Israel's general election in April will be interesting, not only because there is a good chance the world will witness the end of Benjamin Netanyahu's political career and his lies, but also because it will give us a clearer picture of what Israel is and how the country's so-called "political elite" thinks and acts. The campaign may make us laugh and cry at the same time.

Netanyahu, who built his career on the image of himself as a war hero soldier, is witnessing the destruction of his military record in the service of his political rival, General Benny Gantz, who was the IDF chief of staff. To add to his distress, a fierce social media battle has erupted between his son, Yair Netanyahu, and the grandson of his former chief of staff, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Yair Netanyahu accused Rabin of being a "murderer of Holocaust survivors," the most serious charge an Israeli can level against anyone, in response to a tweet from Yonatan Ben-Artzi. According to the Yedioth Ahronoth report, Rabin's grandson wrote that "Benny Gantz exposed the lie that veteran army men know so well: Bibi [Netanyahu's nickname] is a coward. He was a cowardly soldier and a mediocre fighter at best." In response, Yair Netanyahu claimed that Ben-Artzi's grandfather, Rabin, "had nervous breakdowns in every battle (especially during the Six-Day War)."

The image Netanyahu has worked to build for himself is much like a scene from an action movie. In one of his many accounts, he describes an incident: "I almost drowned in the Suez Canal after returning from an operation during the War of Attrition [a state of war between Israel, Egypt and Jordan from 1967 to 1970]. Bullets were whistling from every direction and hitting my boat. I jumped into the water with a box of ammunition strapped to my back. My comrades pulled me by the hand and prevented me from drowning."

But Ben-Artzi recounts the incident differently. "Everyone who served in the elite [Sayeret Matkal] unit knows that he [Netanyahu] jumped out of a boat during an operation for fear of being shot [by friendly fire] and that his carelessness led to the discovery of the [Israeli] forces." And that, apparently, is what Gantz claimed.

The prime minister knows he cannot respond to Gantz's accusations directly, as Netanyahu's alleged cowardice has become a well-established fact among his generation. Therefore, he chose to attack someone he believes is more cowardly than him; not Gantz, but the general's ally in the new Blue and White coalition, Yair Lapid, who mocks Netanyahu by saying that his only military role was serving as a journalist in the army. If Gantz thinks Netanyahu is a coward, how can he ally with someone like Lapid, who had no combat role? This seems to be the implicit message for Team Netanyahu.

We can learn a few lessons from this exchange. First, that Israelis are not superhuman; they are human beings with the same flaws as people everywhere, struggling for power and vilifying each other in the worst ways. In fact, it is not just non-Jews who kill each other as the Israeli narrative often claims; Jews can also kill each other.

Moreover, the best people to deconstruct the Israeli narrative are those who created it - the Israelis themselves - especially when it contradicts their own personal interests. If anything could lead to Israel's collapse, it is the people of Israel.

It is clear that Israeli democracy is not led by politicians. The militarized nature of the state is highlighted by the fact that many veterans enter politics and get votes based on how much Palestinian and Arab blood they have spilled. This is not a new phenomenon. For example, Menachem Begin, who was Israel's prime minister from 1977 to 1983 and founder of Netanyahu's Likud party, was also the head of the Irgun terrorist group in the 1940s. Similarly, Yitzhak Shamir served two terms as prime minister (1982-1984 and 1986-1992) after having been in the Stern terrorist group before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. But the accusations of cowardice against Netanyahu and Rabin are interesting, this time by other Israelis.

Netanyahu is often referred to as the "King of Israel," and he faces not only accusations of cowardice but also corruption charges. His supposed political successes are illusions, as are his claims that the Palestinians are responsible for his tragedy. In fact, people like Netanyahu and his followers and predecessors in power in Israel are entirely responsible for the catastrophe and its ongoing consequences.

Despite all this, we must remember that Gantz is no different from Netanyahu and the rest of the Zionist gang. They are the product of a state founded on terror, lies and aggression. Whether Gantz or Netanyahu is Israel's next prime minister, this is merely a change in manager, not a change in state ownership, and policies aimed at seizing as much Palestinian land as possible will continue to be implemented. Any changes will be superficial. As long as Israel is allowed by the international community to act with impunity, supported by the United States and Europe, the injustices that shackle Palestinians will continue unabated.
Source: Middle East Monitor