Netanyahu succeeded in passing the first of his judicial reform proposals in Israel. In dong so, he affirmed the democratic principle that elected governments should respond to the preferences of their voters. He also showed a willingness and openness to compromise.

I hear the objections of the Israeli opposition, and I agree with a few of them. But I also sense a deep political immaturity. Yair Lapid, for example, responded to Netanyahu's offer to negotiate on future reforms by claiming Netanyahu is a puppet of his justice minister.

Now the Israeli left is talking about "civil war." There's no way that will happen, but it does make everyone upset. The radical rejection of Netanyahu's reforms, rather than the (mostly sensible) reforms themselves, has contributed to Israel's credit downgrade today.

Something broke along the way. Somehow the Israeli opposition, lacking a real policy alternative to Netanyahu since the failure of the Oslo peace process and then unilateral disengagement from Gaza, decided that their priority was to get rid of their rival, Netanyahu.

Along the way, they encouraged a bogus prosecution, then acted shocked that the other half of the country re-elected a man who is facing trial. They are trapped in their own nightmare; their leaders are trapped by the radicalism in the streets they whipped up.

I have seen left-wing voices invoking the Ninth of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish Temples. They say Netanyahu is driving similar divisions, but the history of that period shows that the Zealots -- not the "Pharisees" -- were afraid of their own mob.

In the U.S.A., we are living through similar turbulence. A corrupt president continues to lie to the country. The left rejoices at another imminent indictment of Donald Trump. The media largely ignore the facts, not just about Trump but also about Joe and Hunter Biden.

There is a lack of political maturity -- largely on the left, which has adopted, on a transnational basis, the identity of a rebellious teen, for whom the posture of resistance is more important than the substance of the cause. It is a state of mind, not a political program.

The tragedy here is that so many adults are indulging in this self-destructive approach. I don't know what has caused that. I know what could end it: a decision by left-wing leaders -- Biden, Lapid, whoever -- to set an example of magnanimity and maturity.

Conservative leaders should do the same -- but the point is that most, in fact, are dong so. Trump is provocative but he has plenty of critics -- even among his supporters -- to point out what he does wrong. Where are the self-critical voices on the left these days?