This is indeed deeply depressing. I don't have enough knowledge on the situation to argue whether the current government is or is not corrupt, nor whether it hates its people, as you say. But regarding the current war, what do you suggest as an alternative? Are you suggesting an immediate ceasefire? Prosecuting the war differently, and if so, how? I am not asking these questions sarcastically. I am genuinely seeking to understand your point of view on this question.
I don't want to speak for Judith, but I understand this to mean, "Galant's firing was a disaster and a disgrace that's done immense harm to Israeli morale." (I'm certain she's not advocating for an immediate ceasefire.)
If it’s really true that Israel is fighting for its life—and I, admittedly an outside observer, believe that to be true—what is the point of this rant? Is it that someone has a better idea than Bibi as to how Israel can win the war? If so, who is that person? What’s the strategy?
If it’s really true that significant numbers of Israelis are thinking of abandoning that Jewish state because the going has gotten rough—what does that say?
I don't like to give in to emotions in such cases. The article is too emotional. Is the author right in expressing his opinion? He is undoubtedly right, it is his right and one could say, his civic duty.
Does the author express the opinions of the majority of Israeli citizens? I doubt it. Does he describe the real picture of what is happening? Absolutely not.
Sorry, but the article looks like the hysteria of an individual who sees one side of a multifaceted figure. I agree, we have several sides to which we can make claims, but I prefer to look at the figure from all sides, understand which side is a hindrance and which one works, and then make claims (which is completely ineffective).
Did this article help me understand anything? Absolutely not. All the facts have been known for a long time, the conclusions are more than debatable, there is no full picture.
And yes, I had already buckled up long before 10/7/23.
I apologize if the tone of my comment seems harsh.
Bibi Netanyahoo is an embarraing greedy and corrupt Israeli leader. He, and his close circle of loyal, stupid and rude politicians, in both the government and in the Kneset, represent the worst form of governance..
Your article, beautifully written, highlights some of his downfalls. I am looking forward to reading your next article
Incredibly accurate. Describes the growing crisis of trust between the government and its leader and the people. This is a distinctly low-dictatorship procedure!
The Lefties in Israel are destroying the country. The judicial arm is weaponized against Bibi. He won the election by a large margin. Who in his right mind thinks he wants to destroy his family's legacy?Gallant, Eisenkot, and the rest of Israel's Deep State are in big trouble and they know it.
Kind of telling that the writer does not lift a finger to tell us what kind of leadership anyone thinks would be preferable in such a situation, n'est-ce pas?
Bennet would be better. Gantz would be better. Lapid would be better. Eisenkot would be better. Golan would be better. Even Lieberman would probably be better. None of these would be perfect. All would be better than this wannabe Orban. This אין אף אחד אחר mindlessness needs to stop.
I can tell you: one that isn't hostage to Ben Gvir and Smotrich. One that's not headed by someone who was obliged to fire his extremely successful and widely trusted defense minister *solely* because his far-right coalition partners demanded it. They wanted Gallant out because Gallant thinks everyone in Israel should serve in the military. They don't agree: Their constituents think the rest of Israel should bleed and die to defend them while they commit themselves to their spiritual pursuits. This is obviously insane, and Israelis whose kids are dying have had it with this situation, and rightly so. But they hold Netanyahu's balls in their hands, and because Netanyahu prioritizes staying in power (and out of jail) over the country itself, he gives them what they demand. The effect this has on the nation's morale is catastrophic, obviously. Any government capable of telling these parasitical lunatics to piss off and recognizing the existential imperative of maintaining morale in the military, winning the war, and holding the nation together would, therefore, be preferable.
Claire, i'm finding thjs comment very hard to follow. Perhaps i can put it this way: what is the difference between the idea that "everyone in Israel should serve in the military" (Gallant's view) and the coalition partners' view that "the rest of Israel should hleed and die to defend them" i am not getting a coherent picture here at all. Not sure how to shape a next question...perhaps something like...how many then should serve and to what extent should that service entail direct, deadly confronation with enemies?
See the links I suggested below in response to George Hawrysch's question. I agree this would be hard to follow if you haven't been immersed in the details of this: I should have written an introduction for readers who don't closely follow Israeli politics. But if you read the articles I suggested you should get a good picture of what's going on.
Just so I'm completely clear: "far-right coalition partners" means Ultra-Orthodox? Or is it groups in addition to those? What is a good basic source to read up on this?
Here are a few articles that will get you up to speed. (This shouldn't be understood as a general endorsement of the source. Middle East Monitor's political orientation is not mine. But these specific articles are factually accurate.)
Analysis | Cynicism, Scorn and Endless Contempt: Gallant's Dismissal Is a Symptom of Netanyahu's Tyranny
By replacing the defense minister who thwarted a draft-dodging bill for the ultra-Orthodox, Netanyahu proved that no act is too despicable if it means he survives as prime minister. And make no mistake: The attorney general and IDF chief of staff are also in the crosshairs.
Over the past decade, all the adjectives and expressions used to capture the distrust and monstrous behavior of Benjamin Netanyahu – "unbelievable," "unfathomable" and the like – have worn thin. What more can be said about a prime minister who, in the middle of a terrible war in which hundreds of Israelis have been killed and thousands more wounded, fires his defense minister as a prelude to passing a law that will allow tens of thousands of young ultra-Orthodox men to dodge the draft? Is that "unfathomable," "shocking"?
Yoav Gallant's dismissal reflects Netanyahu's imperial mentality as the current government marks the halfway point. He has reached the epitome of cynicism and contempt for a majority of Israelis, including many Likud voters. He is indifferent to the deaths, the suffering, the physical and mental torture of the hostages and their families, to bereavement (apart from his own, which he has been milking for 50 years) and to the hardships of reservists who have put in 250 or 300 days of combat service over the past year.
No action too rotten for him to take for the sake of his governing coalition, in the knowledge that he will lose the next election. The deal he reached with Gideon Sa'ar to pass the draft dodgers' bill, replete with jobs for Sa'ar and his partners, stinks like the decaying corpse of a feral cat in the backyard. The spoils were handed out generously, the payback will be accordingly generous. True, an overwhelming majority of the public is convinced that the move was wrong and irrelevant. So what? The election is in two years.
And what in all tarnation is "minister of administrations"? There already is a Negev and Galilee Development Ministry, with an active minister, Yitzhak Wasserlauf. Why create redundancy and turf wars? On the other hand, it's an improvement over the original plan to turn Zeev Elkin into a national joke with the title of "minister of water and higher education." Monty Python had a sketch about the Ministry of Silly Walks. Elkin could have established a Ministry of Bizarre Names. He has the experience.
Netanyahu is actually a sane man who engages in crazy and disgusting acts. When a madman acts like that, it's understandable. He can't do otherwise. It's bigger than him. But when the actions are done calmly, with deliberate intent and without batting an eye, no court would find him innocent. Including the court of public opinion.
Gallant was fired because he is the negative of the man who fired him, a man of principle, someone honest, courageous, statesmanlike and moral. He doesn't hesitate to express his opinion behind closed doors and in front of them. Netanyahu can't stand people like that. The opinion polls were driving him (and "my wife") crazy. The public consistently expressed trust in the defense minister and relied on him. About Netanyahu, it was the reverse.
Contrary to the prime minister's claims, there was no "trust" problem. Gallant didn't violate any cabinet resolution. The army did not occupy areas or withdraw from them in defiance of the security cabinet. It did not refrain from carrying out actions the security cabinet ordered it to carry out. The army is subordinate to the security cabinet and acted accordingly.
Democracies die in darkness, as The Washington Post says. But they can also die in the full light of day when a dictator in the making announces that he is removing the only minister who opposed the draft-evasion bill and spoke of the urgency of bringing the hostages home.
No one should be surprised if one evening a similar tack is used against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The groundwork has been laid. The evidence against her – dozens of cases in which she insisted that ministries uphold the law – has begun circulating in public.
Wednesday night, Gallant held his farewell meeting – his second in a year and a half – with the General Staff forum, where he is held in high esteem. even affection. "Maintain your moral compass," he told the generals, "the Israel Defense Forces' commitment is to the country and the law." In the not-too-distant past, no defense minister would have felt compelled to say such a thing. But nowadays, they have no choice.
"Moral compass" is an obscenity in the government in which Gallant served. So is a sense of obligation to the country and the law. Gallant's words weren't said for nothing, they address the basic anxieties the General Staff Forum feels about the government it is subordinate to.
The generals each spoke in turn. Some of them, according to someone who was there, were emotional, others devastated. The fears reflected in their remarks were greater than the ones they felt during Gallant's first farewell meeting at the end of March 2023. One read the Natan Alterman poem "A Response to an Italian Captain:" "The wind lashed the seas, and the sea lashed the ship. Yet the task was completed. We drink to you, Captain, and lift our glass high; we'll meet again on these waters."
You can take Gallant out of the boat, but you can't take the boat out of Gallant.
Israel Katz was appointed in order not to be Gallant. That's his assignment. He is not among the worst ministers in the cabinet, but he is definitely a dishonorable member in the club of sheep and cowards. In the distant past, a few times he acted courageously against Netanyahu. It will take a very long time until Katz has familiarized himself with the complexities of the defense establishment and gets up to speed on the various fronts. Until then, Katz will be a "deputy defense minister," a Defense Ministry official told me. In any case, Netanyahu's goal is to be the uber-defense minister.
Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi, who worked closely and cooperatively with Gallant, will be treated as a permanent suspect. The prime minister is dying to be rid of him (and no less, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, whose every appearance and word of empathy for the hostages is taken by the royal family as subversive). "Our Israel" will need to supply the goods by pushing Halevi out. When he was finance minister, Katz did this to Keren Terner Eyal, whom he had been close to for years, when he fired her as treasury director general for refusing to submit to his whims and predations.
Clear and concise communication of what is certainly heart-wrenching to live through. Praying for you and all you hold dear, Judith. Thanks for posting this eloquent piece.
This is indeed deeply depressing. I don't have enough knowledge on the situation to argue whether the current government is or is not corrupt, nor whether it hates its people, as you say. But regarding the current war, what do you suggest as an alternative? Are you suggesting an immediate ceasefire? Prosecuting the war differently, and if so, how? I am not asking these questions sarcastically. I am genuinely seeking to understand your point of view on this question.
I don't want to speak for Judith, but I understand this to mean, "Galant's firing was a disaster and a disgrace that's done immense harm to Israeli morale." (I'm certain she's not advocating for an immediate ceasefire.)
If it’s really true that Israel is fighting for its life—and I, admittedly an outside observer, believe that to be true—what is the point of this rant? Is it that someone has a better idea than Bibi as to how Israel can win the war? If so, who is that person? What’s the strategy?
If it’s really true that significant numbers of Israelis are thinking of abandoning that Jewish state because the going has gotten rough—what does that say?
That’s shockingly awful. May God preserve.
I don't like to give in to emotions in such cases. The article is too emotional. Is the author right in expressing his opinion? He is undoubtedly right, it is his right and one could say, his civic duty.
Does the author express the opinions of the majority of Israeli citizens? I doubt it. Does he describe the real picture of what is happening? Absolutely not.
Sorry, but the article looks like the hysteria of an individual who sees one side of a multifaceted figure. I agree, we have several sides to which we can make claims, but I prefer to look at the figure from all sides, understand which side is a hindrance and which one works, and then make claims (which is completely ineffective).
Did this article help me understand anything? Absolutely not. All the facts have been known for a long time, the conclusions are more than debatable, there is no full picture.
And yes, I had already buckled up long before 10/7/23.
I apologize if the tone of my comment seems harsh.
Bibi Netanyahoo is an embarraing greedy and corrupt Israeli leader. He, and his close circle of loyal, stupid and rude politicians, in both the government and in the Kneset, represent the worst form of governance..
Your article, beautifully written, highlights some of his downfalls. I am looking forward to reading your next article
Incredibly accurate. Describes the growing crisis of trust between the government and its leader and the people. This is a distinctly low-dictatorship procedure!
The Lefties in Israel are destroying the country. The judicial arm is weaponized against Bibi. He won the election by a large margin. Who in his right mind thinks he wants to destroy his family's legacy?Gallant, Eisenkot, and the rest of Israel's Deep State are in big trouble and they know it.
Good. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea
Kind of telling that the writer does not lift a finger to tell us what kind of leadership anyone thinks would be preferable in such a situation, n'est-ce pas?
Bennet would be better. Gantz would be better. Lapid would be better. Eisenkot would be better. Golan would be better. Even Lieberman would probably be better. None of these would be perfect. All would be better than this wannabe Orban. This אין אף אחד אחר mindlessness needs to stop.
I can tell you: one that isn't hostage to Ben Gvir and Smotrich. One that's not headed by someone who was obliged to fire his extremely successful and widely trusted defense minister *solely* because his far-right coalition partners demanded it. They wanted Gallant out because Gallant thinks everyone in Israel should serve in the military. They don't agree: Their constituents think the rest of Israel should bleed and die to defend them while they commit themselves to their spiritual pursuits. This is obviously insane, and Israelis whose kids are dying have had it with this situation, and rightly so. But they hold Netanyahu's balls in their hands, and because Netanyahu prioritizes staying in power (and out of jail) over the country itself, he gives them what they demand. The effect this has on the nation's morale is catastrophic, obviously. Any government capable of telling these parasitical lunatics to piss off and recognizing the existential imperative of maintaining morale in the military, winning the war, and holding the nation together would, therefore, be preferable.
Claire, i'm finding thjs comment very hard to follow. Perhaps i can put it this way: what is the difference between the idea that "everyone in Israel should serve in the military" (Gallant's view) and the coalition partners' view that "the rest of Israel should hleed and die to defend them" i am not getting a coherent picture here at all. Not sure how to shape a next question...perhaps something like...how many then should serve and to what extent should that service entail direct, deadly confronation with enemies?
See the links I suggested below in response to George Hawrysch's question. I agree this would be hard to follow if you haven't been immersed in the details of this: I should have written an introduction for readers who don't closely follow Israeli politics. But if you read the articles I suggested you should get a good picture of what's going on.
Just so I'm completely clear: "far-right coalition partners" means Ultra-Orthodox? Or is it groups in addition to those? What is a good basic source to read up on this?
This is good for background: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israels-highest-court-orders-army-to-end-draft-exemption-for-ultra-orthodox-men
Here are a few articles that will get you up to speed. (This shouldn't be understood as a general endorsement of the source. Middle East Monitor's political orientation is not mine. But these specific articles are factually accurate.)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241105-israel-issues-7000-draft-notices-for-ultra-orthodox-jews/
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241111-war-management-captive-to-netanyahus-personal-gains-israeli-general-says/
I think this may be paywalled for you (I can't tell because I subscribe). So I've also copied and pasted it, below. Again, this isn't a full-throated endorsement of the source: Ha'aretz is very left-wing. But on this issue, it's speaking for most Israelis: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-08/ty-article/.premium/cynicism-scorn-and-endless-contempt-gallants-ouster-is-a-symptom-of-netanyahus-tyranny/00000193-083d-d8ad-a3ff-3c3f75250000
You might find this useful as background; I wrote it to explain the conflict over Israel's judiciary: https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/israels-judicial-reforms?utm_source=publication-search
From Ha'aretz:
Analysis | Cynicism, Scorn and Endless Contempt: Gallant's Dismissal Is a Symptom of Netanyahu's Tyranny
By replacing the defense minister who thwarted a draft-dodging bill for the ultra-Orthodox, Netanyahu proved that no act is too despicable if it means he survives as prime minister. And make no mistake: The attorney general and IDF chief of staff are also in the crosshairs.
Over the past decade, all the adjectives and expressions used to capture the distrust and monstrous behavior of Benjamin Netanyahu – "unbelievable," "unfathomable" and the like – have worn thin. What more can be said about a prime minister who, in the middle of a terrible war in which hundreds of Israelis have been killed and thousands more wounded, fires his defense minister as a prelude to passing a law that will allow tens of thousands of young ultra-Orthodox men to dodge the draft? Is that "unfathomable," "shocking"?
Yoav Gallant's dismissal reflects Netanyahu's imperial mentality as the current government marks the halfway point. He has reached the epitome of cynicism and contempt for a majority of Israelis, including many Likud voters. He is indifferent to the deaths, the suffering, the physical and mental torture of the hostages and their families, to bereavement (apart from his own, which he has been milking for 50 years) and to the hardships of reservists who have put in 250 or 300 days of combat service over the past year.
No action too rotten for him to take for the sake of his governing coalition, in the knowledge that he will lose the next election. The deal he reached with Gideon Sa'ar to pass the draft dodgers' bill, replete with jobs for Sa'ar and his partners, stinks like the decaying corpse of a feral cat in the backyard. The spoils were handed out generously, the payback will be accordingly generous. True, an overwhelming majority of the public is convinced that the move was wrong and irrelevant. So what? The election is in two years.
And what in all tarnation is "minister of administrations"? There already is a Negev and Galilee Development Ministry, with an active minister, Yitzhak Wasserlauf. Why create redundancy and turf wars? On the other hand, it's an improvement over the original plan to turn Zeev Elkin into a national joke with the title of "minister of water and higher education." Monty Python had a sketch about the Ministry of Silly Walks. Elkin could have established a Ministry of Bizarre Names. He has the experience.
Netanyahu is actually a sane man who engages in crazy and disgusting acts. When a madman acts like that, it's understandable. He can't do otherwise. It's bigger than him. But when the actions are done calmly, with deliberate intent and without batting an eye, no court would find him innocent. Including the court of public opinion.
Gallant was fired because he is the negative of the man who fired him, a man of principle, someone honest, courageous, statesmanlike and moral. He doesn't hesitate to express his opinion behind closed doors and in front of them. Netanyahu can't stand people like that. The opinion polls were driving him (and "my wife") crazy. The public consistently expressed trust in the defense minister and relied on him. About Netanyahu, it was the reverse.
Contrary to the prime minister's claims, there was no "trust" problem. Gallant didn't violate any cabinet resolution. The army did not occupy areas or withdraw from them in defiance of the security cabinet. It did not refrain from carrying out actions the security cabinet ordered it to carry out. The army is subordinate to the security cabinet and acted accordingly.
Democracies die in darkness, as The Washington Post says. But they can also die in the full light of day when a dictator in the making announces that he is removing the only minister who opposed the draft-evasion bill and spoke of the urgency of bringing the hostages home.
No one should be surprised if one evening a similar tack is used against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The groundwork has been laid. The evidence against her – dozens of cases in which she insisted that ministries uphold the law – has begun circulating in public.
Wednesday night, Gallant held his farewell meeting – his second in a year and a half – with the General Staff forum, where he is held in high esteem. even affection. "Maintain your moral compass," he told the generals, "the Israel Defense Forces' commitment is to the country and the law." In the not-too-distant past, no defense minister would have felt compelled to say such a thing. But nowadays, they have no choice.
"Moral compass" is an obscenity in the government in which Gallant served. So is a sense of obligation to the country and the law. Gallant's words weren't said for nothing, they address the basic anxieties the General Staff Forum feels about the government it is subordinate to.
The generals each spoke in turn. Some of them, according to someone who was there, were emotional, others devastated. The fears reflected in their remarks were greater than the ones they felt during Gallant's first farewell meeting at the end of March 2023. One read the Natan Alterman poem "A Response to an Italian Captain:" "The wind lashed the seas, and the sea lashed the ship. Yet the task was completed. We drink to you, Captain, and lift our glass high; we'll meet again on these waters."
You can take Gallant out of the boat, but you can't take the boat out of Gallant.
Israel Katz was appointed in order not to be Gallant. That's his assignment. He is not among the worst ministers in the cabinet, but he is definitely a dishonorable member in the club of sheep and cowards. In the distant past, a few times he acted courageously against Netanyahu. It will take a very long time until Katz has familiarized himself with the complexities of the defense establishment and gets up to speed on the various fronts. Until then, Katz will be a "deputy defense minister," a Defense Ministry official told me. In any case, Netanyahu's goal is to be the uber-defense minister.
Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi, who worked closely and cooperatively with Gallant, will be treated as a permanent suspect. The prime minister is dying to be rid of him (and no less, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, whose every appearance and word of empathy for the hostages is taken by the royal family as subversive). "Our Israel" will need to supply the goods by pushing Halevi out. When he was finance minister, Katz did this to Keren Terner Eyal, whom he had been close to for years, when he fired her as treasury director general for refusing to submit to his whims and predations.
Unfortunately, the similar era is coming to America too…
Clear and concise communication of what is certainly heart-wrenching to live through. Praying for you and all you hold dear, Judith. Thanks for posting this eloquent piece.