David Cameron’s return as foreign minister was treated by the British media as a shock, coming seven years after he resigned as prime minister because the voters defied him and chose to ditch the European Union. His gamble on a Brexit referendum backfired and within hours he walked away, looking somewhat glum but with his head held high.
In Israel, people used the occasion to contrast the dignified Brit to their own ever-scheming Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been ignoring a growing clamor for his resignation over the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, the biggest disaster in Israel’s history. The difference stems in part from the contrast in political traditions; no Knesset member ever referred to a rival as a „right honourable gentleman.” But Netanyahu takes things to another level.
Israel has seen leaders who did resign because of public pressure (Golda Meir in 1974 after the Yom Kippur War), an ethical breach (Yitzhak Rabin in 1976, over an unreported bank account) or policy fiascos (Menachem Begin in 1983, after the calamitous Lebanon invasion of the year before).
Netanyahu has all three. He is a criminal defendant on trial for bribery. Polls show some three-quarters of Israelis want him to step down. And he has presided over a failure that is almost inexplicable, even taking into account mistakes, incompetence, and venality.
Upon returning to power in a fluke election a year ago (the opposition handed him the victory through idiotic splits that caused 6 percent of the vote to be thrown away), he embarked upon a plan to Putinize the country. His coalition’s campaign to eviscerate checks on executive power kicked up the biggest protest movement Israel ever knew, creating a schism that security chiefs warned in vain was weakening national security by projecting vulnerability and invited attack.
