The Fundamental Question In The United States And Israel Is The Same
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/opinion/trump-netanyahu-united-states-israel-autocracy.html
In the above op-ed from The New York Times website on April 8, Tom Friedman draws a host of comparisons between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump as to the manner in which they govern and behave.
Both men are trying to undermine the parts of their governments that are not under their direct control.
Both men want to fill their own branch of government with sycophants and loyalists while firing anyone and everyone who might oppose what they wish to do regardless of its legality.
Both men are at war with parts of their populations they see as unworthy—Arabs in Israel, immigrants, legal or otherwise, in the United States.
But the fundamental question facing both men and both countries is, are the two leaders right? Are they guiding their countries upward or are they trying to turn their democracies into monarchies? Is the plan of the leadership good for the citizens of each democracy?
In Israel, Mr. Netanyahu seems to wish to be both the executive and legislative branch, something possible in a parliamentary form of government, and then emasculate the judicial branch. There are forces opposing him and a majority of the Israeli population is not in favor of his handling of Gaza, the hostage dilemma, and, in fact, the incontrovertible reality that October 7 occurred on his watch, something for which there has still been no accountability on anyone’s part. Why did this monumental failure of security and intelligence ever occur in a country like Israel with a stellar track record in both arenas?
Despite his seeming culpability for 10/7, Mr. Netanyahu will try to fire anyone who disagrees with him (like the head of his FBI equivalent, the Shin Bet). His tenuous hold on power is solidified by the religious right and the settlers. If these groups had their way, Gaza and the West Bank would be annexed and then cleared of all Palestinians.
Here, in the United States, Mr. Trump too seeks to be both the executive and legislative branches of government. In fact, he’s succeeded. Congress is non-functional on either side of the aisle and Trump has no differences of opinion within his Cabinet or anywhere in the executive branch. If he does, as he did with the NSA leadership, those individuals will be fired.
Trump thinks he owns the Supreme Court and can ignore the rest of the federal judiciary. We shall see if he is correct. If he had his way, the country would be cleared of anyone who does not speak English, is not a citizen, and even those born here whose parents were not citizens would be banished.
Now Mr. Trump has taken his megalomania one step further. His imposition of worldwide tariffs has frozen the global economic engine and severely damaged the American stock markets as well as markets overseas. This is all in the name of American exceptionalism and world dominance and Trump’s denial that we are in a globalized economy. The “invisible hand” of Adam Smith is still operative. All markets are global. One country cannot control the world’s economy. To be honest, as so many economists have said, trying to do this is just plain stupid.
As an expert on the subject said on TV last night, not a single piece of the new Nintendo game controller slated for release in June is made in the U.S. Furthermore, even if anyone wanted to make it here, the supply chains of its components are all in Asia. Then there’s the issue of American labor costs. Make it in Nebraska and no one could afford it.
What Mr. Netanyahu does not get is that his people mostly want security and it has broken down on his watch. He needs to pay the price for his lack of managing Hamas, Gaza, and now the hostage crisis. His plan was wrong. It still is. He needs to go.
What Mr. Trump does not get is that it is not 1850. The world of colonialism is gone and the United States cannot be an isolated castle dominating the rest of the economic world.
The U.S. has been through a series of economic crises: 1987, 2008, Covid, but this is the first one caused by the American government—to be accurate by the American President.
Maybe Mr. Trump can bring manufacturing back to the United States. I doubt it. But if he can, it will take years—even longer than the span of his third term. But the economic realities say, that’s just wrong. He’s just wrong. We all are going to pay, especially we retirees.
Fundamentally, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump are wrong.
