Dictionaries offer many meanings of the word “sinister.” They include: threatening, ominous, bad, evil, base and disastrous. Also: of or on the left side, left, which is the original meaning of the term. When Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entourage describe a political opponent as “smolani.” (שמאלני, literally: on the left), they seem to have all the pejorative meanings in mind.
The latest Israeli politician to be described as a שמאלני by our prime minister is Avigdor Lieberman, the leader/owner of the “Russian” Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose refusal to join the right-wing coalition unless ultra-orthodox (Haredi) men serve in the army on the same terms as others seems to be the cause for another general election this year. Had Lieberman’s demand been met, Haredi parties wouldn’t join the coalition. To form a viable right-wing government, the prime minister needs both haredim and Yisrael Beiteinu.
Hence new elections, which pundits view as a defeat for Netanyahu. In anger he calls Lieberman a lefty, obviously as a term of abuse. The accusation is, of course, unfounded and ridiculous. As a newspaper commentator put it: Netanyahu’s home is in Caesarea, the place where “lefties” live, whereas Lieberman resides in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim, a hotbed of right-wing nationalists.
Moreover, it now appears that, in order to outmaneuver Lieberman, Netanyahu was offering all kinds of political goodies to members of the left-wing Labor Party on condition they replace Lieberman in the right-wing coalition. All that while he labels his real opposition, the centrist Blue and White party – three of its four leaders are former chiefs of staff of the Israel Defense Forces – as rabidly left-wing.
Netanyahu’s devotion to the political right is reflected not only in his admiration for President Trump but also in his allegedly close relations with several right-wing political leaders in Europe. The fact that they tolerate or promote anti-Semitism (to which leaders of the local Jewish communities testify) doesn’t bother the prime minister of Israel. He seems to have declared right-wing anti-Semitism kosher in contrast to the anti-Semitism of the sinister left.
At home, anybody who disagrees with Netanyahu’s attempt to curtail Israeli democracy – when he seeks to constrain the legitimate power of the Supreme Court, and his machinations to avoid prosecution for what seems serious crimes – is one of those lefties, especially if s/he points out that the real reason for the current government crisis is Netanyahu’s determination to avoid prosecution.
All in all, it’s difficult not to see Netanyahu as desperately trying to cling to power while some critics within his ranks and all the opposition seem to know that his time is up. The question is whether the Israeli public will also see it when it goes to the polls again on September 17.
I remain convinced that, whatever the election results, the next government should consist of the two major parties – Likud and Blue and White. Though Netanyahu may stay as prime minister in the short term, the price he’d have to pay is to face a trial in the not-too-distant future and end up where his predecessor Ehud Olmert ended up: in jail.
It’s that situation that Netanyahu is determined to avoid. He’s angry with Lieberman because he brought him nearer to his end as prime minister. And he’s fighting very hard not to have to form a stable unity government where he’ll no longer have the last word.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World