New York Times Calls Benjamin Netanyahu ‘Autocrat’ for Aggressive Coronavirus Response

The New York Times described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “autocrat” this week, due to his early and aggressive response to the coronavirus, which is now considered among the best in the world.

Israel placed a travel ban on China on Jan. 30 — only one day before President Donald Trump did so in the U.S. Netanyahu also imposed other restrictions quickly for fear the virus would spread in the densely populated country.

In an article titled, “For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power,” the Times — in the news section — the Times names Netanyahu first in its list of “autocrats” abusing the crisis for their own ends:

The Times claims (original link embedded):

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has authorized his country’s internal security agency to track citizens using a secret trove of cellphone data developed for counterterrorism. By tracing people’s movements, the government can punish those who defy isolation orders with up to six months in prison.

And by ordering the closing of the nation’s courts, Mr. Netanyahu delayed his scheduled appearance to face corruption charges.

That passage is partly false: Israel has not closed its courts. They remain open for emergency functions. And the reason Israel is tracking cellphone data is because it has learned from South Korea that tracking the past movements of people who are found to be infected is a good way to warn others who may have interacted with a victim.

The Times never explains the public health rationale for Netanyahu’s actions. Moreover, far from being a dictator, Netanyahu has reached out to opposition leader Benny Gantz to share power in a government of national unity.

Today, according to some analyses, Israel is the “safest country in the world” regarding coronavirus, though its residents are largely sheltering at home, and there is a major outbreak in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

But the Times coverage shows the price that democratically-elected leaders pay for acting aggressively to stop the coronavirus. The Times attacks Trump for not acting even earlier, and calls Netanyahu an “autocrat” for doing so.

Given the fact that Democrats — with editorial support from the Times — were pursuing Trump’s impeachment trial during the period when coronavirus first appeared, one can only imagine the coverage had he been more draconian.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.