Let the judges do their job in Netanyahu's trial

There are two major schools of thought that would say Sunday was a sad day, but for different reasons.

By JPOST EDITORIAL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust on May 24, 2020. (photo credit: AMIT SHABI/YEDIOTH ACHRONOTH/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust on May 24, 2020.
(photo credit: AMIT SHABI/YEDIOTH ACHRONOTH/POOL)
The opening of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial, the first-ever for a sitting prime minister of Israel, was a sad day for Israeli democracy.
The State Attorney’s Office determined that Netanyahu should be charged in three different cases, for three counts each of fraud and breach of trust, and one of bribery, for the immense pressures he extended in an attempt to get more positive media coverage, and for mostly-consumable gifts he accepted from wealthy supporters for about 20 years.
There are two major schools of thought that would say Sunday was a sad day, but for different reasons.
The first is that it is sad because we have a prime minister who, even if he is exonerated in the end, was not careful enough to keep his hands clean. He allowed himself to be sullied by his obsession with the media, democracy’s watchdog – which he bashes regularly – and his personal greed for the finer things in life, like champagne and cigars.
The extremists on this side are the ones who decided Netanyahu is corrupt and guilty before he was even charged, let alone had his day in court. They are the ones who carried banners with the slogan “crime minister” outside Mandelblit’s home every Saturday night for over a year and continue to tote them to every possible protest. They are the ones who can’t accept the laws in our country, which – like it or not – allow a prime minister to remain in office while under indictment, and also can’t accept the results of the election, in which Netanyahu’s party won a plurality of the vote.
There is a second school of thought that is also popular and legitimate, which says the day is sad because it shows the unfairness of the judiciary.
Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin has been one of the most consistent, conservative critics of the courts, since long before Netanyahu was even under investigation. As the trial was set to open on Sunday, he called it a low point in the history of Israel’s judiciary. Netanyahu is a victim of an injustice, and the charges against him are “unprecedented in a Western democracy,” he argued, saying that if there was any problem with the prime minister’s behavior, it was ethical and not criminal.
“Israel needs a fair, equal and non-selective law enforcement system,” Levin added. “The trial that opens today is not just the trial of Netanyahu, it is a trial for the future of Israeli democracy and the entire law enforcement system.”
Levin and his ilk point to the fact that the Likud under Netanyahu’s leadership won more votes in the last election than any Israeli party ever, even though the charges against him were known. This can be seen not only as support for Netanyahu, but a protest vote against the system that charged him.
This view stops being legitimate when it crosses into the realm of conspiracy theories and demonization of the judiciary – as opposed to being a call to reform it.
Shortly before his trial began, Netanyahu posted a video on Facebook from Fox News in which an expert claims that he is “a victim of an attempted coup.” Another article on his Facebook page says “Netanyahu has no chance of getting a fair trial,” and another carries the headline: “Netanyahu’s trial: Is this a political attempt to eliminate the will of the people?”
The Facebook page also features several articles accusing Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit of wrongdoing. Any serious accusations against Mandelblit should be looked into. However, it’s clear that Netanyahu is attempting to delegitimize Mandelblit and, in turn, the court before which he will sit in the coming months.
Now is the time for both sides of this debate to take it down a notch and realize that fair elections and a robust judiciary are important in our democracy, and that neither should be delegitimized. This trial needs to run its course in a fair, sane and democratic framework. Let the judges do their job.