JANUARY 27 • 2022 | 5

gather a book group for 
clergy, so that we can 
study deeply and reflect 
upon social issues that we 
can best address together. 
We need to establish 
advocacy coalitions to 
push together for better 
governmental monitoring 
of Islamophobia and the 
overdue confirmation of Dr. 
Deborah Lipstadt as U.S. 
Special Envoy to Combat 
and Monitor Antisemitism. 
We need to dream about 
more Muslim-Jewish 
community centers and 
shared spaces for gathering. 
We need to create a joint 
fundraising mechanism 
to seed new ventures and 
increase resources for 
grassroots organizations 
like the Muslim-Jewish 
Solidarity Committee and 
the Sisterhood of Salaam 
Shalom. We have countless 
common causes but have 
underbuilt mechanisms to 
act upon them. 
In honor of Rabbi 
Cytron-Walker’s heroism 
and longstanding 
commitment to interfaith 
collaboration; in memory 
of Dr. King; for the sake of 
ourselves and our children, 
we are called to do better. 
The American Muslim 
and Jewish communities 
are vibrant, empowered 
and open-minded. In the 
wake of Colleyville, we need 
to build as never before. 
Together, we can. 

Eboo Patel is founder and pres-

ident of the Interfaith Youth Core 

and author of the forthcoming 

book, “We Need to Build.” Joshua 

Stanton is rabbi of East End Temple 

in Manhattan, Senior Fellow of 

CLAL – The National Jewish Center 

for Learning and Leadership, and 

co-author of the forthcoming book, 

“Awakenings.” 

opinion

For The Country’s Sake, 
Netanyahu’s Trial Must Go On
T

he more opposition 
leader Benjamin 
Netanyahu’s trial 
moves forward, the more it 
appears his indictment, in 
which hundreds of millions 
of shekels have 
been invested 
and which has 
dragged Israel 
into a state 
of political 
chaos, was in 
fact aimed at 
promoting a 
government revolution.
And it worked. 
 Central witnesses for the 
prosecution, who are mainly 
state witnesses, have now 
become witnesses for the 
defense. Police investigators 
on the witness stand say 
they did not really know 
what they were supposed 
to investigate, beyond the 
expectation they find a few 
testimonies to incriminate a 
target marked as corrupt in 
advance. 
The investigative methods 
have been revealed to be 
questionable, bolstering the 
impression that witnesses 
were improperly pressured 
and told what to say, among 
other things. Such methods 
are reminiscent of those 
used in dark regimes that 
combine propaganda, 
mass psychology and 
disinformation.
It seems every reasonable 
citizen has now come to 
understand that it is not 
just the opposition leader 
who is on trial but senior 

law enforcement officials, 
who have severely damaged 
Israeli democracy. We will 
pay for the damage for many 
years to come. There cannot 
be genuine rule of law when 
the public’s level of trust in 
the law enforcement system 
has been reduced to an 
unprecedented low.
Netanyahu, therefore, did 
right by the State of Israel 
when he refused to surrender 
and decided to fight for his 
innocence. Had he quit, the 
cases against him would 
have likely been closed, 
and his bitter rivals in the 
media would have praised 
his courage. His obstinacy 
will pay off for all of us and 
will ultimately lead to the 
comprehensive and vital 
repair of the justice system.
In recent days, the 
question of a plea bargain 
has been brought to the 
table. This is a complicated 
issue, and an agonizing 
deliberation for Netanyahu. 
We must, however, 
differentiate between the 
private and the public 
realms. 
In the private realm, 
all reasonable people 
understand Netanyahu’s 
chances of receiving 
a fair trial are slim. A 
sweeping acquittal on all 
accounts would be too 
harsh an indictment of 
the law enforcement and 
justice systems to which 
the court belongs. Under 
such circumstances, a plea 
bargain could save a lot of 

aggravation and years of 
litigation that could serve 
as fuel for the slanderous 
campaign against the former 
premier.
(Even if he were to 
decide to sign a plea deal, 
Netanayahu was right not to 
have agreed to do so earlier. 
His willingness to come this 
far has served to expose 
much of the State Attorney’s 
Office’s negligence and bias.)
Yet out of genuine concern 
for national values and 
the future of the state, the 
trial must go on. The many 
donors who contributed 
to Netanyahu’s defense 
campaign, which managed 
to raise impressive funds 
in hours, did so in the 
belief that the country’s law 
enforcement system needs to 
be fixed. 
This is not about charity 
for Netanyahu. It’s about the 
belief that only he can now 
lead the struggle to reveal 
the distortion and fix the 
justice system.
Otherwise, every elected 
official in Israel will be at 
the mercy of the system. 
In this manner, Israeli 
democracy will be handed 
over to a small and unelected 
oligarchy whose senior 
representatives will always 
find themselves in cushy 
positions after concluding 
their public service roles as 
Israel’s true leaders. 

Dr. Haim Shine is a faculty member of 

Israel’s Academic Center of Law and 

Science, and a member of the Jewish 

Agency’s Board of Governors.

Haim Shine
JNS.org

