I recently received a call from a friend who was excited about the participants in an anti-Netanyahu rally in Jerusalem.
“So, have you kicked him out yet?” I teased. “Who would you give in his place?”
“That’s the problem,” my friend muttered. “There’s no one.”
Anti-government protests have begun again in Israel, fueled in part by frustration over a failed hostage deal and encouraged by President Joe Biden.Biden administration too pushed Anti-Netanyahu protests in 2023.
Democrats have long disliked Prime Minister Netanyahu. It has found allies in the Israeli opposition and is seizing this opportunity.
But neither Americans nor Israelis who hate him have any real reason to do so.
In both cases, opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu is largely psychological.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is the only person in the Middle East who is accountable to voters. It is easier to counter him than the real enemy. It also creates an illusion of control amidst the chaos.
Democrats oppose Netanyahu for two reasons.
One is that he’s saying no to their utopian and dangerous visions. For example, Prime Minister Netanyahu stood up to President Barack Obama in 2015 when Congress passed the Iran nuclear deal. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not block the deal, but his claims became the basis for President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent months fought back against Mr Biden’s unusual push for a Palestinian state in the wake of the October 7 attacks. As a result, both Obama and Biden are trying to sideline Netanyahu.
Another reason Democrats hate Netanyahu, and perhaps the real reason, is that Netanyahu is better at understanding Americans than they are. When Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed Congress in May 2011, he congratulated the United States on killing Osama bin Laden. Obama feared the Muslim world would be marginalized. Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed American public opinion.
There are various reasons why Israelis want Prime Minister Netanyahu to step down. First of all, he has simply been in office for a long time. Many young and impatient Israeli leaders feel that Netanyahu has been deprived of the chance to run things.
Israel’s left is particularly angry with Netanyahu, having seen his power eroded during his tenure as prime minister. Desperate with electoral politics, leftists took to the streets and adopted “color revolution” tactics with the approval of the United States.
But if you look for the substance of the anti-Netanyahu protests, you will find very little. For example, some families of Israeli hostages claim that Netanyahu is blocking the deal. But it was Hamas, not Israel, that left.
Israel’s official opposition party, led by Yair Lapid, has accused Netanyahu of alienating the United States. But it was Biden who alienated Netanyahu after his victory—a brutal retaliation for Netanyahu, who had congratulated Biden (and angered Trump) in 2020.
Many Israelis opposed the judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. But after he raised the issue, most people agreed that he was right and that Israeli courts were out of control.
The country received a cruel reminder of that fact when, in the midst of the war, Israel’s Supreme Court decided to force military service for ultra-Orthodox groups.
The fact that Israel’s judicial system continues to press weak charges against Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to be perplexing.
Israelis have protested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the closest target. Calling for his removal is a form of response to the tragedy.
There is no point in protesting Hamas, and attacking Biden risks further alienating him. The protests against Prime Minister Netanyahu have been inexpensive and garnered praise from the media.
Waiting for elections until the scheduled date of 2026 would be a sign of strength for Israel.
But if Prime Minister Netanyahu resigns, whoever replaces him will have to emulate him. No matter who it is.
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 a recently published e-book.The Zionist conspiracy (and how to join it)‘ is now available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
