitutional crisis today had the new coalition not decided to draft a Constitution giving them the power to do whatever the hell they want.

If you think I’m exaggerating, consider this: Based on this judicial overhaul, a center left coalition can come into power in a few years and legislate that everything is allowed to open on Shabbat, all Haredim must join the army, all illegal outposts must be dismantled, no more government subsidies of Haredi Yeshivot, and guess what?  Because these new laws allow the coalition to override the court, no court will be able to strike any of it down. All the coalition needs is 61 seats.

Everyone seems to be forgetting that the new government is not legislating normal stuff like the economy or health care; they’re legislating maximum power. They’re going from too much High Court supervision to virtually zero High Court supervision.

The #1 beneficiary of all this power is Bibi. He must be salivating at the prospect of being prime minister without having to worry about an independent Court blocking his plans.

The real crisis in Israel, then, is one of credibility.

Because Bibi is going through a criminal trial, and he had to make deals with uncompromising ideologues in order to cobble together his 64-seat coalition, he’s trapped by both his own interests and the interests of his radical partners.

This is why Bibi had the chutzpah to do the unthinkable—fire a credible defense minister who sounded the alarm about the one thing Israelis care about the most: security. Gallant wasn’t kidding when he said that the coalition’s power grab had become a “security threat.”

For Bibi, though, the real threat was Gallant, so he channeled the ruthless steeliness he learned as a commando, looked at his country in the throes of its worst civil strife, and did something he had to know would pour more oil on the fire. He got rid of the only man in the coalition who had the courage to risk his job for his country.

Meanwhile, with relations with the Biden administration getting worse by the day, good luck getting close American cooperation to neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s biggest existential threat.

There’s something tragic about seeing Bibi’s three biggest accomplishments—putting the threat of a nuclear Iran on the map, boosting Israel’s economy and signing the Abraham Accords— lose traction at the same time.

Instead of being consumed with the judicial overhaul, imagine if Bibi had spent the past three months focusing his razor-sharp talents on those three meta issues. Instead of pushing to gut the High Court, imagine if he had listened to one of Israel’s most prominent leaders, who said:

“I believe that a strong, independent court allows for the existence of all other institutions in a democracy. In places with no strong and independent court system, rights cannot be protected.”

Yes, that was Bibi in 2012. Clearly, that Bibi is long gone.

Regardless of what happens from now on, King Bibi has sealed his legacy: He let his nation down when it needed him the most.

Regardless of what happens from now on, King Bibi has sealed his legacy: He let his nation down when it needed him the most.