I think Binyamin Netanyahu is going down. And no, I don’t mean on his wife.

Illiberalism


Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

If Mr. [Binyamin] Netanyahu’s goal in firing Mr. [Noav] Gallant was to muscle through the judicial changes, presenting his country with a fait accompli and neutralizing the opposition, it may have backfired. As unruly as some of the protests have been to date, none matched the intensity of the ones that materialized spontaneously late Sunday within minutes of the prime minister’s announcement.[1]

If Binyamin Netanyahu thinks firing his defense minister[2] is suddenly going to assure he has the votes for his judicial subordination program,[3] I gotta tell him, that’s not how it usually works.

I don’t know that Netanyahu doesn’t have the votes. Maybe he does. But if he’s so desperate to suppress opposition that advocates of the subordination package are pulling the stunts they are,[4] then I’m pretty sure he hasn’t got the votes. Because this[5] just ain’t how you reassure the world you’re protecting “democracy.”

The protests were so fierce that governing lawmakers, who hours earlier had seemed confident of voting in their changes in the coming days, began to express doubts that they could do so.
“Even though judicial reform is essential, the house is on fire, the rift in the nation is growing and our job is to stop it,” Miki Zohar, a lawmaker from the prime minister’s party, Likud, said in television interview in the early hours of Monday. “If Netanyahu takes the decision to postpone a decision until after Independence Day” — in late April — Mr. Zohar said, “we must all support him. Israel above everything, and our security above all.” . . .

Two moderate allies of Mr. Netanyahu announced their support on Sunday for the legislation, squashing rumors that they were about to break ranks. But two other coalition members have backed the call by Mr. Gallant to halt the process. If a third follows suit, the government could lose its majority.[6]

This can’t be going the way Netanyahu expected. Which indeed has already been reported,[7] but now we are even more certain.

My guess is Netanyahu is gonna have to face those charges he’s so desperate to evade. And my guess after that is that he’s desperate to evade those charges because he’s guilty as sin.

Steve Hendrix, “Netanyahu’s political touch eludes him as Israel spirals into chaos,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-judicial-reform-netanyahu-protests/

Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin, “Netanyahu fires defense minister who called for halt to judicial overhaul,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-netanyahu-gallant-defense-minister/

Patrick Kingsley, “Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul,” New York Times, March 26, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/middleeast/judiciary-overhaul-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-parliament.html


  1. [1]Patrick Kingsley, “Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul,” New York Times, March 26, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/middleeast/judiciary-overhaul-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-parliament.html
  2. [2]Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin, “Netanyahu fires defense minister who called for halt to judicial overhaul,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-netanyahu-gallant-defense-minister/; Patrick Kingsley, “Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul,” New York Times, March 26, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/middleeast/judiciary-overhaul-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-parliament.html
  3. [3]Steve Hendrix, “Netanyahu’s political touch eludes him as Israel spirals into chaos,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-judicial-reform-netanyahu-protests/
  4. [4]Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin, “Netanyahu fires defense minister who called for halt to judicial overhaul,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-netanyahu-gallant-defense-minister/; Patrick Kingsley, “Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul,” New York Times, March 26, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/middleeast/judiciary-overhaul-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-parliament.html
  5. [5]Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin, “Netanyahu fires defense minister who called for halt to judicial overhaul,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-netanyahu-gallant-defense-minister/
  6. [6]Patrick Kingsley, “Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul,” New York Times, March 26, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/middleeast/judiciary-overhaul-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-parliament.html
  7. [7]Steve Hendrix, “Netanyahu’s political touch eludes him as Israel spirals into chaos,” Washington Post, March 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/26/israel-judicial-reform-netanyahu-protests/

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