Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote that a “leftist Deep State” was working to “thwart the people’s will” in Israel and the United States, adopting President Donald Trump’s worldview and rhetoric about the institutions in his country’s government.
“In America and in Israel, when a strong right wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s will,” They won’t win in either place! We stand strong together.
The tweet, posted Wednesday afternoon in English and then in Hebrew, comes as Netanyahu is under fire for a number of controversial decisions that, critics say, disregard the rule of law or Israeli popular will:
- Employees in his office are being investigated for illicitly receiving funding from Qatar.
- In recent days, Netanyahu announced his intent to fire Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, which is investigating the Qatar ties. Netanyahu says he has lost trust in Bar.
- His government reinstalled the far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister, over the objections of the attorney general.
- He resumed fighting against Hamas in Gaza, ending a two-month ceasefire, which triggered mass protests in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu’s language resembles Trump’s. The president has long railed against the “deep state” — a term that connotes career government officers and bureaucrats who, in the minds of their critics, take control of the government from its elected leadership.
Netanyahu’s tweet drew criticism from his opponents.
Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group of retired Israeli military leaders who have long criticized Netanyahu, wrote in Hebrew, “The will of the people, today, is for a secure state that strengthens trust in its leaders, fully liberal-democratic, for the return of all the hostages now, for a rehabilitation of the destruction that was allowed on 10/7, and for true equality of the burden” of military conscription.
Abraham Foxman, the former longtime head of the Anti-Defamation League, also criticized the post.
“No Prime Minister Netanyahu, respectfully, in America and I hope and believe in Israel, the justice system protects the people’s will against all those that would try to usurp it,” Foxman wrote. “God bless the people and democracies of Israel and America.”
Netanyahu has been Israel’s prime minister for nearly 15 of the past 16 years. His tweet comes as large swaths of Israelis want him to resign. Close to half of Israelis, according to a recent poll, want him to resign immediately. Another 24.5% want him to resign once the war is concluded.
But his tweet got one statement of support. Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to President Donald Trump who is now slashing the U.S. federal bureaucracy, responded with the “100%” emoji.
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