Op-ed: A serious deterioration in the security situation, in addition to a deep economic crisis, is the only thing which may divert the Jewish public opinion from supporting Netanyahu and his ideological twins, or to be more exact—from the world of values they represent.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon will likely control himself. His logic will surpass his loathing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If he is guided by common sense, he won’t risk elections which could make him lose his voters and he won’t commit political suicide by teaming up with Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, who is trying to form an alternative coalition and evade elections.

The Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) will survive, but it will be subject to political supervision which will lead to its degeneration almost immediately after it goes on the air. The active Herzog will fail in kidnapping the government, which is a good thing. An alternative coalition is unworthy of the effort involved in its creation, as it will distort the majority opinion which supports Netanyahu’s views, and will contradict the common tendency in the public to forgive flaws in his behavior. Sara’s whims, the cigars and the champagne, Noni Mozes and the IPBC affair have barely affected his image. Many believe that the perks he took for himself and for his family are trivial things, a justified reward for his work at the service of the nation, and that his war on the media is a patriotic act.

Yair Lapid is a graceful Netanyahu, but the prime minister has considerable advantages and Lapid suffers from significant disadvantages (Photos: Ohad Zwigenberg, Gil Yohanan)
Yair Lapid is a graceful Netanyahu, but the prime minister has considerable advantages and Lapid suffers from significant disadvantages (Photos: Ohad Zwigenberg, Gil Yohanan)

 

Netanyahu remains the barometer that measures the Jewish public’s sentiments most accurately, and there is no one who knows better than him how to stimulate them on Election Day and direct them against his rivals. If the attorney general doesn’t decide to indict him and if the results of the next elections reflect the public’s state of mind, he will likely head the next government as well.

And if it won’t be him, the polls predict, it will be Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid. If one carefully reads the interview he gave Politico magazine several days ago, one will realize that he has done a good job memorizing the lessons of his political experience. His lessons can be summarized in a few sentences: A government is changed when the voters have had enough of it, rather than because the opposition presents fresh ideas. The voters seek change, but are afraid of revolutions, which is why the pragmatic oppositionist will resemble the person he wants to replace.

Lapid will wait patiently, remain aloof, blow bubbles and not commit to anything. He will talk about love: He will love the people, love us with all his heart, love us because he is his people. Occasionally, he will partake in the attack on his people’s haters, whose identity is determined by the Zionist consensus (the “Zoabis,” Breaking the Silence and the BDS). He knows how to write, but a meticulous reader who examines his article, “The prime minister and the sensible power,” which was published in the Institute for National Security Studies journal, won’t find even a shred of thought that hasn’t been voiced repeatedly by routine security-conscious officials.

Yair Lapid is a graceful Netanyahu. That’s quite a lot in light of Bibi’s outrageous personality, but the prime minister has considerable advantages and Lapid suffers from significant disadvantages. Apart from a party, he has never managed anything in his life. His term as finance minister will not be a memorable episode in the history of Israel’s economy. His contribution to the Security Cabinet at times of war was insignificant.

Under these conditions, there is no real alternative to the government. The “Right” and the “Center” are gathering under the wings of Zionist consensus and disagreeing with each other solely about politeness and tactics. The overwhelming majority of Israel’s Jewish citizens is against replacing the “Jewish and democratic” (a regime based on an ethnic distinction) with “all its citizens” (a regime ignoring this distinction). The overwhelming majority is against the fee required for a just peace between Jews and Palestinians and is not attracted to ideas challenging the hegemonic view in the social and economic field.

A serious deterioration in the security situation, in addition to a deep economic crisis, is the only thing which may divert the Jewish public opinion from supporting Netanyahu and his ideological twins, or to be more exact—from the world of values they represent. The demographic trends in the Jewish population and the lessons from the history of modern times show that turning to the right and holding on to a one-dimensional, “strong person,” who is even more nationalist than Netanyahu and Lapid, will actually be the Jewish response to the crisis.

As reported by Ynetnews