Israel’s ‘Deep State’ Attacks Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit gives a press conference at the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem on November 21, after indicting Benjamin Netanyahu on a range of corruption charges.
Menahem KAHANA / AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s ‘Deep State’ Attacks Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel has a powerful and uncompromising ‘deep state,’ just like America and Britain.

As Israel heads for an unprecedented third election, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday announced his plans to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minster, on charges of bribery, corruption and breach of trust. This is the first time in Israel’s history that indictment against a sitting prime minister has been attempted.

Following the announcement, Netanyahu held a press conference in which he accused the police and state prosecutors of an “attempted coup.” “I deeply respect the justice system in Israel,” he said. “But you have to be blind not to see that something bad is happening to police investigators and the prosecution.”

What happened in Israel last week must be considered in the context of events in the United States and Britain. In both nations, there has been an ongoing effort to undermine the democratically elected leadership by any means possible. In America, President Donald Trump routinely comes under attack by the “deep state,” a powerful alliance of government agencies, radical-leftist politicians and bureaucrats, and the mainstream media.

Britain also has a deep state and it is working to overturn the Brexit referendum.

Israel’s deep state has been trying to depose Netanyahu for years. Now the fruits of its labor are showing—and it’s frightening. The parallels between the attack on Netanyahu and on U.S. President Trump are astounding.

Those who oppose Netanyahu are thrilled to see the attorney general indict their political rival, as are many Democrats in the U.S. who abhor Mr. Trump. One adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign tweeted, “Jealous of my Israeli colleagues for having an attorney general who isn’t a totally corrupt political hack.”

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren tweeted, “Netanyahu is accused of accepting bribes, trading government favors, and manipulating a free press. Like his pal Donald Trump, he’ll stop at nothing to enrich himself and stay in power. This blatant corruption has no place in any democracy—I’ll fight it at home and abroad.”

But this isn’t simply an attack on the prime minister; this is an attack on democracy.

Democratic lawyer Alan Dershowitz issued a warning about how dangerous these attacks on Netanyahu are. “I think we’re seeing the weaponization of criminal justice for political purposes,” he said in a recent interview. “In Israel, the attorney general is supposed to be outside of politics.”

Netanyahu is being accused of bribing a media outlet to give him good coverage. Dershowitz said, “Look, every politician wants good press, every politician wants to avoid bad press, and many politicians are prepared to cast votes in order to get good press and avoid bad press …. Allowing prosecutors to probe the motives of media and politicians is an extremely dangerous road to go down.”

American radio host Mark Levin tweeted that Netanyahu should not step down. “I’ve carefully reviewed these charges and they’re outrageous,” he wrote. “This is an assault on freedom of the press and the investigation was corrupt. And your media is ever worse than ours.”

Just like in America, Israel’s radical left will stop at nothing, sacrificing all legal barriers, to bring down their opponent.

Amnon Lord wrote for Israel Hayom, one of the few conservative media outlets left in Israel, “Many in the public are disturbed by the fact that this is unwarranted, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s decision further erodes the public’s trust in the system.”

Lord continued:

Was it really a coincidence that former Police Chief Roni Alsheikh made his recommendations to indict Netanyahu right before his retirement? And is it really a coincidence that Mandelblit has launched his emotional melodrama against the backdrop of the last-ditch efforts to form a national unity government? Can all of this really be just a coincidence? …

There is a sense of disdain over the fact that the indictment reeks of a preordained conviction, fueled by attempts to convict Netanyahu in the court of public opinion using various leaks from the investigations, long before the case ever saw the inside of a courtroom. …

If the public felt that Netanyahu was guilty of serious and undeniable offenses, I have no doubt there would be a public demand for his resignation and he would have heeded it. But that is not the case.

So if anything, what we saw on Thursday was the culmination of long, coordinated political and judicial ploy to topple the prime minister.

Caroline Glick provided an even more powerful warning, again highlighting the parallels between America and Israel. She tweeted, “Today was a horrible day in Israeli history. A horrible day in Jewish history. And a horrible day in the history of democracies. Israel’s legal fraternity completed the rolling coup they have been enacting against Netanyahu for the past three years.”

In another tweet, she posted, “The AG Mandelblit told the public we mustn’t delegitimize the prosecutors behind this coup. So I don’t know what I can say. He just determined that in Israel, positive coverage for a politician is bribery if the politician is Netanyahu. Since I’m a journalist, I am worried.”

The parallels between the attacks on Netanyahu and on Trump are astounding. It’s the same spirit motivating each movement! And it’s no coincidence that it’s occurring in the nations of America, Britain and Israel.

In Friday’s Trumpet Daily Radio Show, Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry pointed out the biblical significance of events happening in these three nations, and what is driving these lawless attacks plaguing each of them.


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