Tag Archives: Bibi

Judgement Time

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Who said this:

I believe that a strong, independent court allows for the existence of all other institutions in a democracy…  Show me one dictatorship, one undemocratic society, where a strong independent court system exists. There’s no such thing. In places with no strong and independent court system, rights cannot be protected. In fact, the difference between countries in which rights are only on paper and those in which there are actual rights — that difference is a strong, independent court. That is the reason that I am doing, and will continue to do, everything I can to protect the court system [so that it remains] strong and independent…

Over the past few months alone, I have scrapped every law that threatened to harm the independence of the system — from the attempt to hold hearings for judges in the Knesset, through limiting petitions to the court, to changing the composition of the committee for selecting judges. I will continue to operate this way. Every time a bill comes across my desk that could harm the independence of Israeli courts, we’ll take it off the table

Was it:

a) Bibi Netanyahu

b) Yehud Olmert

c) Arik Sharon

And the answer is… Bibi Netanyahu.

The hypocrisy is off the scale. The brazen self-interest he promotes is shocking. And yet, there’s every chance he will win the next election. When people say democracy is a poor system — though better than all the rest — this is an outstanding example.

I do, however, wish to make one clarification. Much of the hateful invective towards Israel is allegedly driven only — ha! — by antipathy and worse towards Bibi. If we had a different prime minister, things would be different. That’s what people say. But I don’t believe it. Israel is facing a relentless campaign against the country and all it institutions. Regardless of who is prime minister, they won’t stop Fortunately, we won’t either.

Am Yisrael Chai. Despite Bibi.

Our Awful Security Minister

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Itamar Ben Gvir

As the Times of Israel reports here:

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted a video on Wednesday in which he is seen taunting activists from a Gaza flotilla intercepted by Israel, immediately sparking an international outcry.

Dozens of activists can be seen in the clip forced to kneel on the ground, with their hands tied, at an Ashdod port facility where they were being processed ahead of their likely deportation.

Those aboard the flotilla intercepted by Israel earlier this week included Italian and Spanish nationals, whose governments said they would summon the respective Israeli ambassadors in their countries for a reprimand over Ben Gvir’s behavior. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare rebuke of the far-right cabinet member he appointed, insisting that the national security minister’s conduct was not in line with Israel’s values.

The detained activists are criminals because they tried to break a legal blockade. I have no sympathy for them. If their conditions are not Hilton-level hospitality, that’s tough. But what Ben Gvir did was stupid and unnecessary. It achieved no good. (Well, I’ll come back to that.) It certainly caused Israel harm. The man is a racist, a buffoon, and a disgrace to the country. I despise him. I wish he were gone.

Bibi’s to Blame

That brings me to the next point. As much as Ben Gvir did the harm, Bibi enabled it by appointing him to the government. Bibi knew what Ben Gvir was, but Bibi’s personal needs — staying in power — were more important to him than the needs of the country. In a responsible democracy not only would Ben Gvir resign, but so would Bibi. Of course, neither will, which says everything about the lack of principles and professionalism in our blasted government.

Ben Gvir’s Motivation

The second point is to explain why Ben Gvir acted like this. He knows it’s wrong. However, his voters love it. They very much enjoy seeing Israel’s enemies not only beaten, but humiliated. (The same principle drives his death penalty obsession.)

If an Israeli and an Arab fight, for example, a judo contest and the Israeli wins, what should he do? He should shake hands with his opponent. He should be gracious in victory (and defeat). If his Arab opponent refuses to shake hands, that’s on him. The world looking on will form an opinion. If the judo fighter were Ben Gvir, he wouldn’t offer to shake hands. He would laugh, gesticulate, and do his level best to humiliate the losing opponent. Guess what? The world looking on will form an opinion.

Democracy’s Imperfection

The final point about this tawdry episode is that it also highlights that a universal suffrage democracy is not a perfect system. Everybody gets one vote, but not all votes are cast by principled thinkers. Some of the population are like Ben Gvir. They like to lord it over beaten enemies. So, they vote for Ben Gvir. And, so the circle continues, that’s why Ben Gvir acts the way he does. I don’t offer this observation as a precursor to damning democracy, but instead to remind us all that it has its advantages and disadvantages.

I suspect, but this is pure speculation, Israel would benefit from moving away from a countrywide proportional representation system to one with constituents. That should dilute the Ben Gvir rabble enough to enable better quality candidates. And, yes, I recognize this is not an objective observation; it’s purely subjective and prone to bias.

Flotilla Punishment

I thought about how to punish the flotilla criminals. I posted this on X:

As for a suitable punishment for the flotilla members, I suggest they be sentenced to 21 days hard labor working to help deliver aid to Gaza. Let them schlep crates and sacks for three weeks and actually deliver aid!

If you have any better ideas, do share them!

The Return of the Last Hostage

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Today, some good news: the IDF has recovered the body of the last hostage, Ran Gvili. As I write, his body is being brought back to Israel for burial.

First, I stand by my post about Hamas and the return of the hostages: Bank Robbers Know Where Their Loot Is. Hamas have certainly used the delay in getting to stage two to strengthen their grip on the territory they hold and probably to increase their military defenses (IEDs and the like). Whether this will result in a bitter price to be paid in the future is unknown.

Second, if you had asked me at the start of last year whether we would ever get to a situation in which all the hostages had been returned, I would have said it was unlikely. For many, it’s a miracle. For many, it’s a gift from above.

Third, I fully expect Bibi to claim credit for this outcome. I don’t know what it was that caused Qatar to produce meaningful pressure on Hamas to make a ceasefire deal, but I suspect the source was Trump. Were Bibi the type who accepted responsibility for his failures, I would give him more leeway. However, as far as he’s concerned, when things go wrong, it’s always somebody else’s fault. And when things go well, it’s always because of Bibi! (Yeah, right.) I only hope that he doesn’t win the next election because of misplaced belief that he was responsible for the return of the last hostage.

Now, what’s next?

And Out They Went!

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Uri Kurlianchik posted on X a list of the 76 countries “whose representatives either did not attend Netanyahu’s speech at the UN or left beforehand.”

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

It’s noteworthy that China and Russian did not walk out, but Lebanon and Syria did.

Apparently the walkout was heavily promoted by the PA who asked delegations to beef up their numbers so the participation looked larger than it would otherwise have been.

As Uri also said on X:

This list includes some of the worst countries in the world by any objective metric. Makes one wonder why do some European states wish to be in the company of absolute, backwater shitholes?

This is an excellent point. What the hell, for example, are Spain playing at? One possible explanation is that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is trying to divert attention away from the corruption crisis in the country. Part of the crisis is close to home for him as his wife, Begoña Gómez, is facing charges of public embezzlement and is being investigated for other potential offenses: influence peddling, business corruption, trademark misappropriation, and intrusion. While she’s innocent till proven guilty, the pressure on the couple must be horrendous. How they must enjoy taking a free swing at Israel!

As for the Irish, well, frankly they have form. Their President has behaved in a foul manner towards Israel. 

The states participating in the walkout behaved like student activists trying to make a cheap point. It was not a mature act. It was an act of weakness. It was not an act that helped anyone, Palestinian or otherwise.

Arguably, the walkout nations showed the world they are afraid of Bibi, or at least afraid of what he would say to them. So, I’d describe them as cowardly. As many of these nations are tinpot dictatorships who behave like bullies, at least their cowardly act was consistent!

Also, the walkout proved (yet again) the validity of Israel’s persistent and accurate complaint that the UN is biased against Israel. Are you aware of a similar boycott of anyone else’s speech? As far as I can see, those fine upstanding libertarians Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Ayatollah Khomeini, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, and Mahmoud Abbas (to name a few) were not greeted by any similar display of petulance. Only the Jew among the nations deserves such treatment it seems.

Closer to home, at least one Israeli commentator said Bibi’s speech was directed to the Israeli electorate and not the UN delegations. I think that’s unfair. Sure, part of his thinking would have been how it would be received in Israel, but the focus seemed to me to be firmly on making Israel’s case and chiding the weak ‘allies’ we are supposed to have.

I am no fan of Bibi, but I thought his speech was a good one. He was more polite than I would have been though and that’s one reason why I never went into politics!