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Opinion | The experiment did succeed for Bennett Israel today

2022-07-01T04:51:59.070Z


The outgoing Prime Minister has shown that center-left supporters can support a leadership that represents right-wing policies, as long as it acts fairly for the public


Last Saturday I sat down with a group of friends, who all served with me as officers in the military, ages ago.

What has been said, the State of Israel and the Jewish people have no better people than these - patriots, talented and decent.

The vast majority of them have always voted for the center-left parties, and all have praised the resigning prime minister, Naftali Bennett.

They noted how unthinkable they would have been if they were satisfied with a religious prime minister, former CEO of the Yesha Council, even though he did not change his values ​​in the Prime Minister's Office.

There were also those who acknowledged how dead the old political debate between the blocs was, along with the death of the idea of ​​establishing a Palestinian state.

And so there was a complete consensus that what we needed was leadership that would lead in patriotism, caring and talent, qualities they found in abundance in Naftali Bennett's term.

Kahana and Shaked, Archive, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

I get these impressions from all sides, especially from those who were not right-wing voters and are not part of Benjamin Netanyahu's block of magical influence.

The compliments pile up, although it is known that Bennett refused to negotiate with Abu Mazen, built in Judea and Samaria no less than all Netanyahu's governments, prevented the establishment of a US consulate in Jerusalem, was particularly assertive against Iran and Hamas, and did not follow the center-left campbook. 

And here is revealed the surprising, extraordinary success that lies in the real experiment that has taken place over the past year.

In which the country was led by a prime minister, a justice minister, an interior minister, a housing minister and the like, in a way that is consistent with the worldview of the state right, but was supported by many of the voters on the other side.

Thus the experiment proved that for many voters, there is no other side.

It is enough that the leadership works for the general public in matters of fact, success and fairness, that the elected officials "came to work" and not to defame and deceive.

It has been shown that many center-left voters can, under the right circumstances, live in peace even with the policies of the top right and new hope, if only they trust their leaders.

Without a minute of grace.

Bennett and Lapid, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

This experiment is particularly instructive because it dries up the springs of artificial controversy that have divided us into imaginary camps for two generations.

Almost since the Six Day War, "right" and "left" have been drawn in the shadow of the debate over the fate of Judea and Samaria: whether to give up the territories or not, whether there is a partner for peace or not.

Each of the political camps was willing to pay any price to the ultra-Orthodox parties, with the Labor Party also winking at the Arab women, so that they could allow them to decide.

But it has now been proven that the Israeli public itself is far beyond this division and controversy.

The bloody experiments of Oslo and the disengagement collapsed the theories of peace of the left, and in general the classic set of values ​​of right and left passed from the world.

Especially in the Netanyahu era, in which the principles of the right were redesigned to suit the interests of the leader.

This created a new line of ideological digs - Netanyahu's fans and haters.

The outgoing coalition was formed as a result of a political accident, due to the disgraceful reputation that Benjamin Netanyahu managed to create for himself among his potential partners.

But along the way a clear insight was proved, which was difficult to extract in ordinary circumstances: the old frames of thought are irrelevant.

The historic debate between right and left over the fate of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria no longer exists, it was decided on the ground, as well as the failure of Oslo and the disengagement. The good forces together. 

Shaked's challenge

Because of the smear campaign that emptied the right and Naftali Bennett of most of their voters, I published last week my recommendation to Naftali Bennett, to take a time-out.

I also appreciated that the person who should lead the election now is Ayelet Shaked, as someone who has not lost most of her reputation even among many right-wing voters.

During the week, the stars arranged the set of events in the spirit of last Friday's column, but there is no room to envy Ayelet Shaked.

Her attempt to hold in one piece the ruins of the frame known as the "right" - difficult and challenging, not necessarily possible.

Especially when, according to reports, she encounters threats from MKs to defect and take funding units to other parties.

Only Shaked has a supreme advantage, and it is a resource that is only available to her - a pool of voters.

This is a broad electorate of people, secular and religious, who believe in the worldview she presented to the right in the last election.

The concept of security and settlement known as the right, alongside an economy and a free state.

And most importantly, a decent and decent conduct, without the automatic obedience to the interests of Benjamin Netanyahu and his camp.

These are many people from what was called the "national camp," who do not believe in Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smutrich, and also believe in Ayelet Shaked.

This public is not committed to any of the blocs, and it may even not vote.

He disapproves of Netanyahu's campaign of hatred and denial, but does not burn all the bridges with him, under certain conditions.

On the other hand, he did not succumb to brainwashing and did not rule out Mansour Abbas as a coalition partner, even under the right conditions.

This electoral resource can be mined, if only the right tools of team and campaign are built for it.

The polls on Wednesday night have already predicted for Almond five to six seats, and the potential is much greater.

Especially the possibility of becoming, after the election, a language of political balance, which will give Shaked and her friends power to profoundly influence the performance of the next government and the entire country.

Netanyahu's early joy

The fact that Ayelet Shaked does not completely rule out sitting with Benjamin Netanyahu in the coalition, despite the clear mutual sympathy between them, is - on the face of it - good news for the Bibi camp.

Hence, if the polls that appear this weekend match in November, Netanyahu has the potential to build a coalition, even with it.   

But, it is doubtful whether this is the real goal of the Likud leader, who is conducting a fifth campaign to formulate a political force that will allow him to cancel his trial.

He will not find this power in Ayelet Shaked and her party, which will no doubt veto any of the madness plans to stop the legal proceedings and crush the state institutions.

At the same time, Shaked's entry into the coalition with Netanyahu from an absolute position of power will finally make it possible to force Netanyahu to act with statehood and responsibility, and especially to make moves that the Likud leader rejected and texted throughout his leadership years: from real construction in Jerusalem and the East. 

And at the same time, do not forget, the trial will continue to march at its own pace.

Next week, Hadas Klein will testify and paint a disgusting picture that any political candidate would try to forget, especially during an election campaign.

And so a coalition might be, but in a short time it is likely that the terrible dilemma will also be fully resolved - a plea deal and retirement, or a real risk of going to jail.

Were we wrong?

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-07-01

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