Trump, Netanyahu’s refusal to accept responsibility threatens democracy - opinion

SEPTEMBER 26, 2026 01:10The illiberal view of power and rejection of checks and balances shared by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu go hand in hand with a refusal to take responsibility before their respective peoples, raising the gravest concerns ahead of crucial electoral deadlines in Israel and the United States.During a scandal in France in the 80s, French health minister Georgina Dufoix uttered words that would go down in history, declaring herself “responsible but not guilty.” If this formula accurately captured, to some extent, the nature of ministerial responsibility, it was widely perceived as a way of shirking accountability.“Neither responsible nor guilty” could be the motto claimed today by Netanyahu and Trump, who have turned political irresponsibility into an art of governance.After a term in office marked by the October 7 massacre, “Mr. Security” still refuses, nearly three years after this major failure, to acknowledge the slightest responsibility. While all the heads of the security establishment have resigned – the army, military intelligence, internal security, and the Defense Ministry– Netanyahu has managed to remain in office, unlike Golda Meir after the Yom Kippur War, thanks to a coalition that is all the more tightly united because it knows how unpopular it is and therefore that it would be swept away in the event of early elections.Voters casting ballots in Israel's 25th Knesset election (credit: REUVEN CASTRO)Once again, shamelessly, he has shifted the blame onto the army and intelligence services, which allegedly failed to wake him in time, in a form of revisionism that outrages a majority of Israelis.The latter are nevertheless accustomed to Netanyahu’s refusal to acknowledge his mistakes, whether over Israel’s isolation, the deterioration of the Israeli-American relationship, or the exodus of the country’s most talented and productive people since his attempt at judicial reform, which sought to weaken the rule of law in Israel.The same inability to accept responsibility for even the slightest failure can be seen with Trump, on issues such as inflation caused by the tariffs and the poorly managed war in Iran, or the loss of American credibility around the world. On all these issues, Trump refuses to accept any responsibility, either by denying that any problem exists or by wrongly blaming his predecessors.This inability to acknowledge any responsibility is also evident in the judicial arena, as both men face extremely serious allegations: corruption in one case and rape, among other accusations, in the other.For Netanyahu and Trump, any judicial culpability can only be the product of corruption within an institution determined to bring them down and oppose the will of the people, in an approach rooted in pure demagogic populism.These demagogues like to invoke the people to circumvent despised institutions such as the press or the judiciary, which could hold them accountable – both politically and judicially. But this appeal to the people is a smokescreen.Their autocratic tendencies and survival instinct lead them to distrust the verdict of the people – the ultimate check on power – as demonstrated by their attempts to restrict freedom of the press, access to voting, candidates’ access to the ballot, or the ability to challenge the outcome of an election that has gone, or might go, against them.Survival by shifting the blameUnlike the sign reading “The Buck Stops Here” on Harry Truman’s desk, Netanyahu and Trump have turned the art of shifting blame into an art of survival. Their refusal to accept any responsibility could drive them to extreme measures in an effort to reject the verdict of the ballot box, which could ultimately bring them before the courts or to impeachment.With elections looming in Israel and the US, these despised checks and balances and democratic institutions could play a crucial role in forcing these two men to acknowledge a potential electoral defeat that would be essential for both countries’ return to democratic normalcy, where accountability matters.Born and raised in France, the writer is the correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, and of the French paper librejournal.fr in the US, where he has been living for 16 years. He is also a contributor to the European review K. He holds US and Israeli citizenships. His opinions are his only.Follow us on Google