The political media adviser Mark McKinnon has been quoted as saying, “Hypocrisy is the scarlet letter in politics.”
Since I am not sure he is that familiar with Israel’s politics, I wonder if he’d be surprised to learn that his epigram would not seem to apply in this country, as hypocritical behavior is fairly standard. It is practiced in the hallways, committee rooms, and plenum chamber of the Knesset, as well as by activists in the streets and in their declarations to the media.
For example, on November 24, Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats Party, at a press conference in the Knesset, was asked by news reporter Yehuda Schlesinger about the activities of Mordechai David.
David recently has been blocking cars of various anti-government protesters and, most recently, that of Guy Peleg, Channel 12’s judicial reporter, in a campaign to give them “some of their own medicine.”
The medicine he was referring to is the behavior of the anti-judicial reform protests these past few years. Roads, junctions, sidewalks, and approach paths have been blocked by those opposing the government’s policies, most specifically altering elements of Israel’s judiciary.
This country has always seen such protests on a variety of issues over the years, but since Shikma Bressler first hit the road, sponsored by Ehud Barak’s Black Flags group in March 2020, seeking to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the number of such acts of interfering with the public going about its business, calling for “days of disruption,” has been unique.
Schlesinger, in his question to Golan, had noted the behavior of Nava Rozolyo who, likewise, has adopted obstructionism and harassment as a method of protesting on behalf of the Kaplan Street activists, as well as targeting individuals. He also reminded Golan of his own involvement in the infamous March 2023 siege of the Tel Aviv hairdresser salon when Sara Netanyahu was trapped inside, with Golan famously calling on his supporters to gather outside.
This exchange, of course, had a background. That background was the pronouncement of the attorney-general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to the ministers attending a cabinet meeting on July 9, 2023. On the agenda was the matter of those unruly blockages. Baharav-Miara refused to allow a more aggressive approach, saying, “There is no effective protest without a disturbance of the public order.”
What was Golan’s response? Golan explained that, quite simply, David’s actions were “not the same things” as those of Rozolyo. And why? “We must stop with the false claim of a ‘holy equality.’ One who seeks to defend democracy cannot be compared to one who wishes to destroy democracy. One employs violence while the other opposes it completely.”
Needless to point out, but Golan’s assertion of a ‘purity of arms’ practiced by the opposition protesters cannot be accepted. The verbal violence, the hitting and pushing of MKs and even ministers from the coalition parties, as well as illegal entrances to lecture halls and offices of pro-government NGOs are a matter of record.
Channel 12 news reporter Amit Segal exposed, back in 2023, opposition leader Yair Lapid’s hypocrisy when he hosted him on his show. He quoted from an article Lapid wrote in 2005 about Israelis protesting against the Disengagement. That article in Yediot Aharonot demanded that protesters should absolutely not be permitted to block streets, due to the danger it posed to those who may need to travel to the hospital for treatment.
Asked by Segal why he’s now one of the leaders of the current protests, which have closed down major highways across Israel, Lapid pre-echoed Golan. His answer was, “What I said in 2005, in different circumstances altogether, isn’t relevant.... It’s a different situation because it’s different people, a different world.”
When oversight becomes power
The position of attorney-general is called that of a gatekeeper. Shimon Nataf, a Kohelet Policy Forum research associate, has written that the term is new. It first appeared in a 1991 High Court of Justice decision and in another 1995 decision referring to the court itself. Since then, it has been expanded progressively. It is now “gatekeeper of democracy,” and includes many more institutions and functionaries.
This now brings us back to Baharav-Miara. She has been, it would seem, at the center of most of the happenings within Israel’s body politic as much as Prime Minister Netanyahu, although some think more frequently hampering matters rather than solving them. Her instrument has been declaring persons involved in controversial issues as being in a state of a conflict of interest.
This, however, is beginning to appear a bit hypocritical on her own part. Even a fraud element has popped up.
After David Zini replaced Ronen Bar as head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), we discovered that Military Advocate-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi herself was the source of the infamous leaking of the tape of supposed criminal actions by IDF soldiers at a detention facility. Then we were apprised Baharav-Miara herself became involved, ordering Lahav 433 – The National Crime Unit to assume authority. Guy Peleg, who aired the tape, was never investigated.
The sluice then opened. The head of Lahav 443 vouched for Baharav-Miara to the High Court that she was “not at all connected to the incident” of the Sde Teiman investigation, though it appears she was. We found out the brother of Tomer-Yerushalmi, Assaf, was employed by the Justice Ministry as a prosecutor. The approval came from none other than Baharav-Miara.
We also know that Baharav-Miara’s son was not tried for stealing a fellow reservist’s ceramic vest. Was Tomer-Yerushalmi pressed into service in this matter by the attorney-general? Are these improper relationships? Are there others?
In 2011, US television host Joe Scarborough wrote, “Self-righteousness is a dangerous vice. It breeds arrogance and moral blind spots for those who come to believe they are superior to those who share different worldviews.” Have we come to this point here in Israel?
Should, perhaps, some of our self-declared gatekeepers be either locked out or maybe even locked up?
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.