On reshuffling the deck – Amos Harel in Haaretz:

‘The question now is whether the latest security events have reshuffled the deck. Escalation in the territories, and certainly a possible conflict in Lebanon, could completely take over the agenda and force the opposition to reexamine its steps. At the same time, this could also be the signal for Netanyahu to announce the shelving of the government coup plan, which so far has only put the country into a tailspin without yielding any benefits for him. It is also clear that a concrete security escalation will end, at least temporarily, the reservists’ threats not to report for active duty.’

(…)

‘He reiterated several times the claim that the reservists’ threats not to report for duty constitutes “drawing the threat of an IDF walkout from the scabbard.” He compared the crisis in Israel to the violent demonstrations in France over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age. “Why doesn’t the army there think to strike?” he complained. He ignored the fact that France’s army is a professional body that is not based on mandatory service for young people and does not depend on the motivation of reservists to report for service.’

(…)

‘But Netanyahu’s problem with the defense establishment goes far beyond the generals, or the IDF. If the security escalation is halted, he is likely to try to advance the government coup again. The passage of the legislation in May will be met not only by large numbers of reservists refusing call-up orders. One can assume that mid-rank officers in the career army will desert, and that the practice will spread to the rest of the defense and security agencies. From past experience, the officers in the middle ranks who will follow their conscience are precisely the ones who were expected to lead these organizations in the years to come. Among the serious potential consequences of the judicial overhaul is a concrete decline in the quality of the command level in all organizations. This is a development that should worry every Israeli, not least the prime minister.’

Read the article here.

A decline in the quality of command in all organizations. This is a very discrete way of describing the race to the bottom that Netanyahu, who more and more sounds like Trump, initiated.

Perhaps he will reach the bottom before ‘the officers in the middle ranks’ do.