The term dereliction of duty most obviously comes to mind in the context of a nation’s military.  In fact I have two close family members who have served and are serving in the military, and they have been involved with issues of dereliction of duty–one in a prosecutorial role; the other in calling in military lawyers for advice on issues related to dereliction of duty and separation of service members from the military.

One short, potent definition of the term is “the shameful failure to fulfill one’s obligations.”  Benjamin Netanyahu is the poster PM for this definition.  As Prime Minister of Israel for what seems like forever, he has failed in every meaningful sense to fulfill his obligations to serve his nation.  Instead, he has turned service into self-service, and into cynical, corrupt self-dealing which, in Bibi’s case, and to invoke a more elaborated definition of the term, “…implies a serious breach of expected conduct, leading to negative consequences or harm.”

Let’s use the short list of consequences and harm:  releasing 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.  Included in that number, Yahya Sinwar, released against the strong advice of a doctor who’d spent significant time with the prisoner and deemed him too dangerous to release.

One can draw a bright line from that move to the horrors of October 7th, a genocidal attack made possible not only by Sinwar’s presence in Gaza, but by bales of cash provided by Qatar to Hamas, with Bibi’s encouragement and approval.

Let’s stop here, for the moment.  If a Prime Minister has core duties to serve as leader of and protect those living within the borders of a given nation, then Benjamin Netanyahu fully embodies the worst kind of........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)