Ahead of Israel elections, the political outliers are the heroes - opinion

• Author: GIL TROY
• Published date: 29 December 2020
• Date: 29 December 2020
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Answer: When you stop thinking about politics and spend your time obsessively doing basic arithmetic in your head.

You pass your makolet – your corner store. You spy a Maariv headline predicting 26 votes for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud, 21 votes for Gideon Sa'ar and New Hope, 15 for Yair Lapid and Yesh Atid, and 14 for Naftali Bennett and Yamina. You zero in on the parties you could live with, and boom: 21 plus 15 plus 14 equals 50.

As you wonder where they might get another 11 votes for that blessed 61-seat Knesset majority, you also wonder whether they could ever cooperate – while knowing these equations will keep changing.

A week imposing Israel's fourth election in two years and third lockdown in nine months was a doozy. But as Netanyahu continued placing his needs ahead of the needs of nine million Israelis, a few political heroes emerged.

Alas, they're political outliers: none of them has served as IDF chief of staff and none has been served with an indictment. Instead, Ze'ev Elkin, Ram Shefa, and Michal Cotler-Wunsh evoked the old, traditional Zionist values which established Israel, challenging us to imagine a back-to-the-future tomorrow wherein idealism, not cynicism, prevails.

Elkin grabbed the most headlines – justifiably. His searing indictment of Netanyahu was courageous and timely. After serving in the Knesset as a Likudnik for 11 years, including five years in Netanyahu's cabinet; after defending Bibi so intensely for so long, he knew he would be pilloried as a hypocrite and a traitor. After all, he's too right-wing for Likudniks to slam with their usual despicable "curse" – Arab-loving lefty.

Elkin faced the partisan's unappetizing menu when your leader loses his way. First you ask, can I stop his descent, or slow it down? Then you wonder, can being on the inside mitigate the damage? Finally, you calculate: when can I jump ship?

Elkin not only walked – he talked. In his characteristically straightforward, unflashy style, this Russian-born, educator-activist laid out the facts. He confirmed what many of us have been saying for months (and, yes, Elkin had denied): that despite his many skills and achievements, Bibi now holds Israel hostage. He no longer thinks like a statesman about what the people need to thrive, but like a perp about what he needs to survive.

"For personal reasons, you have once again taken the country to its fourth election in two years," while "trying to blame others," Elkin said.

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