The prime minister is caught up in a zero-sum game. The protests, the disruptions, the doctors' strike, the refusal of the pilots, the pressure of the Americans, everything is overflowing. On the other hand, more and more ministers are openly saying that without the sheep of reasonableness there is no government. This is also the message that will be conveyed to him by thousands of right-wing demonstrators who will arrive in Kaplan on Sunday. Netanyahu has no interim solution. There is no easy delay, as was the case last time when he stopped the legislation before the spring recess. Most of all, he would like the event to be behind him. Not sure this is possible.
On Monday, Netanyahu met with the defense minister and the chief of staff for a six-on-one meeting to discuss the implications of the refusal letters that have been sent, mainly as press releases, frequently since the legislation was renewed with the explosion of talks at the president's residence. In the previous round, which ended with the dismissal of Yoav Galant (which was canceled) and the halt of the legislation, Netanyahu refused such a meeting, despite the defense minister's pleas. With him, with Galant, he was willing to meet, but not with the chief of staff.
It was a different time. Netanyahu was furious with the defense minister and Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who, he claimed, were not doing enough to combat the pilots' refusal, and any attempt by Galant to raise the issue with him was unsuccessful. This time the situation is different. Refusal is the same, but Gallant's attitude has changed. He aligned himself with Netanyahu and sent harsh words against the letter signers and reservists.
Photo Archive: Ariel Hermony, Ministry of Defense
The chief of staff also joined. In his remarks before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he placed the entire blame on the refuseniks and those who encourage them. During the meeting with Netanyahu, the chief of staff clarified that despite the noise and bells, so far the extent of the actual refusal does not pose a danger to the IDF's competence. By the time the legislation passes, the volumes may increase.
The chief of staff was deterred by something else in his talks with the top echelons of the political establishment. The IDF's competence is robust, but cohesion has been severely damaged. Perhaps the most difficult since the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces. There were always political arguments between the soldiers. Election campaigns. Wars. Controversial moves and more. But what is happening inside the army this time is much more than that. There are units that have been torn apart by mutual loathing. It has long been not only ground personnel and pilots, but in many additional units. According to the chief of staff, in those conversations, it is possible that after this wound within the army opens, it will no longer be possible to heal it.
Senior defense officials attribute the change in direction of the chief of staff, who until now has been wary of taking a position in the debate, to a statement issued by Netanyahu's office after the phone call with Biden. The statement said the prime minister told the US president that the legislation planned for next week was a fait accompli. Herzi Halevy understood from the announcement that it was no longer possible to persuade the government to drop the legislation, as Galant tried last time.
Gantz is looking for a renewed renaissance
Netanyahu feels that he has overcome several major hurdles on the way to enacting the first clause of the reform, such as President Biden, the Histadrut and the refuseniks, and during the recess he will try to return the country to normal. He does not intend to fire the attorney general or make any conscious use of the law, but rather to create quiet and formulate economic and security plans, at a time when the northern arena is already bubbling on the brink of boiling.
He does intend to establish the government commission of inquiry into the police spyware affair (Pegasus) shortly after the passage of the Reasonableness Law, and perhaps even using it, if there are petitions to the High Court of Justice against its establishment.
Benny Gantz's call to reach an agreement with Netanyahu is intended to save his situation before it deteriorates further, to portray him again as moderate and responsible, and mainly to leave Yair Lapid with the extremists of the demonstrators and embark on a new path separately
Benny Gantz, presumably, did not believe that Netanyahu would buy his wares when he offered "agreement in exchange for consent" later in the legislation. For Gantz, the story is not the prime minister, or even the Reasonableness Law, but the polls.
Trying to get back to himself. Gantz, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Gantz belatedly realized that he was the one paying the main price for blowing up the talks at the president's residence. The conversations brought him an Edna he never had. Of the three players on the scene, along with Netanyahu and Lapid, Gantz reaped the jackpot. The rightists were angry with Netanyahu and left him, Lapid became too extreme and devoted himself to the protest, including its violent and lawless acts, while he, Gantz, became the most moderate and responsible element around.
In the polls, Gantz's standing soared, both on the question of suitability for prime minister and on the number of seats for his party. But then the talks ended, Netanyahu returned to the base that had strengthened him, and from here the path to Gantz's deterioration was short. Until this week, Gantz coordinated all the moves against the reform with Lapid. The two issued joint press releases, entered the president's residence together and went out together, and the end is known. The press conference in which he called for agreements with Netanyahu was intended to save the situation before it deteriorates further, to portray Gantz again as moderate and responsible, and mainly to leave Lapid with the extremists of the demonstrators and embark, once again, on a new path separately.
"Clean" where possible
A reduction in the cause of reasonableness is only a symptom. The left has come to terms with the fact that the right can be in power as early as 1977, with the rise of Begin, but only on condition that the real centers of power – the government bureaucracy, the General Workers' Union, the top echelons of the defense establishment, the legal advisers, and of course the justices of the High Court of Justice – continue to have one hand on the wheel and ensure that the leadership does not deviate from the boundaries of the sector that reflects their values. Therefore, now, despite the demonstrations and protests, the right sees an opportunity to change reality. Not only reforms in the judicial system, but also in the other public spheres that he neglected all these years.
On Wednesday in the Knesset, Justice Ministry Minister David Amsalem announced the next step in "cleansing" leftist strongholds in the corridors of power: ending the curriculum of the Wexner Foundation, which has been granting scholarships to civil service workers for years. "In my opinion, there is a problem when an employee goes abroad for a period of studies of months at the expense of the fund, and at the same time receives his entire salary from the State of Israel," Amsalem said.
"We also know who they choose (for the fund's program) – not a department manager in the Jerusalem municipality or an income tax inspector in Netanya. The elite chooses itself here too. It's IDF officers who won't know what they're putting in their heads, members of the security forces, senior officials. I view this issue with great severity."
Amsalem burst through an open door. In the Prime Minister's Office (not Netanyahu himself) there are those who have been dealing vigorously with the issue lately. The Wexner Foundation operates several programs in Israel, all of which have in common the funding of master's degree studies in public administration at Harvard University in the United States. Those chosen by the foundation go on to study for about 11 months at the prestigious university, and the foundation finances all the expenses of their stay, a cost that may reach NIS <> million per employee, while at the same time Israel continues to pay the civil servant his salary, and of course keeps his job.
By the end of 2019, the number of graduates of the Foundation among those working in the public service stood at about 480, and it is estimated that in the next three years the number will increase to about <>,<> employees. Among the graduates: Supreme Court justices, many other judges from the District and Magistrate Courts, dozens of employees of the State Attorney's Office, senior IDF officials such as the Chief of Staff, serving generals, the Military Advocate General and more, and of course senior civil service executives from all government ministries.
Karen on re-examination
Wexner isn't the only foundation offering civil servants overseas studies. But some argue that it is the most problematic of all. For years, the right has claimed that quite a few of its graduates got into trouble with the political echelon above them, and even clashed with the ministers appointed to them, in their opinion, because of the perception guiding Wexner graduates that while the minister has the legal authority, the real leader has the spirit to decide what policy is desirable.
Two years ago, the right-wing Im Tirtzu movement petitioned against the participation of civil servants in the program, claiming that it was a benefit. The petition was denied. A year earlier, Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister's son, tweeted harsh remarks against the foundation and its alumni. After receiving a threat of prosecution from several veterans of the fund, including Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin and Noam Tibon, former State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, former ISA Attorney General Eli Bachar, former DIP head Uri Carmel, former senior State Attorney Avia Aleph, Brig. Gen. (res.) Assaf Orion, Avi Barber and Oded Gur-Lavi and media personality Alon Ben David, Netanyahu deleted the harsh tweets and issued a public apology.
In a discussion held by the Constitution Committee on the issue of the Foundation in July 2020, the Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Foundation, Maj. Gen. (res.) Ido Nehushtan said, "For some time now, the Foundation has found itself exposed to a campaign of delegitimization full of ugly accusations and insinuations. The Foundation stands with its head held high and a clear heart in the face of all these things. Let us continue to give public service the best."
Likud MK Shlomo Krei, who initiated the discussion at the time, slammed him in response that "this is a foreign fund with undemocratic influence, and even anarchist. Financial and ideological loyalty endangers the state. If participation is not stopped, we will determine this by law."
The problem facing right-wingers who tried to act against the fund was, therefore, a legal problem, because it is difficult to justify terminating the relationship between the state and the fund because of an agenda.
Until this week. Developments across the ocean have opened an opening, at least opponents of the foundation hope, through which the missing legal argument can be substantiated. It turns out that proceedings have been underway in US courts against the foundation's founder and sole funder, Leslie Wexner, in sex scandals involving Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein was the bookkeeper and asset manager of Wexner, who was his main client, and on whose back he amassed his enormous fortune. The trial concerns a lawsuit by two women who accused Wexner of not only knowing in real time about the sexual harassment they had endured and turning a blind eye, but continuing to fund Epstein even though he already knew where the alleged money was going.
The ring around Wexner grew even tighter when he refused to attend seven court hearings. Two weeks ago, it was ruled that if he refuses to come next time, he will receive a special subpoena from the court forcing him to appear and answer questions about his conduct.
As of now, there is no criminal proceedings against Wexner, but his conduct in the affair is receiving great criticism in the American media, with more and more business companies canceling their relationship with him because of this.
In a letter addressed this week by MK Avichai Boaron (Likud) to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Civil Service Commissioner, Article 5.2 of the Civil Service Commission's procedures was quoted, which states that one of the criteria relating to the nature of the organization, training and learning activities offered as part of the cooperation, is that "cooperation with the organization does not harm the image of the public service."
According to Boaron, "Wexner's conduct does indeed permeate and tarnish the name of the foundation that bears his name, is controlled by him and financed out of his own pocket, and in any case raises a grave, real and certain concern that the good name of those who come through its gates will be harmed, including employees of the public service."
Following the development, the Prime Minister's Office, together with officials in the Ministry of Justice and the Civil Service Commission, is examining the cancellation of cooperation with the Foundation and the suspension of sending civil servants for training until the matter is clarified.
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