Our Wednesday News Analysis | The politics behind Netanyahu’s Shin Bet scandal

The Shin Bet scandal is the clearest example to date of Netanyahu’s corruption and poor judgment (File/AFP)

Within 24 hours last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Eli Sharvit as the new chief of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, only to quickly retract the nomination.

This episode highlights the lack of coherence in Netanyahu’s leadership, reinforcing the perception that decisions at the highest levels of government are made impulsively and without a clear plan.

"Netanyahu is keen on presenting the withdrawal of Sharvit’s nomination
not as a sign of political subservience but as a strategic concession or overture
to Trump. He aims to maintain full US support for his war agenda
in Gaza and across the Middle East.

Ultimately, this perpetual war strategy is not driven by any coherent political ideology. Netanyahu’s singular focus remains on maintaining his political coalition and ensuring his political survival — nothing more, nothing less."

It also serves as further proof that Netanyahu is easily manipulated — not just by his right-wing extremist allies in the coalition, but also by external forces, foreign governments, and, as reported by Israeli media, even his wife Sara.

This chaotic decision-making process helps explain the deep lack of trust Israelis have in their leadership. Recent public opinion polls show that a significant percentage of Israelis lack faith in their government and are calling for new elections or Netanyahu’s resignation.

This distrust has been attributed to Netanyahu’s failure to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and his inability to win the war-turned-genocide in Gaza.

But the issue goes beyond these failures. Israelis have lost confidence in Netanyahu because they do not see him as a leader acting in the national interest. He has become so entrenched in power that he is willing to incite civil strife in Israel just to maintain his position...

Read more: The politics behind Netanyahu’s Shin Bet scandal

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OPINION | IGNORING MASSACRES IN GAZA CITY WHILE PROTESTING FOR DEMOCRACY IN TEL AVIV

Source: Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-03-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/even-anti-war-israelis-are-scared-to-say-gazans-are-human-beings/00000195-b525-d862-a3b5-f53704750000?dicbo=v2-

By Hanin Majadli
Published March 21, 2025

How is it possible to square the defense of Israel's democratic values with a situation in which on the other side tens of thousands of Palestinian lives are being cut short in a single blow?

Ruins in Gaza on Thursday.Credit: Leo Correa/AP

"This isn't a problem of the media concealing or manipulating.

It is the fruit of militaristic racist indoctrination
that begins in kindergarten and continues until death.

An indoctrination that needs destruction to justify the existence of Zionism."

Israel recently committed the largest child massacre in its history.

               Two hundred children and 100 women were killed in one day. Altogether, about 400 civilians were killed, and the number of dead is not yet final.

               These numbers are not reported in the Israeli media, and if they are – it's always minimized outrageously.

For example, Channel 12 News, Israel's mainstream television station, reported that the 400 dead were "operatives." How can you claim that they were all "operatives" when it's completely clear that the entire world is seeing the horrifying pictures of dozens of babies and children bombed to death? How is it possible to lie so blatantly when the truth is so clear? For how long will the Israeli media be complicit in the crimes of the Israeli government?

Even the media of other countries that committed genocide would be ashamed to lie like that. But Israel's chutzpah is a foundation stone of its approach.

The majority of the Israeli public, which opposes the war, thinks that the war jeopardizes the hostages' lives and that the fighting was resumed for political reasons. I was somehow able to understand the Israeli reaction at the start of the war, after October 7, 2023, even though it did not directly refer to the Palestinian victims. At that time, the response was intended to protect against being labeled as "traitors." But after 18 months of mass killing, which will enter the history books as an eternal disgrace, that mechanism can no longer work.

Although resuming the war will kill the hostages, it mainly kills masses of Palestinian men, women, children and the elderly. At what point will anti-war Israelis say aloud what should be said and stop being euphemistic? I understand there has been some coming to terms with being labeled "child murderers." Is it possible to reach a lower moral nadir? Doesn't it frighten them to be labeled as such?

It's already impossible to distinguish between things in Israel. It's impossible to distinguish the media from the public. Because even those who oppose the war are afraid to say that Gazans are human, too. Because it's impossible to separate the pilot from the bomb. He's told to push the button and he pushes it. The majority of the people not only tolerate mass slaughter, but demand it, either explicitly or tacitly...

Read more: Opinion | Ignoring Massacres in Gaza City While Protesting for Democracy in Tel Aviv
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SAMI’S PAIN IS THE PAIN OF EVERY CHILD IN GAZA: A DOCTOR’S TESTIMONY

Source: Palestine Chronicle
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/samis-pain-is-the-pain-of-every-child-in-gaza-a-doctors-testimony/

By Dr. Mimi Syed
Published April 1, 2025

Though he was alive, I could not help but feel an intense feeling of anger. This vibrant little boy was maimed for life.

Eight-year-old Sami arrived at the Al-Aqsa Hospital with a blast injury to his face. (Photo: supplied)

"This little boy, who was fighting for his life
after a US-funded bomb dropped on his family’s home,
was being treated by an American-born doctor."

On December 14, 2024, I worked in the afternoon in the emergency room at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. During a mass casualty incident that day, we had dozens of patients arrive after an air raid on a refugee camp nearby.

One of those patients was an 8-year-old boy named Sami. He was carried in by another boy not much older than him. He was transported by a donkey cart because automobiles had mostly been destroyed, and new ones were blocked from entering.

Sami had a blast injury to his face, ripping apart most of the vital structures. His mouth, nose, and eyelids were all injured. The rest of his body was fine except for a few minor wounds. When he got to the resuscitation bay, he was laid on the gurney with no adult in sight yet.

He was covered in a bloody jacket with a red-and-white striped shirt underneath. As I removed the coat with my trauma shears, I felt a heavy burden. This little boy, who was fighting for his life after a US-funded bomb dropped on his family’s home, was being treated by an American-born doctor.

While he lay gurgling and choking on his own blood in front of me, I suctioned his mouth and nose to remove any obstruction in his airway. Just a slight movement in his face, and I realized his entire jaw was dislocated and ripped off, hanging on by a small piece of skin. There was shrapnel and burn wounds on his entire face and neck...

Read more: Sami’s Pain is the Pain of Every Child in Gaza: A Doctor’s Testimony