Rivlin has often spoken about Israel’s four tribes. In reality Israel has far more than that. If, however, we stay focused on what divides us we will never be able to unite.
On Tuesday at midnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government expired, and for the fourth time in two years, the longest serving political leader in Israel again failed to form a coalition after an election.
This was the country’s fourth election in two years and the country may now go to a fifth election, something that not that long ago most people would have thought was unimaginable. Before that happens, it is likely that President Reuven Rivlin will designate someone else to try to form a coalition.
This gives Israelis a chance once again to put sectarian ideologies to the side, if just for a chance at a bit of national unity. The country has always been deeply divided between different groups and factions. However, there have been times of difficulty and great challenges in the past when differences were put aside to come together. That’s how we were able to overcome the existential crisis of 1967 and it’s how we managed to come out of the Second Intifada.
However, the tendency to put ideology to the side in favor of the larger good appears to have been greatly reduced recently. We hear much talk of putting “ego” to the side, but we do not see examples of leaders actually doing what they said they would. Of the few remaining parties in Israel that even have internal primaries, the Likud has become a cult of personality around Netanyahu. This doesn’t sit well with every Likud member, but many choose Netanyahu over what they see as other bad choices. Others have moved on and embraced spin-offs from the Likud.
The other historic party, Labor, almost vanished from the political landscape and had a near-miraculous comeback in the last election under Merav Michaeli. In the place of the historic parties and internal democracies, Israelis have been left with a plethora of religious and right wing parties, as well as other sectarian parties among the Arab Right, the Arab Left, and the Islamist Right. In the center is an ever-changing mix of parties, often led by one person who stays at the top without agreeing to primaries. As seen in recent elections, those parties do not so much have ideology, as mostly a view that anyone would be better to lead Israel than Netanyahu.
Case in point is the ideological position of Bezalel Smotrich. The Religious Zionist Party leader has said his camp should hold their heads high, despite Netanyahu’s failure to form a government, saying “we are still far from losing the battle.” The importance in his view is for the right-wing and religious-Zionist parties to stand united.
“The truth is with us and in the end the truth will win.”
The question remains: what kind of country and leadership Smotrich’s truth and ideology bring to Israel? While there is much value in having ideology and sticking to principles, the art of politics is compromise. It is the art of the possible. In order to attain achievements, politicians must be willing to concede and break promises. That is how politics are played everywhere in democratic systems.
Israel has much to achieve and many threats to confront. It has succeeded in the past by avoiding narrow sectarian and ideological interests and moving forward for the good of the majority. David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin both made compromises. That is how Israel avoided falling into the trap of Jewish civil war despite tensions between competing Zionist groups.
Rivlin has often spoken about Israel’s four tribes. In reality Israel has far more than that. If, however, we stay focused on what divides us we will never be able to unite.
We can look to Jewish history for lessons in this. The ancient Jewish kingdoms failed over divisions similar to modern failed states, in which tribes, ideologies and sectarian religious ethnic parties tore them apart.
Fortunately, Israel is not yet at that point. The goal now must be compromise and a stable coalition. Rivlin has a chance to help guide that, but it’s the politicians who must come together for the common good.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post