***
Thankfully Israel is still a democracy, and people in a democracy have the right to make outrageous statements that might seem to have little to do with reality. That is within their right.Some of those statements were available for all of Israel to hear and see on Tuesday night at the rally the Likud put together outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Under the banner “Stop the Coup,” the protest may have failed to draw the huge crowds its organizers had hoped to attract, but it did show what happens when people start to fall for the conspiracy theory that the police, prosecution and media joined hands to bring down Netanyahu.I do not think that the police are perfect or that the prosecution is either. There are problems with many of Israel’s institutions, and they need to be carefully reviewed, considered and reformed. But those reforms need to be carried out by a government that will approach the issues without a personal vendetta or an ax to grind. Someone who has already been indicted or is already under police investigation – as are three other ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet – cannot.There is, however, something disingenuous with the claims made by Netanyahu and his supporters that the police and the prosecution have set him up. I don’t recall people coming out to the streets to protest the same when Ehud Olmert was prime minister and faced numerous police investigations. Were the police also out to topple him, like they are said to be doing to Netanyahu and his right-wing government?If that were true, it wouldn’t make sense according to Netanyahu’s logic, or that of the protesters who came out on Tuesday night. Why? Because for these Likud supporters, Ehud Olmert was a lefty, someone who was willing to give up parts of the West Bank for peace with the Palestinians. If the police, prosecution and media are just against right-wing leaders like Netanyahu, then why did they go after Olmert?And what about Yitzhak Rabin, who in 1977 stepped down as prime minister because police discovered that his wife had a bank account in the United States, which was illegal at the time. Were there protests then against the police for toppling a left-wing Labor leader? Did people claim that a coup was taking place?I put these questions to one well-known right-wing activist, who explained to me that what happened to Rabin was a long time ago and therefore irrelevant, and that with Olmert, while it is true that he was left-wing, the police could not ignore the corruption since it was so obvious.Sorry, but these claims are nonsense. The police have done their job over the years without regard to whether the prime minister comes from the Left or comes from the Right. That is how Ehud Barak found himself under investigation, and Ariel Sharon, and Olmert, and Netanyahu. Instead, the question that really needs to be asked is: why did this happen to all of them? What is it with Israel that this keeps on happening?The people have to make their voices heard. With two weeks left before the country slides to a third election within a year, there is no waiting. Now is the time.