I ask myself why I don't feel great joy, euphoria, on the occasion of the great collapse of the bribery case. This is the obstacle that has destroyed Israeli politics over the past five years and caused incalculable damage to society. The reason is that the Netanyahu trial, and all the investigations and publications that preceded it, were intended for a far-reaching strategic goal, and even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems clear today, speaking the truth and being right in his statements in recent years, the strategic goal of the attack on Netanyahu has largely achieved some of its objectives.
I don't begin with the affairs that were investigated, not with champagne and cigars, and not with the headlines "Walla!" The beginning is with the phenomenon of Netanyahu, the man, the leader. It changed the equation of relations between Israel and the United States, as well as within the political and security system within Israel.
Changed the equation of relations between Israel and the US, Benjamin Netanyahu (archive), photo: Amit Shabi
The incessant propaganda against Netanyahu has intensified over the years, and it had several sources. It was she who created the fabricated submarine affair, and it was she who created the current that led many good people downhill. Already in 2008, Prof. Meni Mautner and Amnon Rubinstein proposed establishing a body to audit the State Prosecutor's Office.
They argued that the Israeli State Prosecutor's Office has powers that no similar body in the world has. One of the phenomena predicted at the time was the close cooperation of reporters in the media with the prosecutor's moves. Prof. Mautner stated in an appearance before the Israel Bar Association, and his remarks were published by Hadas Magen in "Globes," that the press not only does not criticize the State Prosecutor's Office, but works with the State Attorney's Office and assists it. "The press is more on your side than the citizens," Mautner told the lawyers.
Netanyahu's trial: Hadas Klein is cross-examined // Yoni Rikner
Prof. Rubinstein said: "Only in Israeli law are there basket offenses, and the public does not necessarily understand their significance. As a rule, absolute power without limitation is an enemy of the rule of law." Rubinstein also argued that there is in fact no parliamentary oversight and criticism (yes, of the Knesset), nor journalistic criticism.
Thus, the prosecutor's office, the legal and security reporters, like wooden caffies downstream, were swept up in Netanyahu's files as well. Whether it's Liat Ben Ari Mandelblit, or a variety of reporters in the media. In the end, Mandelblit and Elsheikh, two establishment animals, can delete ten files of "trifles."
But Mandelblit would not be able not to advance in three others. To understand this, it is worth going back to the moment when the Bennett-Gantz-Lapid government decided to establish a commission of inquiry into submarines. Gantz and Bennett didn't want to, yet the pressure downstream did its job. Because of the propagandists of the inflatable submarines, Israel will pay full price for the deal, instead of the initial discount offered by Germany.
She ruled that Netanyahu could run for the Knesset. Esther Hayut (Archive), Photo: Herzi Shapira
This explains all the negligence that commentators began to find in the files as soon as Netanyahu's trial began. Another reason why it is hard to rejoice at the publicity about the collapse of the bribery case is that, in the end, the panel of judges did not address the controversial manner in which the prosecution handled the case.
The only court that can be trusted in this context is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court justices, headed by Esther Hayut, ruled that Netanyahu can run for the Knesset and serve as prime minister. The problem is that he does not enjoy the basic right in a liberal democratic society: he is entitled to all intents and purposes, and as long as he is not convicted in all courts, a hair cannot move from his head. Therefore, Mandelblit at the time, and now at Har-Miara, acted illegitimately to limit the prime minister's function and powers.
But the mobilization of the various establishments that pushed and gave a tailwind did its job. Israeli society today is fragmented, and damage has been caused with political and security implications that have weakened the country.
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