'Yes Netanyahu,' 'No Netanyahu' will dominate Israel's elections - opinion

• Published date: 06 December 2020
• Author: SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF
• Date: 06 December 2020
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

For better or worse it is probably correct that no one in Israeli politics today (or who is likely to enter politics within the next few months) equals Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There is no one with his experience as prime minister. There are very few who have the wide horizons and knowledge that he has (Ehud Barak being one of the few who does, though he is semi-retired from active politics). There is no one as proficient as he is in terms of political cunning, and the arts of political deceit and trickery. And there is no one who has been served with three indictments on criminal charges and is totally immersed in efforts to avoid standing trial, and on tearing down, or at least destabilizing the pillars of the law and justice enforcement institutions in the service of this purpose.

I should like to relate to the first point on this list. There is no one in Israel, dead or alive, who has served as prime minister for longer than Netanyahu. I would add that there is no doubt that in the course of these years he has achieved a lot in the field of foreign policy and the promotion of peace with the Arab world, in the field of macroeconomics and all while strengthening Israel's military power.

His record is much less impressive in terms of dealing with the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, i.e. the Palestinian issue, microeconomics (how the macro-economic achievement permeate downwards to the individual), trying to decrease social rifts, strengthening the education and health systems, etc. He has failed to strengthen the foundations of the Israeli democracy (perhaps he never intended to do this), and to strengthen Israel's Jewishness in a manner that is congenial to all sections of the Jewish society – religious and secular alike. Likewise, he has failed to find an efficient and coherent balance between the free economy and the welfare state, which is undoubtedly due to his belief in neoliberalism (except when it comes to his ultra-Orthodox partners, towards whom he practices an extreme form of socialism).

Certainly, experience is important, but one of the basic principles of democracy is that the prime minister or president should be replaced every few years (in the US a president can serve for no more than two terms – 8 years), simply because too many years in power corrupt, encourage autocracy and prevent trying out new approaches and policies. Besides, if one person remains in power for too many years, how will anyone else gain relevant...