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Whether Netanyahu intends to instate the death sentence for terrorists, or whether he's lying to placate his constituency, he's unworthy of leading a democracy

Its obvious to any sensible person what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is up to these days. To blur what is perceived by many of his supporters as a national humiliation at the Temple Mount, hes trumpeting right-wing and patriotic expressions: a heros reception for the security officer at the Israeli Embassy in Amman, support for the Jerusalem and nation-state bills, a suggestion to transfer the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm to the Palestinians, calls for the death penalty on the murderer at the settlement of Halamish.

The death sentence is cold-blooded murder perpetrated by civil society; the hangmans hood is the mask behind which both the people and cowardly politicians hide. But Netanyahu who assumes his electoral base is an aggressive guard dog to be tempted by racist and violent statements bombards the public with ultra-nationalist declarations every time he advances a policy thats somewhat moderate.

He thereby puts opponents of his policies in a bind. Should they play the part of the scapegoat he gives them in the show he stages for his voters, decrying the undoing of Israeli democracy as required of them in this play? Or should they ignore his declarations as long as these statements arent backed by actions?

Should we be dragged yet again into debates over the nation-state bill and ignore his wink and nod over his voters' heads, while he drags out the vote on this bill from one Knesset session to the next? Its already established that he votes for bills he objects to in the knowledge that the High Court of Justice will strike them down, as he did with the bill that permits the expropriation of private Palestinian land.

Netanyahu hurls his poisoned darts at the heart of Israeli democracy along with instructions to neutralize their effects. The death sentence for terrorists is something that should be implemented in heinous cases. Its enshrined in the law. You need to have the judges reach unanimity, but they also want to know the governments position. My position as prime minister, in such a case of a murderer as lowly as this, is that he must be put to death, he consoled the Salomon family in their grief.

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This is a classic Netanyahu move. The public, hurting and clamoring for revenge, gets its pound of flesh. Sane people get the antidote thats embedded in the statement: the need for the judges unanimity.

Netanyahus opponents can take comfort in the fact that compared to some of his wildest statements, even his harsh policies sometime seem moderate. This is, however, small comfort, and in the long run it doesnt matter. Residue from the poison lingers, and the body of democracy continues to weaken. Whether Netanyahu intends to instate the death sentence for terrorists, or whether hes lying as a way to placate his constituency, hes unworthy of standing at the head of a democracy.

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Excerpt from:
A death sentence for democracy - Haaretz Editorial - Israel News ... - Haaretz