100 days of horror from Netanyahu’s sixth government

It is customary for the first 100 days of a government to serve as a “honeymoon period” for the new people in power and the electorate. It tends to be a time during which the adversarial nature of the election campaign is set aside and everyone, including those who did not vote for the new incumbents, is prepared to give the fledgling government at least the benefit of the doubt while the administration, for its part, tries to at least give the impression that it is governing for the benefit of all.

But in Israel, for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sixth government, which was sworn in late last year and recently completed its first hundred days, there was no honeymoon period. The curtain rose immediately on Netanyahu and his messianic, far-right, anti-democratic horror show with not a minute of respite, with not even the pretense of bipartisanship.

To be sure, there is one important positive result that has emerged from the formation of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history: It has demarcated, very clearly, the battle lines between those who deeply believe that Israel must remain a liberal democracy and are ready to fight for it, and those who advocate a democracy in name only that displays strong authoritarian characteristics — or even one that increasingly resembles a theocracy guided by the Jewish Halachic jurisprudence.

The current government also aims to legitimize corruption, mainly to prevent justice being done in Netanyahu’s trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which is now being deliberated in a Jerusalem court.

Consequently, within a very short space of time, and atypically for Israel, there has emerged a mass movement that has raised the banner for democracy. What prompted the formation of this pro-democracy movement was the lightning speed and the brutality with which a small number of government coalition members, from Day 1, led a legislative coup of a magnitude previously unheard of, with neither a broad-based public mandate to do so nor any consultation — which are imperatives when proposing laws with such far-reaching constitutional implications.

Moreover, the government’s audacity in falsely claiming that this was the platform that had been presented to the electorate angered even many of its own voters. Israelis have become accustomed to Netanyahu lying through his teeth to suit his narrative but are no longer prepared to put up with it. The blunt and obvious lies being delivered at machine-gun speed, claiming that the proposed legislation is designed to rebalance the power relationship between the executive branch and the judiciary, will not wash with most Israelis. That is why hundreds of thousands of them continue to take to the streets in protest every week.

Checks and balances are the cornerstone of any democratic society. In a parliamentary system the legislature is what enables a government to be formed and remain in power. It is left to the judiciary to defend the rule of law, and the people, against the arbitrary behavior of a government, and to be the people’s safeguard and the bastion of human, political and civil rights when faced with authoritarianism and corruption.

This is what makes the judiciary the enemy of Netanyahu, the ultra-orthodox and the far right.

The prime minister has always presented himself as the guardian of both Israel’s security and its economic miracle. There is much exaggeration in these claims and his record on both is, at best, mixed.

However, in a matter of three months or so since his return to power, he has demonstrated that he is ready to compromise both the country’s security and its economy to remain in office, and the disturbing consequences of this are already showing.

As a result of the blitz of anti-democratic legislation introduced by his government, many reservists, among them pilots and other members of elite military units crucial to the operations of the Israeli Defense Forces, decided not to show up for service. Meanwhile, senior Mossad and Shin Beit figures are opposing, very publicly, the attempted deliberate destruction of the judiciary.

If this trend continues, the prime minister and his government will be putting the operational and deterrence capabilities of Israel’s security forces in serious jeopardy.

Furthermore, the fear of entrenched corruption, arbitrary government and weak courts is also destabilizing the country’s economy. Tech companies and leading figures within that sector are already moving money out of the country and looking to relocate, as are other successful businesses.

No sector in society is more mobile than high-tech, and no professionals are more sought after globally than these technological wizards. Any substantial weakening of this part of the Israeli economy could deliver a fatal blow to it, and have profound security and social implications.

Leading economists have warned that Israel’s currency will suffer further depreciation, and Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded its outlook for the nation’s economy from “positive” to “stable” as a result of “a deterioration of Israel’s governance, as illustrated by the recent events around the government’s proposal for overhauling the country’s judiciary.”

As if driving a wedge between communities by inciting mutual hatred and compromising the country’s security and economy was not enough, the Netanyahu government has also caused tensions to rise in relations with friends and allies, in addition to alienating Jewish communities in other countries, leaving all deeply concerned about whether Israeli democracy can survive the onslaught it is enduring at the hands of this government.

Most damaging of all is the cold shoulder Netanyahu has received from US President Joe Biden, who refuses to invite him to Washington and, together with other senior members of his administration, has openly criticized the attempts to subordinate Israel’s judiciary to the whims of its politicians.

Meanwhile, those regional powers that not long ago normalized relations with Israel are watching with great unease the deterioration of its relations with the Palestinians.

The first hundred days of this Netanyahu government have led Israel to the brink of the abyss on many issues crucial for its very existence and success. It is already a failed government, with very little prospect of redeeming itself.

At the same time, however, it has managed to get the best out of so many people who are standing tall in opposition to it to defend the democratic system and what it has achieved over the past 75 years.

For all the wrong reasons, this government might prove to be a blessing in disguise if those who oppose the appalling administration ultimately evolves into a movement ready to lead the country.

• Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media.

Twitter: @YMekelberg