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The End of Israel? National Leaders Say Netanyahu Is ‘Existential’ Threat to Country
The End of Israel? National Leaders Say Netanyahu Is ‘Existential’ Threat to Country
Sputnik International
A group of 43 prominent figures from throughout Israeli society have released a letter demanding the “immediate removal” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
2024-01-28T03:17+0000
2024-01-28T03:17+0000
2024-01-30T10:27+0000
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A group of 43 prominent figures from throughout Israeli society have released a letter demanding the “immediate removal” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu is a “clear and present danger” to the country read the statement, which claimed “Israel has leaders capable of replacing him immediately.”The letter was delivered to the Israeli parliament and President Isaac Herzog. Copies were also sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, underscoring the importance of Israel’s largest state benefactor in the country’s governance.The remarkable act of defiance comes as the economic damage of Israel’s almost four-month long state of war sets in. Some 360,000 reservists, or about four percent of Israel’s population, were called into military service in the days after Hamas’ October 7 operation. Nearly half a million people have fled the country.The unprecedented societal upheaval caused a labor shortage even before the Houthis’ effective blockade of the Red Sea in recent weeks damaged the economy further. When Israel pulled thousands of troops from Gaza earlier this month, Israeli military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari admitted the government hoped to “ease the burden on the economy.”But Israeli society faced political turmoil before October 7 as demonstrators flooded the streets to protest Netanyahu’s planned judicial reform package. The Israeli Supreme Court recently struck down the legislation, ruling in an 8-7 decision that the prime minister’s proposal would harm “the core character of the State of Israel as a democratic country.”The letter’s signers suggested Netanyahu’s damage to the cohesiveness of Israeli society enabled Hamas’ unprecedented attack. “Leaders of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas openly praised what they correctly saw as a destabilizing and erosive process of Israel’s stability, led by Netanyahu, and seized the opportunity to harm and damage Israel’s security,” they alleged.The composition of the Israeli prime minister’s political coalition has caused him considerable strain in recent months. Netanyahu was forced to include hardline figures like Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in his cabinet in order to eke out a narrow majority in the Knesset, Israel’s lawmaking body. But Biden administration officials have criticized the two lawmakers by name recently in response to their open calls to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza.Netanyahu rejected calls to step down at a press conference last week, using the occasion to also reject the possibility of a Palestinian state. His posturing suggests he’s keen to keep far-right members of his coalition on board, but the rejection of a two-state solution places him at odds with Biden.It remains to be seen how long Netanyahu can publicly rebuff the United States or to what degree President Biden might pressure the prime minister amidst significant pushback from his own base. In the meantime, observers have suggested Netanyahu has an incentive to prolong military action to secure his political fate.If Biden is replaced by former President Donald Trump this fall, Netanyahu may find himself with greater leverage to implement the Israeli right’s desired ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The outcome assumes a highly-fractured Israeli society is able to unite behind him for another ten months, a proposition that remains to be seen.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230806/israels-netanyahu-vows-to-scale-back-judicial-reform-amid-protests-1112426006.html
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The End of Israel? National Leaders Say Netanyahu Is ‘Existential’ Threat to Country
03:17 GMT 28.01.2024 (Updated: 10:27 GMT 30.01.2024) The longtime Prime Minister has presided over a deterioration of Israel’s economy and international standing amidst widespread criticism of his military campaign in Gaza.
A group of 43 prominent figures from throughout Israeli society have released a letter demanding the “immediate removal” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“As key contributors to the country's defense and to one of the world's strongest economies over the past decades, we strongly believe that Netanyahu represents an existential and ongoing threat to the people and to the state of Israel,” read the missive, signed by six former Israeli military and security chiefs and three Nobel Prize winners, in addition to a number of CEOs, scientists, and former diplomats.
Netanyahu is a “clear and present danger” to the country read the statement, which claimed “Israel has leaders capable of replacing him immediately.”
The letter was delivered to the Israeli parliament and President Isaac Herzog. Copies were also sent to US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor
Jake Sullivan, underscoring the importance of Israel’s largest state benefactor in the country’s governance.
The remarkable act of defiance comes as the economic damage of Israel’s almost four-month long state of war sets in. Some 360,000 reservists, or about four percent of Israel’s population, were
called into military service in the days after Hamas’ October 7 operation. Nearly half a million people have
fled the country.
The unprecedented societal upheaval caused a labor
shortage even before the Houthis’ effective blockade of the Red Sea in recent weeks damaged the economy further. When Israel pulled thousands of troops from Gaza earlier this month, Israeli military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari admitted the government hoped to “ease the burden on the economy.”
But Israeli society faced political turmoil before
October 7 as demonstrators flooded the streets to protest Netanyahu’s planned
judicial reform package. The Israeli Supreme Court recently struck down the legislation, ruling in an 8-7 decision that the prime minister’s proposal would harm “the core character of the State of Israel as a democratic country.”
The letter’s signers suggested Netanyahu’s damage to the cohesiveness of Israeli society enabled Hamas’ unprecedented attack. “Leaders of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas openly praised what they correctly saw as a destabilizing and erosive process of Israel’s stability, led by Netanyahu, and seized the opportunity to harm and damage Israel’s security,” they alleged.
The composition of the Israeli prime minister’s political coalition has caused him considerable strain in recent months. Netanyahu was forced to include hardline figures like Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in his cabinet in order to eke out a narrow majority in the Knesset, Israel’s lawmaking body. But Biden administration officials have criticized the two lawmakers by name recently in response to their open calls to
forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza.
Netanyahu rejected calls to step down at a press conference last week, using the occasion to also reject the possibility of a Palestinian state. His posturing suggests he’s keen to keep far-right members of his coalition on board, but
the rejection of a two-state solution places him at odds with Biden.
21 December 2023, 19:56 GMT
It remains to be seen how long Netanyahu can publicly rebuff the United States or to what degree President Biden might pressure the prime minister amidst significant pushback from his own base. In the meantime, observers have
suggested Netanyahu has an
incentive to prolong military action to secure his political fate.
If Biden is replaced by former President Donald Trump this fall, Netanyahu may find himself with greater leverage to implement the Israeli right’s desired
ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The outcome assumes a highly-fractured Israeli society is able to unite behind him for another ten months, a proposition that remains to be seen.
