Israel, now in trying to form a government a third time, is stuck firmly in a legal no man's land as PM Benjamin Netanyahu, facing indictment for corruption and bribery, is holding on to power for his dear political life and using COVID-19 as the justification for extraordinary powers that will never be surrendered.
Israel appeared to be barreling toward a constitutional crisis Thursday as opponents took to the streets and turned to the Supreme Court to fight a series of unprecedented steps taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while confronting the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent days, Netanyahu and his surrogates have shut down the court system, approved the use of sophisticated phone-surveillance technology on the general public and temporarily suspended the activities of parliament. While Netanyahu has defended the moves as extraordinary steps in extraordinary times, his opponents accuse him of undermining Israel’s democratic foundations in a desperate bid to cement his grip on power and derail a looming criminal trial after coming up short in parliamentary elections this month.
“The state of Israel must do two very important things right now: Deal with the coronavirus crisis from its health, economic and social perspective and at the same time preserve Israeli democracy,” Benny Gantz, his opponent and leader of the Blue and White Party, told Israeli Channel 12 TV. “We need to be very careful not to even approach the margins of dictatorship.”
Demonstrators are taking to the streets, and Netanyahu is ordering everyone home for safety reasons, but Israel is now firmly on its way to becoming a dictatorship.
The crisis has given Netanyahu the opportunity to flaunt his legendary leadership skills and, critics say, to thwart Gantz from moving forward with his agenda.
Nearly every evening, Netanyahu gives a televised address, sternly telling the nation that he is imposing tough new restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. He has ordered people to stay indoors, ordered tens of thousands of people into home quarantine and virtually sealed its borders.
In Thursday’s address, he said he was further tightening restrictions on movement, with exceptions only to go out for food or other urgent matters. “You must stay home. It’s no longer a request,” he said.
While other countries have taken similar steps, some of his decisions have been unprecedented.
Citing the coronavirus crisis, hiss hand-picked justice minister all but closed the court system in a middle-of-the-night order just two days before Netanyahu’s trial on corruption charges was to begin.
In another overnight move, Netanyahu’s Cabinet authorized the Shin Bet security agency to use phone-tracking technology to retrace the movements of infected people and identify those who had come into contact with them. The technology had previously only been used as a surveillance tool against Palestinian targets. The decision was blasted by opposition politicians and civil rights groups as a violation of privacy.
Then, on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein abruptly suspended activities at the Knesset, preventing Gantz’s allies from forming key committees to press ahead with their legislative agenda. Edelstein cited procedural issues, but critics accused him of working on behalf of Netanyahu. Edelstein has rejected the charges and vowed to reconvene the Knesset on Monday.
Dan Meridor, a former justice minister and one-time member of Netanyahu’s Cabinet, said that Netanyahu’s recent decisions were not “well considered.” He said even if such steps are justifiable responses to the coronavirus, the decision making was flawed because the government’s traditional checks and balances, such as parliamentary oversight and an active court system, were not functioning.
“Even in a time of crisis, one should not lose the basic structure of the government,” Meridor said. “He still has to remember that he’s not a ruler of a country.”
But he is the ruler now. And nobody seems willing to stop him. This is a full-bore dictatorship move happening right in front of our eyes and he's almost got everything he needs to stay in power indefinitely.
This is not a drill, guys.
You'd better believe Donald Trump is paying attention, too.
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