5 things Congress may not know about Benjamin Netanyahu
by Jonathan D. Strum, opinion contributor - 07/21/24 11:00 AM ET
Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to a joint session of Congress is political theater. Here are five things that Congress and the American public likely do not know about the Israeli prime minister — but should.
1. Netanyahu formed his radical right-wing coalition with less than 40 percent of the popular vote
Seats in the Israeli Knesset are allocated on the percentage of the vote counted towards seat distribution, but there is a 3.25 percent threshold that must be reached before a party is awarded any seats. If a party doesn’t cross the threshold, no seats are awarded, and that party’s votes are discarded and not counted in the distribution of Knesset seats.
Due to that quirk in the Israel electoral system, Netanyahu was able to put together a radical right-wing 64-seat coalition with only 39.6 percent of the total votes cast in the last election and 48.36 percent of the votes counted towards Knesset seats.
To form the government, Netanyahu had to appoint 32 ministers to the governing cabinet — fully half the coalition’s seats. To remain in power, Netanyahu is beholden to radical ultranationalists — Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Bezalel Smotrich’s National Religious Party.
Nearly 9 percent of the discarded votes cast in the November 2022 elections went to parties opposed to Netanyahu. For example, the left-wing Meretz party received 3.16 percent of the vote, all of which were discarded because they did not reach the 3.25 percent threshold. Similarly, the Arab al-Balad party received 2.91 percent of the vote and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennet’s party received 1.19 percent of the vote, all of which were discarded (as were about 1.5 percent of votes for much smaller parties).
2. Netanyahu is believed by the majority of Israelis be scuttling efforts for a hostage deal and cease-fire
The vast majority of Israelis believe that the return of the hostages is a higher priority than Netanyahu’s nebulous refrain of “total victory.” This was recently publicly reinforced by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (The Israeli president is a mostly ceremonial position.)
There are massive daily demonstrations against Netanyahu all over the country — most of which have been peaceful until the police, under the control of right-wing extremist Itamar Ben Gvir, turn violent.
Last week, as news emerged that Hamas — which could have agreed to a cease-fire months ago — might finally agree to a cease-fire and return of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu publicly set forth new demands. While Netanyahu’s demands were not unreasonable, most Israelis believe the timing and publication of the demands were intended to scuttle the negotiations.
3. Netanyahu refuses to establish a state commission of inquiry, sought by 85 percent of Israelis
When there is a public major failure in Israel, standard operating procedure is to establish a state commission of inquiry — most famously the Agranat Commission, which was established to investigate the failures leading up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The debacle of Oct. 7 (which includes the weakening of Israeli society throughout 2023 by Netanyahu’s proposed judicial “reform” scheme) certainly warrants a commission of inquiry, which is sought by 85 percent of Israelis.
The Israel Defense Forces set up its own commission of inquiry on pre-Oct. 7 failures — the first part of which was published on July 11 and is deeply critical of the IDF. In contrast, Netanyahu refuses to set up a state commission of inquiry as he tries to obfuscate his 15-year symbiotic relationship with Hamas. Netanyahu propped up Hamas to weaken the Palestinian Authority — which then enabled him to ignore the Palestinian issue. Even Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called for a state commission of inquiry.
4. Large majorities of Israelis want Netanyahu out of office
72 percent of Israelis do not want Netanyahu to serve out his term until October 2026. 66 percent of Israelis want Netanyahu to leave politics entirely, and a large majority believe he puts his own interests ahead of the national interest..
5. He is under investigation in three ongoing corruption cases and a submarine scandal
Netanyahu is still in the midst of three corruption cases in court. All three cases were brought by then-Israeli Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit — appointed by Netanyahu.
On June 24, a state commission of inquiry sent Netanyahu a letter of warning that he (and four others) could be adversely affected by the commission’s findings. The commission is investigating a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar purchase of submarines and naval vessels from ThyssenKrupp in Germany which bypassed normal acquisition process and for which substantial “fees” were paid to Netanyahu cronies.
The commission noted that Netanyahu approved the sale of German submarines to Egypt without consulting the Israeli defense establishment (including then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz).
In its warning letter, the commission stated that Netanyahu’s conduct “led to a deep and systematic disruption in working processes, harming decision-making mechanisms in a series of sensitive issues. This endangered national security and harmed Israel’s foreign relations and economic interests.”
For the past few months, the Netanyahu government has lurched from crisis to crisis. While coalition members threaten to leave, all know that no party in the current government is likely to be part of the next government — so all are wary about scuttling the coalition, making for an inherently unstable situation.
While Netanyahu is indeed the Israeli prime minister, members of Congress need to know that he does not have the confidence, support or votes of the majority of Israeli people. While he can address Congress for political gain, he has yet to personally visit even one hostage family since Oct. 7. His remarks to Congress must be viewed with skepticism and not blindly applauded.
Jonathan D. Strum is an international lawyer and businessman based in Washington and the Middle East. From 1991 to 2005, he was an adjunct professor of the Israeli Legal System at Georgetown University Law Center.
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