Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reported attempt to cancel the general election he called for next September is viewed as evidence that he knows that he’s likely to lose this time. His allegedly faithful ally Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is helping him and thereby, it seems, tarnishing his own reputation.
The Blue and White party is against cancelling the election. It’s currently the major rival to Netanyahu’s Likud. Led by former top general Benny Gantz, writer and TV personality Yair Lapid, and two other former chiefs of staff, the party emerged in the elections last April as a centrist party. Its leaders know that the prime minister called the election in September to prevent President Rivlin from inviting them to form a government once Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the “Russian” Yisrael Beiteinu party wouldn’t, for reasons of his own, join Netanyahu unless the coalition would insist that ultra-Orthodox men serve in Israel’s armed forces like all other Jewish citizens.
The leaders of Blue and White say that they know what Netanyahu knows: that he’s about to lose badly in the next round. Insisting that it’s too late to stop holding the election, they seem to be confident that they’ll form the next government.
To make life even more difficult for Netanyahu and perhaps also for Blue and White, another former chief of staff has entered the race and announced the formation of yet another political party. Ehud Barak, often described as Israel’s most decorated soldier, has served as prime minister and as minister of defense in a Netanyahu government.
His statement Tuesday was strong and persuasive: fighting for staying out of prison because of the pending charges against him, Netanyahu is doing potentially irreparable harm to Israel’s political system. The election he called will finally send him home (or to jail) and enable the country to function properly again. Barak may be able to bring together the left-leaning and liberal forces in the land, including many members of Likud who’ve had enough of their current leader.
Barak is a former head of Israel’s Labor party. Though Avi Gabbay, the leader who did badly in the last election, has now resigned, Barak isn’t seeking to replace him. He’s forming his own party in the hope of getting the votes of many Israelis who realize that the current dysfunctional political set-up is putting the country at risk and that something new and different is needed..
A coalition with, or under, Barak plus Blue and White and what will be left of Labor could bring back Israeli politics to its senses and free it from what more and more Israelis see as Orthodox extortion and right-wing extremism. The fact that the leaders of the two Orthodox parties are also facing criminal charges doesn’t make things easier.
For the record: Netanyahu has done much good for the country. Its current standing in the world – reflected, most recently, in the meeting in Bahrain and the security conference with the United States and Russia in Jerusalem – is evidence of its importance in the world. But human weakness coupled with the proverbial addiction to power has become a serious threat that requires some politicians, including the prime minister, to quit. The emergence of Blue and White and the return of Ehud Barak may secure Israel’s prominence and point to further successes in years to come.
To make this happen, a change of political leadership is essential. It may be on its way.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World