ASHDOD, Israel — Last Friday night, while in Israel, I stayed with non-religious relatives in the northern suburbs of Haifa and had the opportunity to watch the weekly news program on Israel's Channel 12.
(Israel's best newscasts are on Friday nights, but unfortunately that means that only secular Israelis watch it, at least live.) Therefore, left-wing, secular media elites are (He is talking to himself.)
This special edition of the program was dedicated to coverage of the latest Benjamin Netanyahu scandal. To an outside observer, it looked exactly like everyone else.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is currently on trial in three corruption cases. It fell apart Continue to persist even in court. For example, in one case, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of offering regulatory favors to a major investor in exchange for favorable business coverage in his newspaper. But there were no regulatory favors, the tycoon's company was actually losing money, and Netanyahu certainly wasn't receiving positive press.
Caroline Glick said last year that the case was filed because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a populist nationalist, challenged the policies and authority of Israel's technocratic elite and usurped their power. “They seek to disenfranchise Prime Minister Netanyahu's voters by removing him from public life and disqualifying and demonizing elected leaders,” she wrote.
The latest allegation is that one of Netanyahu's unofficial aides, someone who supports him outside the government, leaked classified documents to European media. Leaked documents seized in Gaza suggested that Hamas leaders were deliberately manipulating the hostage crisis to put psychological pressure on Israelis. The leak made Hamas look bad and incidentally made Israeli opposition parties uncomfortable.
The Israeli military arrested the aide and placed him under strict conditions of detention, as if he were a terrorist. He has since been charged with a crime that could carry a life sentence. The Israeli military officer who allegedly leaked the information has been charged with a misdemeanor. Right now, the Israeli media is obsessed with the question, “What did Prime Minister Netanyahu know and when did he know it?” He distances himself from aides who try to blame his boss.
This whole issue is absurd. If the same sequence of events had occurred in the United States, it would have been perfectly legal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a memorial service for those killed by Hamas and those who fell in the “Iron Sword” war on October 7, 2023, in the Knesset, the parliament in Jerusalem, on Monday, October 28. give a speech 2024. (Debbie Hill, pool photo via AP)
The country's elected leader, the president, has ultimate declassification authority and can decide what is and is not secret. He can distribute that information as he pleases. Additionally, leaks about Hamas likely helped Israel by showing the brutality of the organization. It probably did not harm Israel's national security.
Netanyahu's critics say the leak somehow jeopardized the hostage deal, but no one can explain exactly how it happened. It is clear that Hamas is not interested in any agreement unless Israel gives up the fight now and forever. It's simply brutal. This is not an organization overly concerned with public relations.
It's hard to believe there was a deal on the table that was so sensitive to the media's portrayal of Hamas as psychologically manipulative, but it's clear.
The fact that the hostages are said to be victims of information leaks is that this “scandal” is being shaped by Israeli media to cause maximum outrage by touching on Israel's most sensitive topics. This suggests that. But again, there's no evidence. And by overreacting to the idea that Hamas may be using the hostage crisis to encourage Israeli rebels to bring him down, Netanyahu's critics are inadvertently pushing the issue. suggests that some of it may be true, or at least reliable.
There is a familiar pattern to the accusations against Prime Minister Netanyahu. He is accused of doing something that is not technically illegal, or in fact completely legal. Then, rather than resign as expected, he denies it or denies breaking the law. Then an absurd legal process begins against his inner circle, mostly young people with everything to lose, and they are pressured to turn against him. Meanwhile, half of the country's population is appalled by Netanyahu's audacity to rebel against the regime.
Netanyahu's constant pursuit by Israel's “deep state” seems strange to Israel supporters in the United States, who expect Netanyahu's success primarily as a politician and strategist. Why aren't Israel's elites rallying behind him, especially when the ridiculous warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court on Thursday threatens Israel's entire war effort?
This debacle is a reminder that radical opposition is often, but not always, a sign of good leadership.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. he is the author of Agenda: What should President Trump do in his first 100 days?available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of Trumpian Virtues: Lessons and Legacy of the Donald Trump Presidencynow available on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
