Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the so-called “Deep State” on Wednesday in a post on his official social media, adopting rhetoric similar to that used by US President Donald Trump to dismiss his critics. [Getty]
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently facing accusations of trying to concentrate power in the executive branch, has blasted “left-leaning” administrators in a TikTok video warning of the dangers of the “deep state”.
The concept of a “deep state” became mainstream during US President Donald Trump’s first term from 2017-2021.
Trump used the term to accuse officials of working in secret to stall the work of the president and the will of the people who elected him.
In a one-minute video published on his personal account, Netanyahu said: “They want the government and me to be like plants” meaning to sit and do nothing, “but we won’t let them”.
Netanyahu also posted the video on X late on Wednesday, before deleting it.
In the footage, the premier walked the hallways of Israel’s parliament while echoing the rhetoric of his ally in the White House.
“It’s the permanent administration, which barely changes, that is deeply anchored in the Israeli government and decides that it knows better than the voters what is good for them”, he said.
“These people are always leaning to the left”, said the head of the most far-right government in Israel’s history.
“You want to adopt laws that don’t suit us? We block them. You want to appoint officials that we don’t like? We block them”, he said in a caricature of those perceived to be part of the “deep state”.
Netanyahu sparked major protests in early 2023 with plans for judicial reform aimed at curbing the supreme court’s powers, though the programme came to an abrupt halt with Hamas’s October 7 attack.
The Prime Minister has also recently moved to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, a move which has sparked opposition outrage.
Israel’s government also began proceedings in early March to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, a vocal critic of Netanyahu.
