When traitors identify themselves in the Israel of 2023
On Saturday night in Netanya, a city located on the coast plain of Israel between Tel Aviv and Haifa, Tali Gotliv – a minister of Bibi Netanyahu’s government – accused their opponents of being traitors.
Hmmm! It is less than 30 years ago, when Netanyahu was the leader of the Parliamentary opposition. He blamed the Prime Minister of the time, Yitzhak Rabin, for treachery. Weeks later, Rabin was assasinated.
Gotliv’s remarks drew the anger of many.
Who are you calling a traitor? Is it my father, who volunteered to fight in ’48?My grandparents, who financially helped build this country? My father-in-law, who did everything to make Aliyah, including being a stowaway, lying about his age, and enlisting in the army, and fought in wars for over 30 years? My mother-in-law who folded parachutes, her sisters, and her brother who all served? The uncle who proudly wears paratrooper’s wings with a red backing? My husband, who served and fought in both Lebanon wars and every “war” after, and volunteered for miluim until he was 50? My nephew with special needs, who all he wanted to do is join Zahal and is now proudly wearing a uniform? Or my daughter, who serves on the Lebanese border as the “eyes of the country”? We are traitors?
MK Tali Gotlieb, you are an embarrassment to the Knesset and to this country.
Shari Wright Pilo posted on Facebook:
The following day, Sunday, was the first full day back after the Passover holiday break
- The Minister of Finance accused Moody’s of not understanding how economies work, after the agency warned that Israel’s credit status may well be downgraded.
- It has emerged that Yair Netanyahu, the PM’s son, is on a luxurious holiday in the USA, openly financed by the taxpayer and accompanied by a security entourage.
- And yet another opinion poll revealed that the decline in the government’s support continues to gather pace. I assume that means from the perspective of Gotliv that the number of traitors in Israel is growing alarmingly!
There is a central organising committee for these protests. One of its main proponents is a former chief of staff and one-time ally of Netanyahu, Moshe Ayalon. His team clearly has access to money. In parallel, there are many local neighbourhood groups emerging spontaneously. I even heard of one of them being called “Grandmothers for Democracy”.
Not by chance, this group was also active in Netanya . Gotliv was accompanied by other top officials, including the Minister of State Security, Itamar Ben Gvir. They addressed around about 500 people. However, their opponents numbered closer to 35,000.
The opponents of the Israeli governments plans can be found in most sections of society. Evidently, the numbers have yet to peak. Few of them hide their views. Gotliv’s shouting does not seem to create for her significant levels of support. Meanwhile, her boss, the PM himself, does not seem to exude the control of previous years. One news station reported him bringing back a behind-the-scenes advisor, previously disgraced by the submarine corruption scandal.
This is a government, driven by a mission convulsed by controversy, and which sees its opponents as enemies of the state. The problem for those at the top is that those underneath them are for now flocking to the devil of the enemy.
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