In its Tuesday editorial, Haaretz painted a bleak picture of the rising incitement and political violence inside Israel, arguing that the country is entering an “age of militias” as the influence of the Bibi Kahanist current expands. This current draws its positions from the ideas of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known as “Bibi”, and the late extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.
According to the paper, this camp targets anyone perceived as an obstacle to its political project, viewing Netanyahu – who is wanted by the International Criminal Court – as the supreme commander of the poison machine driven by the Bibi Kahanist bloc.
Haaretz opened its editorial by referring to the indictment filed by the public prosecutor against Yaakov Itah, who threatened to kill Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara.
The paper noted that Itah had told Miara via social media: “A new era of Kahanism has arrived. Soon you will face what harms you before you even leave your home.”
Haaretz described Itah as merely “a small cog in the Bibi Kahana machine” operated by Netanyahu’s camp and its extremist allies.
The editorial reviewed the campaigns of intimidation and incitement targeting Hadass Klein, the prosecution’s key witness in Netanyahu’s trial, as well as journalist Guy Peleg. The court, Haaretz argued, is being used as a platform to broadcast accusations and defamation, while hatred spreads from social media into the streets, bolstered by ministers who grant political legitimacy to the aggressors.
The article also highlighted the growing activity of organised ideological groups reproducing the slogans and patterns of incitement that preceded the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, amid a weakening role for the police and judiciary and rising societal indifference.
Haaretz asserted that Netanyahu is steering the “poison machine” that works to criminalise the media and the judiciary, warning that digital violence is now manifesting physically without deterrence.
The editorial concluded by stressing that the safety of Klein and Peleg is not an individual matter but a decisive test, because “without an independent judiciary and a free press, Israeli democracy will wither”. The paper called on the public and law enforcement authorities to confront the rise of political militias before it is too late.
Source: Haaretz
