Skip to main content

There's Only One Way to Deal With Power-hungry Bullies Like Netanyahu and His Fundamentalist Partners. Key Points. Haaretz



 Dahlia Scheindlin's analysis in Haaretz critiques Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners, framing their judicial overhaul as an authoritarian power grab rather than genuine governance. Here’s a detailed overview of her argument:


Key Themes and Arguments

1. Netanyahu as a Power-Hungry Bully 

   - Scheindlin portrays Netanyahu and his allies (particularly ultra-nationalist and religious fundamentalist parties) as prioritizing power consolidation over democratic norms.

   - The judicial overhaul, which seeks to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court, is framed as a tactic to eliminate checks on government authority.  


2. Failed Attempts at Dialogue 

   - The article references a behind-the-scenes effort to engage Netanyahu’s government in negotiations over the judicial changes.  

   - These efforts failed because, according to Scheindlin, the government was never interested in compromise—only in imposing its will unilaterally.  


3. Authoritarianism vs. Compromise  

   - Scheindlin contrasts normal democratic politics (where negotiation and concessions are expected) with Netanyahu’s approach, which she likens to authoritarianism.  

   - She argues that the coalition’s refusal to engage in good-faith dialogue exposes its true goal: absolute control over state institutions.  


4. Personal and Political Tragedy 

   - The piece may reference specific individuals or groups (e.g., centrist politicians, civil society, or protest leaders) who tried to broker compromises but were rebuffed.  

   - The broader tragedy is the erosion of Israel’s democratic foundations, with Netanyahu’s government exploiting political power to reshape the judiciary for partisan gain.  


5. The Only Solution: Resistance  

   - Scheindlin implies that traditional political compromise is impossible with actors like Netanyahu’s coalition.  

   - The alternative is mass opposition—through protests, legal challenges, and international pressure—to block their agenda.


Context  

- The article was written amid Netanyahu’s 2023 judicial overhaul, which sparked massive protests in Israel.  

- Critics argue the reforms endanger democracy by neutering judicial oversight, while the government claims they correct an "activist court’s overreach."  

- Scheindlin aligns with the protest movement, seeing Netanyahu’s coalition as a threat to liberal democracy.  


Conclusion 

Scheindlin’s analysis is a stark warning: Netanyahu’s government operates like authoritarian bullies, making dialogue futile. The only recourse, she suggests, is relentless opposition to preserve democratic institutions.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Cracks Are No Longer Hairline

For decades, Washington treated support for Israel as something beyond debate. It was political scripture. Republicans defended it. Democrats defended it. Presidents came and went, wars came and went, thousands died, settlements expanded, Gaza burned, and the checks kept arriving. Questioning the arrangement was once political suicide. Now the walls are cracking. This week, more than half of House Democrats either voted to end U.S. aid to Israel or refused to oppose doing so. The amendment failed, but something far more important succeeded. The illusion collapsed. For years, American politicians insisted that criticism of Israeli government policy belonged only to "the fringe." Apparently the fringe has become half the Democratic caucus. History has an unusual sense of humor. The same establishment that spent years dismissing students, academics, humanitarian workers, doctors, journalists, and millions of protesters as naïve, radical, or antisemitic now finds itself strugglin...

When the Soup Kitchens Begin to Die

There is a special kind of cruelty in watching not only a society collapse, but also the last institutions keeping it alive. For nearly three years, Gaza's humanitarian lifeline has increasingly been reduced to a queue for a single meal. Parents no longer ask their children what they would like to eat. They ask whether there will be anything to eat at all. Childhood has become measured not in birthdays, classrooms, or family gatherings, but in ration lines, empty cooking pots, and the uncertain arrival of humanitarian assistance. Now even those fragile lifelines are disappearing. The gradual closure and scaling back of World Central Kitchen (WCK) operations reflects a convergence of financial pressures, operational insecurity, and restrictions affecting humanitarian access. According to World Central Kitchen and the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, kitchens that once produced approximately one million meals each day have been progressively reduced, leaving only a han...

🏗️ Corporate Complicity in Genocide: The Global Economy Behind Gaza’s Ruin.

📅 July 5, 2025 “We are witnessing not just genocide in Gaza—but a genocide made profitable.” — UN Special Rapporteur, A/HRC/59/23 “This report is written from the heart of darkness . It is penned with a broken hand from a broken land for a broken people . But its words are not broken . They are the words of law and of longing . They are the words of those who are not yet silenced . It is written for Palestinians , first and foremost. It is also addressed to those who remain silent , indifferent or complicit . And it is a call to action for those who are not.” — Introduction, UN Report A/HRC/59/23 In an unprecedented and unflinching report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has laid bare the truth that much of the world’s corporate, academic, and financial architecture is actively complicit in Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and now, genocide in Gaza. This isn’t just about military aggression . This is about the mac...

The Ceasefire of Exhaustion: When Empires Collapse from Within

  By Malik Mukhtar — ainnbeen.blogspot.com Two years after Gaza was first set on fire , the war that began with biblical vengeance has stumbled to an exhausted ceasefire . On October 9, 2025 , Israel and Hamas — after endless carnage, famine, and rubble — have signed the first phase of a ceasefire agreement mediated in Sharm el-Sheikh . Trump called it a “ historic peace plan. ” History may call it a truce of attrition — a war that collapsed under the weight of its own hubris. What the Ceasefire Says — and What It Doesn’t Under the agreement, Israeli forces are to pull back to a designated “yellow line” within 24 hours of cabinet ratification. Hamas, in turn, will release all remaining hostages — alive or dead — within 72 hours after the withdrawal. Israel will free about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, though it made sure to exclude political figures like Marwan Barghouti , whose freedom would remind the world that Palestine still breathes. Humanitarian convoys — food,...

WORLD OF EXCESS. Quotes of Corrine Maier

" we live in a world of excess: too many kinds of coffee, too many magazines, too many types of bread, too many digital recordings of Beethoven's Ninth, too many choices of rearview mirrors on the latest Renault. Sometimes you say to yourself: It's too much, it's all too much." ~  " We live in a society of ants, where working and reproducing represent the ultimate objective of the human experience. Work is the opiate of the people; will children be their consolation? A society where life consists of earning a living and raising your kids is a society with no future, since it has no dreams. Having a child is the best possible way to avoid asking what the meaning of life is, as everything revolves around that child, who is a marvellous substitute for the existential quest." "When you are "recruiting" people in temporary positions for the firm ( short term contracts, free lancers) treat them well, remember: they are the ones who actually do a...