Q&A: Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Question
I’m trying to figure out how guilty Prime Minister Netanyahu is for the security situation we’ve reached.
I assume such an operation could not have taken place were it not for the atrocities committed by Hamas. That is to say, even if Netanyahu thought this was what needed to be done, he would never have had any support for it. Not from the army, not from the media, and not from the public. So I’m asking: how responsible is he for the situation?
Answer
I didn’t understand the reasoning. He bears a great deal of responsibility, though clearly not exclusive responsibility. Most of the public, including academia, the media, politics, and more, supported a policy of restraint in one form or another. And the military blunder is of course the army’s.
Discussion on Answer
Obviously. This isn’t a formal concept of responsibility. But in substance, the responsibility lies with everyone.
Exactly like the responsibility for the Shalit deal, which rests on the public as a whole, aside from the very few who opposed it and were portrayed as delusional and evil.
I’m trying to understand: is the Rabbi arguing that this is not his exclusive responsibility because the public, academia, and the media were also partners in the policy of restraint? Or did the Rabbi mention, in passing, other people who were also captive to the same conception?
In other words, my question is whether responsibility can be placed on people who have no formal authority in decision-making, just because of their influence on the decision-makers?