Israelis need to see through the biggest lie of all

At the heart of the ongoing turmoil engulfing Israel is a pathological liar and a pervasive lie. The liar has long been exposed, but the lie he and others have long propagated has only now begun to unravel.

It is no coincidence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thus far lied his way through a crisis of his own creation. He is known among his former and present coalition partners to be a liar – a pathological liar, a serial liar, and my favorite, the “liar of all liars”. Even Western leaders, like former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former US President Donald Trump, thought the man was an unbearable liar.

It is true that, in some of these instances, it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but rarely has there been such a wide consensus about a politician, except perhaps Trump. But then again, Netanyahu is a Trumpian politician, lacking in moral scruples and always advancing his interests at the expense of others.

In 2022, Netanyahu led a populist campaign of lies against Israel’s elites, media and judiciary in a successful attempt to regain the premiership he had lost a year earlier. This self-declared liberal then formed a coalition government of tyrannical fascists and fanatics to take on the old liberal “deep state” and transform it into a fundamentalist “Jewish state”.

He has thus far insisted that there is no personal agenda behind his judiciary agenda, which aims to subjugate the courts to the whims of the ruling majority. But in reality, he made a Faustian deal with Israel’s most fanatic parties that allows him to stay out of prison and at the helm of state power, despite his indictment on multiple charges of corruption. In return, he is helping them impose their ultrareligious agenda on state and society and further marginalise Israel’s Palestinian minority.

Netanyahu has proven ready to do anything in his power to hold on to power, including conspiring with the most rogue and dangerous elements of the Israeli polity to undermine the secular liberal Ashkenazi-dominated establishment that built the foundations of the Israeli state and shaped its development.Himself secular, Ashkenazi, and morally challenged, Netanyahu commands wide support among the ultrareligious, ultranationalist and Sephardic communities, all of whom helped him become the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Israeli state. Dubbed the “King of Israel” by his base, Netanyahu probably thinks he also can shoot anyone on Dizengoff Street and still not lose a vote.

This Trumpian arrogance led him to force through the Knesset his radical, illiberal and transformative legislative agenda with a very thin majority, ignoring the mounting opposition domestically and internationally, notably from the United States and Europe.

That was a mistake; a stupid mistake.

It did not take long for Netanyahu’s detractors to conclude that once his judicial “reform” is passed, lifting judiciary oversight and sidelining the Supreme Court, the prime minister and coconspirators will be able to legislate any law regulating any aspect of Israeli life, with no legal means to stop them.

In response, hundreds of thousands of secular and liberal Israelis from all walks of life poured onto the streets to protest against his attempts to undo their old liberal Ashkenazi-dominated order and replace it with new autocratic rule. They threatened to paralyse the state, shutting down ports, Tel Aviv airport, and universities, until their demands are met.