Miriam Lapid (78), one of the co-founders of the religious-Zionist settler movement Gush Emunim, who lost her husband and her son in 1993 in a terrorist attack, spoke yesterday at the Jerusalem demonstration for the hostages and against the government. She called on the Orthodox and religious public to join the protest. “This is not a fight between right and left – it’s about the difference between corruption and morality. The truth will come to light.” What is happening in the country right now is not easy to convey. The normal person abroad understands everything in the framework of “anti-Bibi” or “anti-Bibi,” right or left – but that is not the case. A part of our readers glorify Benjamin Netanyahu, as do many here in Israel. Netanyahu is the chosen one and for this reason he may behave as he sees fit – because he was elected by the people. That’s true – but what happens when he and his government behave “corruptly,” just as he accuses the elite, judicial system, and media in the country of doing? Which corruption is kosher and which is not?
וואו מרים לפיד הערב בירושלים. וואו.
אחת ממייסדות “גוש אמונים”, אם שכולה, קוראת לציבור הדתי לאומי לצאת מהבית ולהפגין: “מה תגידו לילדים שלכם? איפה יהודים שאוהבים את עם ישראל ואיכפת להם על עם ישראל ועל המדינה שלנו. איפה הם? זה הבדל בין שחיתות לבין מוסר, בין יושר ואמת לבין שחיתות.… https://t.co/kjJV6Evg6m pic.twitter.com/MIdfzyQqSm— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) March 22, 2025
Israel’s government has dismissed the head of the domestic intelligence service Ronen Bar. Netanyahu cited a lack of trust as the reason for the move. This was a unanimous decision by the government. The next morning, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended the dismissal until a hearing on the matter can take place, by April 8 at the latest, as the government set April 10 for Bar’s resignation.
The Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, intervened in the decision to dismiss the Shin Bet chief, arguing that “his dismissal during a legal investigation, called Qatar-Gate, in the government office is illegal.” Netanyahu’s advisors are accused of conducting illegal relations with Qatar. The Attorney General spoke out against the step because it is unlawful during the investigation. But even the Attorney General stands before a dismissal process because she interferes too much in the political decisions of the right-wing religious government. She is weakened by the fact that the government was elected by the people, but she was not. Again, Israel’s legal system is interfering in a political decision by the government, and the government wants to put an end to that. Whether rightly or wrongly – that’s exactly what the people are divided over.
That’s why massive protests have broken out in Jerusalem in front of Netanyahu’s residence. The protesters see this as a political decision. Naturally, there is also the other side in the nation that warmly welcomes Bar’s dismissal. According to all polls – Kan11 and N12 – nearly half of the people are against the government’s decision to dismiss the Shin Bet chief, only 33% to 31% support Ronen Bar’s dismissal. Should it now come to a constitutional crisis, in which the Israeli must decide between following the rulings of the Supreme Court or the instructions of the government, 38% of Israelis would follow the Supreme Court, 35% the government, and 27% have no idea what they would do. (Source: Maariv) We are in the war and are wasting our energy by plunging into a possible constitutional crisis. For the disharmony, some blame Bibi and others blame the leftist elite.
Supporters of Bar’s dismissal say quite clearly that the security and moral responsibility obliges the Prime Minister and his government to replace those who, in their opinion, have failed in their function or acted from unprofessional motives. That’s true, and Ronen Bar admitted from the beginning that he takes seriously his responsibility for the failure on October 7 and will resign after the war because of it. In parts of Israeli society, there is the feeling that the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet and the Attorney General are pursuing a political line and not acting purely professionally. Netanyahu and his government accuse the security echelon and the judicial system of having a left-wing stance that only aims to overthrow his government. In times of war or national crises, full trust between the political leadership and the security and judicial authorities is necessary. That’s true, too.
On the other hand, it is argued that dismissing a senior defense official in the midst of a war harms national stability, and for that reason it is perceived as political retribution on Netanyahu’s part. The independence of the Attorney General and the Shin Bet is an important safeguard in a democracy, and a dismissal is seen as an attempt to weaken democratic institutions. Some claim that the step is about diverting the public debate from the government’s responsibility for the failure on October 7 and shifting all the blame onto Israel’s security apparatus. For this reason, Netanyahu and the government refuse to establish a state investigative commission. Their argument is that judges from the Supreme Court would be unfair to Netanyahu from the outset. Israel’s security leadership has taken responsibility and has partly resigned or plans to resign immediately after the war.
But a clear majority of 75% of the population supports the establishment of a state investigative commission for October 7, as shown by a DATA survey in March. Some 97% of opposition voters and even 53% of right-wing and Netanyahu voters favor a state investigative commission. However, it is Israel’s government that is dodging it. Nine university presidents issued a statement yesterday: “We will use all means at our disposal if the government acts against the decisions of the Supreme Court.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a tax revolt last night if the government does not follow the instructions of the Supreme Court. This morning, Israel’s economic leaders warned: “We will not sit still while the State of Israel is torn apart.”
Who speaks the truth, Netanyahu and his government or the others? Or does the “true truth” depend on our political stance? We all are fed with information from all sorts of sources. Those who follow Netanyahu like blind disciples have a bitter anger towards Ronen Bar and the entire army leadership. From their perspective, only Israel’s security leadership is responsible for the failure, and not Netanyahu. Because that is the daily message from the government. “Bibi was not woken up that morning,” I hear from most of his disciples. For example, my butcher Rafael in the Jerusalem market is so angry at Ronen Bar that “he would hang him with one of his slaughter hooks in the shop.” And he shows me which meat hooks. But at the same time, he is angry at the Orthodox Jews who do not want to serve in the army. But the one who does not solve this problem is the government coalition itself. It cannot solve the case because the Orthodox coalition partners would immediately overthrow the government. In this case, Likud voters criticize their leadership for being corrupt, and this is what most Likud voters say. This is confirmed in a poll this morning in Israel HaYom, according to which a majority of 85% believe that there should be a comprehensive change, meaning that all Orthodox Jews must be drafted into the army. Furthermore, 76% of the Israeli population believe that some form of sanctions should be imposed on Orthodox Jews who refuse military service.
But on the other side, I also hear voices that want to get rid of Bibi at any cost with creative “ideas and means.” Ultimately, Netanyahu governed the country for the last 16 years and determined Israel’s politics and strategy. The fact that Netanyahu now complains that “he was not woken up in time on October 7” drives his opponents crazy. Netanyahu is blindly hated in the nation, just as his Likud voters or disciples blindly follow him. Straight talk, that makes both sides blind to seeing reality. Both sides exaggerate and plunge the nation into a risky crisis, starting with a constitutional crisis if both sides do not pull themselves together.
Everyone talks about a serious threat to Israel’s democracy. The government and its voters also claim that the left-wing elite, including the judicial system, is a real danger. Both sides blame the other for a possible fall of democracy. Another crisis in the war is unnecessary, and something must happen to finally shake the people of Israel awake and make them understand that we are not enemies among ourselves, but siblings. I am firmly convinced that we will see and embrace each other again.
It’s all part of the blame game !
It’s everybody’s fault but not mine !
Lets finish this this war and have an election, not that it will solve all problems but at least the protestors can vote, instead of demonstrating !
The problem is that Israel does not have a constitution.
The Supreme Court is a private club where the existing judges choose any replacements.