Netanyahu’s Losing It. He Can’t Go on Any Longer

Nehemia Shtrasler-Haaretz

Anyone who watched Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the start of this week’s cabinet meeting noticed his hands, which trembled uncontrollably. Two weeks earlier, he seemed lost when he spoke of “extremists leading the reform.” Justice Minister Yariv Levin corrected him – “leading the protests.” Netanyahu tried to pass it off, blurting out, “I just wanted to check whether you were listening.” He continued and tried to correct himself, but reiterated, “the extremists leading the reform.”

Only after Levin corrected him a second time did Netanyahu grasp that he had screwed up. The other ministers laughed in embarrassment. Was this a cognitive issue, or was it the result of the enormous pressure he’s under?

In any case, Netanyahu doesn’t look good. He has become a shadow of himself – burned-out, troubled, gloomy and angry at the entire world. This isn’t the Bibi we knew. And it’s only because the many blows he has absorbed have greatly undermined and weakened him.

This is evident in his lack of control over cabinet ministers and his governing coalition. Levin doesn’t take him into consideration at all. Bezalel Smotrich is destroying relations with the United Arab Emirates through his remarkably idiotic statements. Moshe Gafni submitted a bill that outraged evangelical Christians in the United States.

And all this is happening while huge demonstrations protesting the coup against our system of government are continuing and intensifying, which seriously worries Netanyahu. He knows these demonstrations are eating away at the right. And indeed, polls show that his bloc has weakened and opposition parties have gained strength

Bibi is also worried about the reservists who are refusing to report for duty. The warnings by economists and the drying up of high-tech investments trouble him as well. He knows that the moment an economic crisis hits and the standard of living plummets, his government will fall apart and he’ll be cast aside.

But all of this put together is nothing compared to the dramatic series of humiliations he has suffered abroad. He was always a big star overseas, but now, he is being greeted with lavish helpings of disdain and insults. He sees himself as a great statesman, but now, he suddenly looks like a weak and petty politician, publicly humiliated by everyone and having the values of democracy explained to him by young children.

This began two months ago, when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave him a public class in democracy. Netanyahu was forced to stand beside him throughout it while he was being humiliated and rebuked. Blinken patronizingly explained the concepts of the rule of law, a free press and minority rights to him, and Bibi would have punched him in the face if he could.

Later, in Paris, he took blows from President Emmanuel Macron, who said he was worried about the plan to weaken the Israeli legal system and added that if the judicial overhaul passes without changes, Israel will have severed itself from a democratic worldview. Really annoying.

Then, at a synagogue in Italy, the leader of the local Jewish community criticized him and demolished the overhaul plan. And a week ago, during his trip to Germany, he was given a public cold shower by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said he was worried by the expected harm to the legal system.

If all this weren’t enough, this week, Biden called him and told him that he had to reach some kind of compromise. When the conversation ended, Biden still hadn’t invited him to the White House. A real knockout blow.

Within three months, Bibi has managed to turn himself into a weak prime minister at home and a rag doll whom Western leaders gleefully kick around abroad. The problem is that we’re the ones who end up with the bruises – a falling stock market, a high-tech crisis, capital flight, a freeze on investments, sharp depreciation, and a rise in inflation.

When former Prime Minister Menachem Begin broke, he said, “I can’t go on any longer.” Bibi, you can’t go on any longer, either.

Within three months, Bibi has managed to turn himself into a weak prime minister at home and a rag doll whom Western leaders gleefully kick around abroad.