The title has never been more apt than today. Back on the national political throne after a brief interregnum, Netanyahu holds extraordinary power as the head of a largely like-minded far-right coalition, and he is intent on widening his hold still further by neutering the only defense against his or any government’s excesses, the High Court of Justice. If he proves able to strip the court of its independence and capabilities, Israel will indeed be his kingdom.
As with monarchs down through the millennia, however, the accumulation of absolute power has coincided with an inability by our ruler to separate his own personal interests from those of the state, a growing certainty that he and only he can effectively lead Israel, the elimination of dissenting voices, the cultivation of a surrounding chorus of “yes” men (and very few women), and the consequent conviction that any and all means are legitimate and necessary in order to maintain his reign.
The tragedy, for the kingdom, is that Netanyahu has placed it on the path to destruction. To quote from Tuesday’s reluctant summation by our ordinarily understated president, Isaac Herzog, the judicial revolution Netanyahu is intent on blitzing through parliament threatens “to consume us all.” READ MORE
