How Netanyahu Weakened Israel

Yuval Noah Harari details how the ideology, incompetence and corruption of Netanyahu weakened Israel's ability to prevent and respond to the Hamas massacre.

In the wake of the inexcusable slaughter of innocents carried out by Hamas terrorists, there are two issues of urgent concern generating considerable discussion among friends of Israel (beyond coping with the horror of the murders and kidnappings). The first is the humanitarian impact of the assault on Gaza now underway. The other is anger at the gross failures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City.

As of Thursday afternoon the death count stood at over 1200 Israelis killed by Hamas and 1300 Palestinians killed in Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force, according to CNN. International aid groups are warning of starvation and disease outbreaks in Gaza as Israel has cut off all food, water and electricity for the 2.2 million residents trapped in the enclave. I warned in this newsletter earlier this week that collective punishment (like the Gaza siege) is a war crime and that an Israeli assault and invasion of Gaza could be a strategic disaster.

Israel's 9/11

On the second issue, Israelis are not waiting for their version of a 9/11 Commission to judge the government’s failures. As Washington Post columnist Max Boot notes today, “We need not wait for its inquiry to reach an obvious conclusion: Netanyahu must go.”

The award-winning author of Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari, eloquently explains why in a new opinion piece October 12 in The Washington Post. He starts by expressing his solidarity with his fellow Israelis, recounts how his own family barely escaped the massacre, but then says:

On one level, Israelis are paying the price for years of hubris, during which our governments and many ordinary Israelis felt we were so much stronger than the Palestinians, that we could just ignore them. There is much to criticize about the way Israel has abandoned the attempt to make peace with the Palestinians and has held for decades millions of Palestinians under occupation.

This does not in any way justify the atrocities committed by Hamas, he says, but it does put it in context. Even so, Harari argues, Israel could have prevented the attacks, or at least minimized them, if not for the failures of the far-right government. I will let Harari’s words speak for themselves, just noting that his analysis could apply equally to the dangers that far-right populism poses for our own country.

The real explanation for Israel’s dysfunction is populism rather than any alleged immorality. For many years, Israel has been governed by a populist strongman, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a public-relations genius but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over the national interest and has built his career on dividing the nation against itself. He has appointed people to key positions based on loyalty more than qualifications, took credit for every success while never taking responsibility for failures, and seemed to give little importance to either telling or hearing the truth.

The coalition Netanyahu established in December 2022 has been by far the worst. It is an alliance of messianic zealots and shameless opportunists, who ignored Israel’s many problems — including the deteriorating security situation — and focused instead on grabbing unlimited power for themselves. In pursuit of this goal, they adopted extremely divisive policies, spread outrageous conspiracy theories about state institutions that oppose their policies, and labeled the country’s serving elites as “deep state” traitors.

The government was repeatedly warned by its own security forces and by numerous experts that its policies were endangering Israel and eroding Israeli deterrence at a time of mounting external threats. Yet when the IDF’s chief of staff asked for a meeting with Netanyahu to warn him about the security implications of the government’s policies, Netanyahu refused to meet him. When Defense Minister Yoav Gallant nevertheless raised the alarm, Netanyahu fired him. He was then forced to reinstate Gallant only because of an outbreak of popular outrage. Such behavior over many years enabled a calamity to strike Israel.

No matter what one thinks of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the way populism corroded the Israeli state should serve as a warning to other democracies all over the world.

This crisis is going to get worse. Much worse. Thousands will die in Gaza. I fear that Israel will not heed the words of caution President Joe Biden gave in his powerful statement of support for Israel this week: “Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law.”

Israel’s many foes may take advantage of the moment to launch assaults of their own. We should be particularly concerned that the Lebanese group Hezbollah might implement its pledge to enter the war should Israel launch a ground invasion of Gaza. I have been following the daily updates from the Institute for the Study of War and they are worrying.

It is an old Jewish saying that even as we expect the worst, we hope for the best. Harari honors this tradition as he closes his essay. We have to hope with him:

There is much to criticize about Israel’s past behavior. The past cannot be changed, but hopefully once victory over Hamas is secured, Israelis will not only hold our current government to account, but will also abandon populist conspiracies and messianic fantasies — and make an honest effort to realize Israel’s founding ideals of democracy at home and peace abroad.