One Thing Netanyahu Was Not Expecting >From This ultra-Orthodox, Right-wing Grieving Family: The Truth
Oops, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu probably said to himself after he left, chastened and shamed, the home of the Danino family, which is mourning their son Uri, who was murdered in a Hamas tunnel. What a mistake of judgment. A Shasnik family, Mizrahi and seemingly right-wing – what could go wrong?
But everything went wrong for Netanyahu, and it as actually from the father, Rabbi Elhanan Danino, that he heard what he didn't expect to hear: The truth. Naked, lashing and painful.
On his way home, to Caesarea or Jerusalem, he consulted with his wife next to him and his advisers: What do we do to minimize the damage, the disgrace? Film a video, of course.
Fake, artificial, with poses and other tricks, and with the familiar slogans: "My wife and I," "I hear, I am listening, I don't judge" (thank you very much), and "I'm doing everything I can."
So much has already been written about the Netanyahus' aloofness, egoism and narcissism, but the disgraceful spectacle they presented us with at the Danino family home on Sunday justifies yet more discussion of this problem.
Family and friends mourn Ori Danino.Credit: Naama Greenbaum
Rabbi Danino's plainspoken, heartfelt and hard-hitting words to the prime minister ought to be painted on huge billboards across the country.
The bereaved father said that the massacre in southern Israel occurred because of the "rifts and division" in the nation; he beseeched the prime minister to cease engaging in "petty and cheap politics and in spin." He told him, "There is no price tag on human life" and pleaded for the lives of the hostages who are still alive and suffering so terribly.
"They were murdered in tunnels that you built on your watch ... The cement and dollars entered on your watch. You are responsible for all their lives," the rabbi said to the prime minister.
But as usual, Netanyahu had to talk about himself. "At age 22, I raided a plane with hostages in order to free them. I was wounded there ... Four years later, [I lost] my oldest brother. I understand what it's like to lose a brother, don't I?"
Ori's brother erupted: "You don't understand! You built a career on your brother's back. Enough already!" he shouted.
It was time for someone to say this to Netanyahu, to say: Enough! It's time to stop exploiting the death of your eldest brother, Yoni, who was killed at Entebbe five decades ago. At this point, it's beyond cynical. It's simply disgusting.
Telling a family whose loved one was kidnapped to Gaza because of a massive political and security failure on your watch and was murdered in captivity after 11 months of horrific torment, "I've also lost a brother"? Is Bibi here to seek empathy from them? Or an _expression_ of gratitude for the rescue operation on the Sabena plane?
Then, of course, there's the "First Lady." She, too, played her part in this absurdist scene.
While her husband is telling the bereaved family how he fought all alone against an obstinate army that refused to act (a total lie), she chimes in to support her husband's monologue of victimhood: "Do you have any idea what he did for 15 years?" She indignantly questions the bereaved father (Yes, he says, meaning that Bibi transferred a ton of money to Hamas and deliberately strengthened it in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier this week.Credit: Oren Ben Hakoon
As she always does at such encounters, she moaned about how hard life is for her family and denigrated the military chiefs who supposedly won't let her husband work.
Then she outdid herself when she crudely upbraided the bereaved father: "You're being told what to say."
Elhanan Danino possessed the dignity and self-restraint, both during the meeting with the Netanyahus and in subsequent interviews, not to repay her in kind. But the truth must be said: Sara Netanyahu is more than a major embarrassment; she is a genuine disgrace.
For the sake of defending her husband, she readily degrades and insults anyone who is critical of him – including the families of hostages, living and dead. She despises them all equally.
The only people for whom she evinces any love are those who grovel to and flatter the prime minister, and that "love" can change to slander and vitriol at the drop of the hat, as required.
The big question is whether the murder of the six hostages, the footage from the tunnel in which they were tortured and executed, and the things that he heard from the bereaved family will do anything to change Netanyahu's mind and make him do his utmost to advance the dying negotiations for a deal, if all of this will push him to overcome his fear of the threats from Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
Sadly, the answer is totally predictable. And the same can be said about the cabinet members who were shown the footage the other night and then hastened to make statements to the media about how shocked and horrified they were.
With them, too, it's all just kalam fadi ("empty talk"), as the Arabic saying goes.