In an opinion piece written amid Israel’s ongoing multi-front war, the author says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced back into court even as the country faces one of the most difficult security periods in its history. The article frames the moment as a clash between the legal system and the national interest, asking whether institutions have lost sight of the bigger picture in their drive to bring down Netanyahu.
The piece says Netanyahu’s cross-examination ended yesterday, and that he responded angrily to the prosecution. He is quoted saying, “You carried out terror and you will spend your whole life in court. There was nothing like what you did to me. It is shameful what you did to me, you did not do this to any public figure. What you did here was to bring Netanyahu’s head, you did not catch anything. What is here is political persecution like a police state.”
The author argues that Israel is simultaneously dealing with Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, hostages, and heavy diplomatic pressure, yet its sitting prime minister is spending long days in court over cases involving cigars, champagne, and alleged favorable coverage, not treason, espionage, or threats to national security. The article says only the court will determine whether Netanyahu is guilty or innocent, but insists that no verdict can erase the public question of why no one in the system paused the proceedings because of the war.
The piece further claims that the media, after years of hostility toward Netanyahu, is now largely ignoring the trial because it supposedly reveals “there is nothing and nothing.” It says the public will remember not only the courtroom proceedings, but also the absence of any internal voice saying that during wartime, the state should come before political or judicial battles. It concludes that the deeper stain is on an entire system that, in the author’s view, failed to stop and say enough even during a historic war.
