Israel is not Netanyahu: The Jewish case against political idolization - opinion

Three years ago, Israel failed us. And here we are, still living with the consequences of October 7, 2023.

And in just 20 days, on October 27, Israelis will go to the polls. Benjamin Netanyahu is running for prime minister again.

Each election we say that it’s the most important. This one might actually be.

Because there are still Israelis praising “King Bibi” and preaching loyalty to the man who was in charge when thousands of our people were massacred.

That gives me cult energy.

And frankly, it isn’t Jewish.

Netanyahu has been in charge for way too long. He has spent roughly two decades altogether as prime minister.

During the years in which he was the prime minister, Hamas grew into a powerful terrorist organization in Gaza. Israel repeatedly chose policies of containment and deterrence toward Hamas rather than removing it from power.

Then, on October 7, 2023, Hamas infiltrated Israel by air, land, and sea, and our government failed to protect us.

That failure doesn’t belong to one person alone. The October 7 disaster involved failures across the political and security establishment, and those failures deserve accountability.

But Netanyahu was the prime minister.

That matters.

Three years ago, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust happened on his watch.

That doesn’t automatically mean every decision made under his government caused October 7. It does mean that after such a catastrophic failure, Israelis are entitled to demand accountability from the people who were responsible for the country when it happened.

And this is where the Jewish part of this conversation matters.

The Torah says: “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike” (Deuteronomy 1:17).

That’s the great and the small alike.

It is not: “Unless the great is your favorite politician.”

It is not: “Unless he has been prime minister for a very long time.”

And when the Torah talks about a king, it specifically warns that his heart should not become “lifted above his brethren” (Deuteronomy 17:20).

Judaism is profoundly suspicious of the human tendency to turn leaders into symbols larger than themselves.

Israel has no kings

Enough idolization of Netanyahu.

It’s weird, un-Jewish, and frankly, gross.

Developed democracies have term limits and other mechanisms limiting the concentration of political power for a reason. Israel is a young democracy, and we are still building some of the institutions and guardrails that older democracies have had much longer to develop.

But Netanyahu has been in power for a very, very long time.

And when one person becomes so synonymous with a country’s politics that criticism of him is treated as criticism of the country itself, something has gone seriously wrong.

Israel is not Netanyahu.

Netanyahu is not Israel.

Loving Israel does not require loving the person sitting in the prime minister’s chair.

Then there is the coalition.

In recent years, we have watched our government take a dangerous turn with extremist leaders such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who represent a minority of Israelis yet have Netanyahu under their thumb.

Without their parties, Netanyahu couldn’t have built his governing coalition after the last election.

How is that a democracy?

I’m not saying their voters don’t count. Of course they do. That’s a democracy.

But it is completely legitimate to question what happens when a prime minister becomes politically dependent on a small bloc whose priorities can determine the direction of an entire country.

And we saw how political and security priorities intersected even before October 7.

Two companies of IDF Commando Brigade troops – around 100 soldiers – that had been deployed to the Gaza border during the Jewish holiday season were sent to the West Bank just two days before October 7, amid heightened tensions there.

The troops were reserve forces used to bolster security in different regions, rather than the regular forces responsible for routine security along the Gaza border. The IDF said the General Staff made the decision based on a situational assessment and that it would be investigated.

That distinction matters.

So does the larger question.

Why were our security priorities what they were on that day?

Why did we miss so many warning signs?

Why was the country so catastrophically unprepared?

And who is responsible for answering those questions?

As a liberal Zionist Israeli content creator and activist, it gets harder to do my job when racist, extremist men who hold official positions in government say disgusting things on the world stage.

Things that, in my experience, do not represent the majority of Israeli society or the values I believe our country should stand for.

I spend my days explaining Israel to the world.

I talk about our democracy, our diversity, our creativity, our resilience, and our ability to argue with each other while still believing that this tiny country is worth fighting for.

Then I have to explain the people representing us.

And frankly, I’m tired of it.

But I am not giving up on Israel.

Quite the opposite.

I believe in an Israel that is strong enough to defend itself, confident enough to criticize itself, and democratic enough to hold its leaders accountable.

That is not anti-Israel.

That is Israel.

And perhaps the most important thing to remember going into this election is that we actually have choices.

Israel is not facing a binary between Netanyahu and chaos.

Experienced people have served this country in government, in the military, and in public life, people like Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, and Naftali Bennett.

They don’t agree on everything, and they shouldn’t.

That’s what a democracy is supposed to look like.

Different visions. Different priorities. Different leaders competing for the opportunity to lead.

We don’t have to agree on every policy to understand that Israel is bigger than one man – and that a healthy democracy requires the possibility of political change.

To criticize a Jewish leader is not a rejection of Jewish tradition.

In many ways, it is one of Judaism’s oldest traditions.

The Torah doesn’t sanitize its heroes.

Moses fails. David abuses his power. The prophet Nathan stands before the king and tells him: “You are the man” (The Book of Samuel 2:12:7).

Our tradition doesn’t demand that we pretend our leaders are perfect.

It demands that we tell the truth about them.

Three years after October 7, I think we owe ourselves that much.

No more kings.

No more saviors.

No more treating politicians like they are bigger than the country they serve.

We need leaders.

And we need to hold them accountable.

Because Israel is bigger than Netanyahu.

And our democracy should be, too.

The writer is an activist and content creator. A third-generation IDF veteran with over a decade in Israel advocacy, she has created and executed content for dozens of major organizations. She is an associate at the Tel Aviv Institute.