Should Netanyahu resign? (Part 2 – Forest Rain)

A politician, especially THE politician, holding the most important role in the country should be a clean slate. Any hint of corruption should be horrifying. An indictment, not to mention three, should be a clear sign that it is time to step aside and clear your name. Afterwards one can consider how to proceed.

The problem is that in the Middle East there is no room for theory. Here everything is more harsh, fast and absolute. Life and death. Black and white. Explode or not.

These are the 3 reasons I not only hope to God Netanyahu doesn’t resign but that he also continues to serve as Israel’s Prime Minister.

1. #MeToo

The #MeToo movement began with a very correct idea – those victimized by sexual abuse should be empowered to speak up, without shame for what happened (knowing they are not the only ones) and society should listen, taking their complaints very seriously. #MeToo embodied a powerful, positive concept which was supposed to be the basis of building a healthier society.

Unfortunately the #MeToo movement very quickly morphed into a way of punishing men, with no regard to how deserving or perhaps undeserving of punishment they are. An accusation of sexual abuse became enough to destroy careers or, at best, leave a man’s reputation to be forever tarnished.

When the accusation is accurate and proportionate to the punishment, this is a good thing. But what happens when the accusation is false? Or when there was some mild wrongdoing but nothing so terrible as to merit becoming a social outcast?

The same is true with accusing the Prime Minister of corruption. The judiciary system must not be allowed to become a tool for removing undesirables from office. In this case Israeli law specifically differentiates between a Minister and the Prime Minster. A Minister must resign immediately – with the understanding that after being cleared, he or she can run for reelection. The Prime Minister is given different status due to the difference in responsibilities and difficulty in attaining office. He or she can’t just “come back” like an average employee returning to work after a sick day. Forcing the Prime Minister to step down is ending their political career. Like in the case of #MeToo – in the case of guilt, this type of punishment is probably a good thing but what if the accused is innocent?

The accusation, even an indictment (or even three) cannot become a tool for removing a lawfully elected Prime Minister. Forcing him to step down in the name of morality is in fact an utterly immoral abandonment of the concept of innocence until guilt is proven.

No one, not even Prime Minister Netanyahu, should be forced to prove that he is innocent. It is up to the judiciary system to prove guilt.

In Hebrew there is a concept called “Eenewy deen” which literally means torture of the law. This phrase is a figurative way of describing drawing out a court case deliberately (or through extreme negligence) to unbearable lengths that keep the accused on hold, unable to proceed in their normal life, keeping them captive to the whims of the judiciary system. Israel’s court system is known to be overburdened and slow when dealing with anonymous citizens. Cases involving high profile people are often even more drawn out, particularly for those who don’t adhere to the establishment agenda. Avigdor Lieberman himself was held in legal limbo for a decade. There is no promise that Netanyahu will receive swift legal resolution and so the idea that Netanyahu could step down, swiftly resolve the legal issues and step back into any leadership role is disingenuous or, at best, disconnected from reality. 

In her recent book Nikki Haley revealed some of the mechanisms of the Deep State at work in American politics. The Deep State is not a tinfoil hat wearer’s conspiracy theory, it’s the sad result of the divide between elected officials and career officials who think they know what’s best for the public.

Israel too has its own version of the Deep State. Netanyahu’s rivals have attempted to paint him as paranoid in order to weaken his image however this is not a matter of some vast conspiracy that “everyone is in on” but rather a confluence of desires, ambitions and basic human psychology that create a very powerful force who, for different reasons, wants to achieve the same goal: