Netanyahu posts, then deletes tweet blasting ‘leftist deep state’ from official account

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a scathing tweet in English to the official prime minister’s account on Wednesday evening, blasting a “leftist deep state” working against his coalition. 

The post claimed that “when a strong right-wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s will.” 

While clearly political statements are quite common on Netanyahu’s personal 𝕏 account, his office has usually kept the official account for posting messages related to his role as head of state. 

Shortly after the message was posted, it was then deleted, but not before being seen by 𝕏 owner, Elon Musk, who responded with a “100%” emoji. 

The post appeared to show Netanyahu further aligning his language and behavior with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long railed against a “deep state” opposing his campaign and his presidency. 

The term “deep state” is often used to refer to bureaucrats and career government workers, who maintain their positions longer than many of the elected politicians, and who shape the government to their will, despite the position of elected leaders. 

The post was liked by Netanyahu supporters, many of whom share his distrust of a bureaucracy that appears to be increasingly out of sync with the growing religious right-wing movement in Israel. Several of Netanyahu's coalition partners have also spoken about a deep state opposing their objectives. Netanyahu's post was slammed by many of his political opponents. 

Opposition party Yesh Atid responded with a message of its own, attacking Netanyahu. 

“Netanyahu has completely lost it. He has gone off the rails,” the party post stated. “The Israeli Prime Minister is spreading dangerous conspiracies, undermining the rule of law, and slandering Israel. He is in a panic – he knows that his inner circle is mired in foreign interests and that the truth will be revealed.” 

“This is not leadership, this is dangerous and embarrassing panic,” the message concluded. 

Opposition politician Benny Gantz, head of the National Unity party, posted a response. “A strong leader in Israel would focus on returning our hostages and fighting our enemies, not on the Shin Bet, the IDF, and the legal system.” 

“Netanyahu is behaving like an anarchist, not like a leader of the entire country,” Gantz wrote. “His campaign of delegitimization against state bodies in Israel due to his personal and legal situation is dangerous, weakens the people and crushes all systems of government.” 

Other opponents noted the irony of Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, with over 20 years in the Knesset, accusing a “deep state” of stopping him. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog used his official account to praise the judiciary in Israel, without directly quoting Netanyahu. 

“Israel’s strong and independent judicial system is an asset to our democracy, and the President of Israel is very proud of it,” the message said. 

Netanyahu later reposted the same message on his 𝕏 account. 

In America and in Israel, when a strong right wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people's will. They won't win in either place!
We stand strong together.

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 19, 2025

The message was shared by the prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, who wrote, "An important message to the Deep State in Israel, you are on the radar of the United States of America.” 

The prime minister has been increasingly adopting the same populist language used by Trump and other right-wing politicians. 'Deep state' has been a common theme when describing political opponents. 

After the coalition voted to approve the return to the government of former National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and his Jewish Power party, Netanyahu also used the term 'deep state' to attack his opponents, and compared the situation in Israel to that in the United States. 

“The public understands today what the ‘deep state’ is. They want all the power to be in the hands of the court because they don’t want democracy. When I insisted on opening the media to competition, the public didn’t understand. Today, it does. They talked to me in the U.S. about the ‘deep state’ I said, over there it’s a puddle, here it’s an ocean. We’re done staying silent; we will stand firm against this,” he said, according to Israeli media.