Israel's Entire Opposition Should Resign Now - Israel News - Haaretz.com
When a government is revolting against the people and the rule of law, when it is behaving like an insurgent agent of anarchy and autocracy, and when a prime minister declares war on democracy and the state's institutions, checks and balances and principle of supremacy of the law, the people and political opposition must take commensurate measures.
That is why the only way to rock the Israeli democracy boat, Benjamin Netanyahu'sTitanic, is for the opposition to resign today, all as one.
There's just one problem: there really isn't a political opposition in Israel. Nominally it exists – its members even have names and parties they lead. But they have no gravitas where and when it counts, and their political acumen and imagination are nonexistent.
This would be nonviolent and legal, but game-changing, move. Since the people cannot resign but only flirt with broad civil disobedience, the political opposition must resign. This is almost unprecedented in political history, though it has happened under different circumstances in both India and Hong Kong.
What would this mean? That Israel's political opposition – those individuals whose pictures should be on milk cartons with the words "Missing since January 2023" – resigns collectively, effective immediately.
A protester with a sign calling Benjamin Netanyahu the "ender of Israel," in Tel Aviv last month.Credit: David Bachar
The opposition is by and large an asinine and phlegmatic assemblage of politicians. The public does not know what they stand for, and they have never offered any alternative vision or set of policies other than being the "non-Netanyahu" option.
If they do capture the Zeitgeist, recognize the existential danger and stand up in this defining "Weimar Moment" in which Israel is unraveling, that would be their greatest, most lasting contribution to Israeli democracy. It would be their first, last and only real act of political opposition.
Can anyone imagine what would have happened politically if Mr. Netanyahu was head of the opposition on October 7 – the worst day in Israel's history, which has now turned into the worst year in Israel's history?
Can anyone imagine a situation and rolling crisis and war where an Israeli prime minister refuses to take responsibility and be held accountable for what happened on October 7, blames the Israel Defense Forces, blames the intelligence services, blames the Shin Bet security service, blames the U.S. president, blames the opposition? A prime minister who refuses to acknowledge his gross negligence and flawed policies, and who for years vetted and encouraged the funneling of funds to Hamas?
Can you imagine such a prime minister surviving 11 months had Mr. Netanyahu been the opposition leader? You can't. Why? Because the Likud leader did not face a real opposition since he formed his government in December 2022.
This is a constitutional crisis that needs the opposition to resign because everything else has been exhausted. The (unwritten) Israeli constitution does not address such a scenario. Basic Law on the Knesset, Article 3 – Composition, merely states that "the Knesset shall, upon its election, consist of one hundred and twenty members." If a lawmaker resigns, or is deceased and no replacement has been appointed, the Knesset on several occasions has functioned temporarily with 119 members, and even 118.
An image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the word "destroyer," at a demonstration outside the prime minister's private residence in Caesarea this month.Credit: Yair Gil
But if 56 members of the opposition resign collectively, citing complete and unmitigated distrust of the government and its antidemocratic policies, then effectively the Knesset ceases to function.
Is that legal? Yes. Is it feasible? No, because you cannot get all 56 opposition members to agree to resign. If they had it in them, they wouldn't be the lethargic opposition that they are. However, you don't really need all 56 to resign. Even if, say, 30 or 35 resign, the effect would be similarly shattering.
That Benjamin Netanyahu's government is a kakistocracy, an inept, raggedy mélange of underqualified individuals capable only of acrimony, vitriol and mendaciousness, made up of a weird collection of extremists, theo-fascists, ignoramuses and grifters, has been well documented, profusely written and spoken about, and is glaringly visible on any given day.
Always a reason no to do something
That over 70 percent of Israelis say they think Netanyahu should resign in the aftermath of the October 7 calamity, almost 70 percent want a new election and 65 percent believe he is driven only by his own political calculations and survival rather than national security and Israel's interests, is clearly evident in consistent polls.
That a majority of Israelis oppose his authoritarian constitutional coup, which would gut the judiciary, and his management of the war is also consistently evident in other polls.
Fortunately for him, he has faced no real political opposition over the past 20 months. Instead, he has faced a temporizing, subdued, often cowardly opposition that always has a ready excuse for why it shouldn't do something.
During the constitutional coup he first instigated in 2023, and which under the fog of the Gaza war he is relaunching, the opposition was nowhere to be seen. Then came the war and Benny Gantz, head of one opposition party, enthusiastically joined the war cabinet, citing responsibility, patriotism and experience, ostensibly providing balance to the extremist hacks Netanyahu surrounded himself with in the government.
Opposition member Benny Gantz in the Knesset earlier this month.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
That was both understandable and, at the time, popular. But he stayed for eight months, blurring any difference between him and Netanyahu. Yair Lapid, who smartly avoided joining the government as long as the extremist, messianic right is still there, failed to become the go-to opposition.
Would Netanyahu have joined the government if the roles were reversed? Most likely he would offer support from the outside and reserve the right to criticize when appropriate. That would have lasted one to two months, after which he would have actively undermined the government and precipitated its fall given its responsibility for the catastrophe, management of the war and mismanagement of relations with the United States.
That's what an opposition should do – but not in Israel. The opposition here offers no alternatives, no innovative policies, no practical solutions, no nothing, save for barely audible murmurs of criticism against Netanyahu for both the war and his constitutional coup.
Since January 2023, there have only been two centers of political opposition to the reckless policies, fallacious demeanor and post-truth culture that Netanyahu introduced to Israel: the mass of demonstrators against the constitutional coup; and this newspaper. Since the war began nearly 11 months ago, that isn't enough.
It is now time for the political opposition to do something bold, daring and paradigm-changing: resign.