Unfortunately, the recent election and the Netanyahu trial have made it appear that Israel is split between pro-Bibi and anti-Bibi camps.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial was beginning in earnest yesterday, outside the Jerusalem District Court police were heard asking demonstrators whether they were Right or Left. Those who said the former were shown where the pro-Netanyahu protest was taking place, while those who said the latter were directed to the anti-Netanyahu protest.
Unfortunately, the recent election and the Netanyahu trial have made it appear that Israel is split between pro-Bibi and anti-Bibi camps.
It’s indicative of the apparent stalemate that’s been revealed by the latest election results, which exposes a divided nation.
Watching Israel’s prime minister appear in court on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust should make all Israelis uncomfortable. At the same time, we should be proud of the fact that we live in a democracy in which all citizens should be treated equally and fairly by the law of the land.
As lead prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari said in her opening remarks:
“Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and all people are equal before the court and the judges: the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the simple.”
It goes without saying that Netanyahu, who has proclaimed his innocence from the very outset, deserves a fair trial, both in the Jerusalem District Court and in the court of public opinion. While the prime minister has been charged with interfering with news coverage in outlets such as Walla and Yediot Aharonot, and the first witness called was former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua, the media too must strive to report on the trial fairly and fully.
We also cannot ignore what Jerusalem Post senior contributing editor Herb Keinon called “the ultimate Israeli split screen” – while Netanyahu appeared in the courtroom on Saladin Street, a Likud delegation met with President Reuven Rivlin at the President’s Residence and recommended him to continue serving as Israel’s prime minister.
As he began his consultations with the parties elected to the 24th Knesset before nominating a candidate for prime minister, Rivlin stressed that the aim of the process set out by the law “is to bring about the formation of a government that will have the confidence of the new Knesset that has been elected by the people.”
Pledging that the process would be transparent and open to the public, the president continued: “The main consideration that will guide me is entrusting the task to a Knesset member who has the best chance of forming a government.”
After four elections in two years, this is no mean task, but the citizens of Israel must now put their trust in the president and then in the candidate he chooses.
It is our sincere wish that this candidate is able to form a government that represents all Israelis, a leader who will be able to work swiftly to heal the rifts that are plaguing the country – and avert a costly fifth election.
The coronavirus pandemic and four elections have taken their toll, and what the country needs now is to rally together to face a brighter future.
We have to focus on the bigger prize, which is that next week the country will be celebrating 73 years of statehood – and that we have survived and thrived against all the odds, much to the chagrin of our enemies and with a little help from our friends.
Israel has achieved so much, from providing a haven to the Jewish people after the horrors of the Holocaust to becoming a leading light unto the nations.
As we pause to remember the victims of the Holocaust this week, a week before Remembrance Day for Israel’s fallen, we cannot afford to lose hope and faith. But the only way to really celebrate all that the country has achieved in its 73 years is to do so together – and not as a people divided by religion and race, politics and economics, or the pandemic, which separated us from one another for too long.
It should not be that hard.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post