Once upon a time in 2021, we in the West thought that Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster as Israeli’s leader in the midst of political dysfunction (5 elections in 4 years) while he was facing trials for wrongdoing (still ongoing in 2023) was permanent, and for most of us, it was “good riddins.”

But like the US GOP MAGA ex-president, Mr. Netanyahu managed to survive only to be resurrected from his political deathbed by becoming Israeli’s prime minster in November 2022 due to Israel’s convoluted election rules.

The following paints a scenario that’s eerily prescient of the future for the US if the GOP ex-president wins in 2024, explaining also why whatever the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says or does on behalf of the Israeli peoples, cannot be accepted at face value and should be suspect, subject to oversight.

During his previous stints over 2 decades, Mr. Netanyahu has helped entrench the occupation of the West Bank, empowered the far right as he oversaw the collapse of peace negotiations with the Palestinians and while he governed in coalition with at least one centrist party, setting a limit on how far right his governments could act.

But now, he’s aligned solely with far right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, unrestrained by any centrist forces, and where his ability to stay in power is contingent on pleasing this extreme right.

Of course, in 2023, he and his right-wing cohorts immediately set out to legislate a complete overhaul of Israel’s judicial system while working on an amendment that would allow the prime minister to avoid trial. All of this is currently under review by the Israeli Supreme Court which won’t render any decisions until sometime in 2024.

PM Netanyahu has always been and will forever be a stalwart obstacle towards a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. It’s my opinion that what he and his far-right wingers want is for Palestinians to be permanently relocated to other regions outside of the West Bank and Gaza. This is why Israel’s Arab neighbors have closed their borders. There’ll never be peace in this area unless PM Netanyahu and his right-wingers as well as HAMAS terrorists in Gaza are no longer in positions of power within Israel.

Context on how Netanyahu has a tenuous hold on power and how he’s methodically dismantling Israel’s democratic government:

As per a November 3, 2022 New York Times article, “Lapid Concedes in Israel, Paving Way for Netanyahu’s Return to Power,“by Patrick Kingsley:

“Currently standing trial on corruption charges (still ongoing in 2023), Mr. Netanyahu says that he will not use his authority to upend that process.”

“While the coalition led by Mr. Netanyahu would provide a stable government, it could nevertheless unsettle Israel’s constitutional framework and tear at its social fabric.”

“The far right’s strong showing was linked to fears among right-wing Jews about perceived threats to Israel’s Jewish identity and to their personal safety. A wave of interethnic riots in May 2021 unsettled their sense of security, a feeling that was compounded months later by the inclusion — for the first time in Israeli history — of an independent Arab party as a small part of a coalition government.”

“Those dual concerns drove some right-wing Israelis to more extreme parties in the most recent election. That has given a platform, mandate and potentially ministerial office to a far-right leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seeks to deport “anyone who works against the State of Israel” and to give soldiers more freedom to shoot Palestinians.”

“Israel’s centrists and leftists fear these calls mask far more frightening goals. Many in Israel’s Palestinian minority, which forms about a fifth of Israel’s population of 9 million, fear the right-wing stances are code for the expulsion of large numbers of Palestinians.”

“These are difficult days,” said Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian lawmaker in the Israeli Parliament. “This isn’t the ordinary, classic right that we know. This is a change — in which a racist, violent right wing threatens to turn into fascism.”

“In Israel, Mr. Netanyahu’s opponents fear that his return will empower the more extreme figures in his coalition. One of them, Bezalel Smotrich, wants to be defense minister; Mr. Ben-Gvir, wants to oversee the police force.”

“Until 2020, Mr. Ben-Gvir hung a portrait in his home of an Israeli settler who shot dead 29 Palestinians in a West Bank mosque in 1994. As a teenager, Mr. Ben-Gvir was barred from army service because he was considered too extremist. He also describes a hard-line rabbi who wanted to strip Arab Israelis of their citizenship as his “hero.”

“We are heading in a direction that heralds nothing good,” said Ms. Touma-Suleiman, the Palestinian lawmaker in the Israeli Parliament. “We feel that we are being targeted.”

As per a September 12, 2023 NBC article based on AP reporting, “Israeli Supreme Court hears challenge to Netanyahu judicial overhaul:”

Israel’s Supreme Court opened the first case to look at the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul — deepening a showdown with the far-right government that has bitterly divided the nation and put the country on the brink of a constitutional crisis.

In a sign of the case’s significance, all 15 of Israel’s Supreme Court justices are hearing appeals to the law together for the first time in Israel’s history. A regular panel is made up of three justices, though they sometimes sit on expanded panels. The proceedings were also being livestreamed.

“It’s a historic day,” said Susie Navot, vice president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank that has been critical of the overhaul. “This is the first time we’ve had this kind of hearing.”

“Netanyahu’s coalition, a collection of ultranationalist and ultrareligious lawmakers, launched the overhaul early this year after taking office. Proponents of the plan say the country’s unelected judiciary, led by the Supreme Court, wields too much power.”

“Critics say the plan to weaken the Supreme Court removes a key safeguard and will concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.”

“We stand here today with millions of citizens to stop the government coup,” said Eliad Shraga, chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which filed the petition along with a handful of other civil society groups. “Together we will preserve Israeli democracy.”

“Tuesday’s hearing puts senior justices in the unprecedented position of deciding whether to accept limits on their own powers. It focuses on the first law passed by parliament in July — a measure that cancels the court’s ability to strike down government moves it deems to be “unreasonable.” Judges have used the legal standard in the past to prevent government decisions or appointments viewed as unsound or corrupt.”

“The judicial overhaul — which opponents characterize as a profound threat to Israeli democracy — has infuriated Israelis across many segments of society, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets to march at one protest after another for the past 36 weeks.”

“Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas. Many of his supporters are working-class Mizrahi Jews, with roots in Middle Eastern countries, and have expressed hostility toward what they say is an elitist, secular class of Ashkenazi, or European, Jews.”

“The law passed as an amendment to what in Israel is known as a “Basic Law,” a special piece of legislation that serves as a sort of constitution, which Israel does not have. The court has never struck down a “Basic Law” before but says it has the right to do so. The government says it does not.”

“While the attorney general would typically represent the government in such a hearing, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara — a main target of the coalition’s attacks — has refused to defend the judicial overhaul in court. The sponsors of the law then turned to outside counsel.”

“(The Supreme Court) is likely to decide not only what the constitution means, but what can be in it,” said Eugene Kontorovich of the conservative Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum. “This eliminates any possible check on the already powerful Court.”

“Opponents contend that the court is a key check on majority rule in a country with such a weak system of checks and balances — just one house of parliament, a figurehead president and no firm, written constitution. They say that without the power to review and overturn some government decisions, Netanyahu’s government could appoint convicted cronies to Cabinet posts, roll back rights for women and minorities, and annex the occupied West Bank.”

“We must remember that democracies don’t die in one day anymore,” Navot from the Israel Democracy Institute said. “Democracies die slowly, step by step, law by law. “

“Netanyahu has refused to say clearly whether he would respect a decision by the court to strike down the new law.”

See: Timeline: Israeli Government’s Judicial Overhaul Plan / US News…

Israeli Supreme Court hears first challenge to Netanyahu’s divisive judicial overhaul / AP…