Bibi's Golda moment: Netanyahu is faced with the same situation as Golda Meir - opinion

• Published date: 12 April 2024
• Author: AMOTZ ASA-EL
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

That happened on the morning of 11 April, the fourth day of Passover 1974. At noon Golda Meir emerged from a cabinet meeting, drove to President Ephraim Katzir's residence, and tendered her resignation

The terrorist atrocity in Galilee was proverbial, but it was not the reason for the dramatic decision that ended a 56-year public career.

The reason was the previous fall's Yom Kippur War and the public mayhem it uncorked. "I was following and listening to what's been happening in the public," she told the Knesset in the afternoon. "There is an upheaval I cannot ignore."

Netanyahu is faced with only two options

Half a century on, Benjamin Netanyahu faces the same combination of public wrath and political dead end that Meir faced when Passover 1974 approached. And like Meir, Netanyahu has only two alternatives: resign gracefully or depart in disgrace.

THE SIMILARITIES between Meir's situation and Netanyahu's are clear, and the differences only make his case even worse than hers.

Like Meir, Netanyahu was at the helm when an enemy invasion caught Israel by total surprise. Like Meir, Netanyahu is out to shift the blame to the security establishment. And like Meir, Netanyahu faces a livid public that refuses to listen to his excuses.

And Golda's excuses, though ineffective, were better than Netanyahu's.

As a veteran student of polls, Netanyahu knows that when their results are inconclusive, inconsistent, or sensational they are meaningless, but when their statements are sharp, consistent, and durable – as they have been for half a year in his case – they really tell what the public feels. And the public overwhelmingly feels that Netanyahu's time is up.

Meir's political position was better because despite losing one-tenth of her original voters, she won the postwar election, and retained much of the mainstream electorate. Netanyahu has lost the mainstream electorate. Half a year after the war, and one month before her departure, Meir won 51 Knesset seats. Netanyahu is polling hardly 20.

Golda also had a military argument that Netanyahu cannot make.

Golda inherited her predecessor's defense minister – Moshe Dayan – and never replaced him. Dayan was militarily dominant throughout her premiership.

While there was no arguing Meir's job was to supervise Dayan and when necessary also overrule him, the public still saw the army's performance as a reflection of Dayan's leadership more than hers.

In fact, the main political crisis on the eve of Meir's resignation was a...