Enablers - by Amos Guiora (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Enablers: Normalizing the Unimaginable calls for holding Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's enablers accountable for two great harms: his campaign to destroy the rule of law in Israel, and October 7th and its aftermath, particularly the calculated failure to negotiate the immediate release of all hostages.

On October 8, 2025, an agreement was reached to end the Gaza War, which began October 7, 2023, and to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. The initial focus of the book was the judicial "reform" efforts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the undermining the rule of law. The book's scope expanded in response to the government's determined efforts to block opportunities to negotiate the release of hostages. The agreement changes nothing when it comes to holding those accountable for what could have been avoided. This crisis exists within a larger web of deeply intertwined conflicts in the region.

While acknowledging the gravity of all these realities, this book deliberately chooses a narrower focus, examining the patterns of enabling that facilitates the harmful actions of PM Netanyahu. The author, here and elsewhere, proposes the criminalization of enabling - allowing and abetting acts of violence and abuse - by individuals and institutions, and it exposes how enablers in Israel normalized the unimaginable.

Review Quotes

"Professor Guiora's work not only
indicts enablers surrounding the current Israeli Prime Minister, who will no
doubt face further criminal investigation once he leaves office, but also
extends much needed legal analysis to the overarching aiding and abetting
framework as well."
--Michael J. Kelly, director,
Samuel & Ida Kaiman Center for International Criminal Justice &
Holocaust Studies, Creighton University School of Law

"Professor Amos Guiora highlights
the importance of the theme of the enabler and the need to hold them
accountable. This great book serves a purpose regardless of Israel. It's a
tremendous contribution to a universal theme."
--Paul
Cliteur, emeritus professor of jurisprudence, Institute for the
Interdisciplinary Study of the Law, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

"Society has long recognized
legal accountability for direct participants in crimes, but Amos proposes legal
accountability as well for those who enable crimes through their inaction and
deliberate silence."
--Moe Davis, U.S. Air Force
colonel (retired); former chief prosecutor for the Military Commissions at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

"It takes courage for a child of
Holocaust survivors--an Israeli at that, a Jew, but first and foremost a mensch
and a philosophical scientist--to dedicate his research to "complicity," to the
responsibility of bystanders, or better, their lack of responsible action. His courage
lays in the focus of his criticism: The leadership of his nation, a nation that
should have been the safest place on earth for Jews; a nation that instead
became hell on earth from October 7, 2023, to January 27, 2026, with the return
of the remains of Ran Gvili. But his criticism is just and justifiable and
important for the future."
--Hans Moll, Dutch
journalist and author

"I have always admired Amos's
willingness and ability to deliver thought-provoking, common-sense analysis of
thorny issues that often make people uncomfortable. That's exactly what he does
in Enablers: Normalizing the Unimaginable. Society has long recognized legal
accountability for direct participants in crimes, but Amos proposes legal accountability
as well for those who enable crimes through their inaction and deliberate silence.
In doing so, he demonstrates that love of country does not require obedient submission
to a country's leaders when they abuse their power. This book could not be more
timely or more consequential."
--Moe Davis, U.S.
Air Force colonel (retired); former chief prosecutor for the Military
Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

"In his typical unflinching manner,
Guiora describes and then seeks to dismantle the scourge of "enablers" in high
places. In so doing, he defies his detractors and demands justice and
accountability. Silence is no longer an option. 'I was just following orders' is
no longer an excuse. Guiora seeks to make enabling a crime. In this book he
bravely unmasks the perpetuation of the abuse of power at the highest levels of
the Israeli government. The influence of his work will extend to the United
States and to all governments where elected leaders are enabled by those who
seek political favor and status at the expense of the people they are elected
to serve."
--The Rev. Dr. John C. Lentz, Jr.,
Pastor Emeritus, Forest Hill Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

"Professor Guiora's work not only
indicts enablers surrounding the current Israeli Prime Minister, who
will no doubt face further criminal investigation once he leaves office, but
also extends much-needed legal analysis to the overarching aiding and
abetting framework as well. . . . It is at once an important road map
exposing corruption within the current regime and a welcome contribution
to the literature on accomplice liability."
--Professor
Michael J. Kelly, director, Samuel & Ida Kaiman Center for International
Criminal Justice & Holocaust Studies, Creighton University School of Law

"Democratic erosion and the dangers
of unchecked power confront us every single day. While the focus of such
activity has been on Israel of late due to the Netanyahu government's efforts
to "reform" the judiciary (a euphemistic term for gutting the judiciary) and causing
untold delays in the ultimate release of the October 7th hostages, one needs
only look to Hungary, Turkey, Russia, and the United States for other examples
of enablers allowing unchecked power of their country's leader to erode
democratic values. Professor Amos Guiora's new book Enablers: Normalizing
the Unimaginable looks at what happened on the ground in Israel and why the
enablers of Prime Minister Netanyahu should be held accountable for their
actions before a court of law. A must read!"
--Joseph
B. Pereles, arbitrator, mediator, and neutral evaluator, JAMS (formerly
Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services)

"Amos Guiora's newest book is a game
changer in understanding not only Israeli but global politics past and present.
Gaining access to the very top leadership and influencers in Israeli society,
Guiora exposes how Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to perpetrate crime after
crime, endangering Israeli democracy and the rule of law. From the Holocaust to
sexual predation, it is the enabler who allows these crimes to occur. Guiora
holds the enablers' feet to the fire. Without question, Guiora's brilliant book
is essential reading."
--Emily Mann, award-winning
playwright, screenwriter, director, and artistic director

"This is a uniquely substantial and
eminently informative work that chronicles how structural, political, and
social factors gave rise to leadership impunity and the enabling of the same,
not only in Israeli society but globally. Amos Guiora presents a masterwork for
legislatures, constitutional writers, and informed citizens to strengthen legal
systems, promote transparency and accountability in government, and advance the
common good."
--Kevin H. Govern, professor, Ave
Maria School of Law