In attack on criminal investigation, Netanyahu cries wolf
Despite the power he has, Netanyahu has decided to play the victim game, knowing this will resonate well with his political base on the Right, as it has many times before.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: JANUARY 8, 2019 05:20Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 30, 2018(photo credit: TANIA REGO/COURTESY OF AGENCIA BRASIL/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
At the end of the Book of Genesis, Jacob blessed his children as he was about to die in Egypt, and when he came to Benjamin, called him a “ravenous wolf.”An estimated 3,745 years later, Benjamin’s namesake, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cried wolf live on national TV – and it was not the first time.On November 19, the press was also summoned to a “dramatic speech.” Netanyahu imitated the “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech of his mentor, Winston Churchill, and warned of sacrifices that would have to be made. But it turned out to be a relatively harmless operation to destroy tunnels on the northern border.Here when invited to another “dramatic speech,” the press fell for it again, engaging in endless speculation, from Netanyahu quitting, to him firing ministers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, to the Likud forming a new alliance to run with another party in the elections. The speech was run live on all three prime-time newscasts,although Channel 10 cut it off in the middle.All that for Netanyahu asking to debate the state’s witnesses against him, who used to be close to him, Shlomo Filber, Nir Hefetz and Ari Harow. He said that the State Prosecution was not being fair to him, because it would not let him present his side of the story.That argument may or may not be true, but if Netanyahu’s fate is being decided not just by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit but in the court of public opinion, there is certainly irony in Netanyahu complaining on national TV that his side is not being heard.Despite the power he has, Netanyahu has decided to play the victim game, knowing this will resonate well with his political base on the Right, as it has many times before. Just in case they weren’t getting the message, Netanyahu spelled it out for them at the end of his address.“You know that I could stop the awful witch hunt against me and my family, if only I would propose a new disengagement, withdrawing to pre-1967 borders and dividing Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said.With that statement, Netanyahu completed the process of dragging Mandelblit into the alleged conspiracy of the Left, the media and the legal establishment to bring him down. The Orthodox former IDF advocate-general who Netanyahu appointed to be his cabinet secretary and then attorney general does not look like a co-conspirator, but Netanyahu is a very persuasive person.
When the April 9 election was called, it was unclear who Netanyahu’s main opponent would be: Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid or Naftali Bennett. Now the answer is clear. Netanyahu is running against Mandelblit.Time will tell if that argument proves Netanyahu to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
