Remember the greats of Israeli politics. David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres?
And the Labor Party, dominating politics from 1948 to 1977?
Golda Meir won 49 seats in the election of 1969, and Yitzhak Rabin got 44 seats in the election of 1992. Then a decline, till now it’s three seats, aligned with Meretz. And the polls show 0 seats, as Amir Peretz can’t get it above the minimum to get any.
Peretz is running for the Presidency, competing with the singer Yorham Gaon, a former politician Yehuda Glick, Yitzhak Herzog, and who knows how many others seeking to take over after Reuven Rivlin’s term expires.
Socialism? Pretty much dead in the water. Not only here, but throughout Western Europe. But the essence of widespread welfare care, including full medical treatment remains. Except, of course, in the United States.
What’s missing is a demand for state ownership or management of major commercial, industrial, and financial institutions. That’s pretty much disappeared.
The experience of Stav Shaffir sums up what happened to Israel’s Labor Party. She’s 35 years old, and became prominent in the social protests of 2011. She joined the Knesset after the election of 2013, and remained in the Labor Party as it ran by itself and in combination with others. She left the party after losing a leadership race with Amir Peretz, She heads the Green Party, which coalesced with Meretz, She didn’t make it into the Knesset after the 2020 election. She’s traveling internationally and being interviewed as someone who’s become disillusioned with the functioning of Israeli democracy.
Why the decline toward disappearance of Labor?
Partly it’s a function of personalities; partly a disillusionment with the left, partly a concern for the left’s inclination to support Palestinian demands, and the extremism of those demands as expressed by Palestinians.
There’s no one close to Benjamin Netanyahu with respect to his political skill, and rhetoric in both Hebrew and English. His three indictments and perpetual lying have produced substantial opposition and weekly demonstrations. But nothing certain to unseat him in an election. He’s coddled by supporters in Likud, the most vocal of which add to the animosity, but not enough to overcome support throughout the population. Sort of like that behind his American friend, Donald Trump. It’s hard to explain, but impossible to overlook.
Currently we’re somewhere close to an election, and it seems that the coalition between Likud and Blue White is leading nowhere. Benny Gantz joined with others in a vote to disband the Knesset, but that still needs three more votes to be made final.
Assuming there’ll be an election, when will it be, who will run, and what’ll Bibi’s role be afterwards?
Currently Naftali Bennett, head of Yamina, is Bibi’s closest rival in the polls, but it’s not clear if he will coalesce with Bibi after the voting. Bennett speaks against Bibi, but he won’t answer questions about his post-election plans. He says that left-right no longer characterizes Israeli politics. His party’s name translates as “Right,” and he plus close colleagues have expressed themselves as being even farther to the right than Likud. Yet there’s also a prospect of his aligning with Yair Lapid, Gantz, and Lieberman after the election. With Meretz? With the Arab Party? Those are tough questions. They’d probably give the alignment a Knesset majority, but would challenge Bennett’s tendency to the right.
And there’s likely to be new players in the game. Former head of the IDF Gadi Eizenkot, and present Mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai have been mentioned as running somewhere close to the center, and committed to unseating Netanyahu.
A great unknown is the Palestinians. Their dream of a state based on the boundaries of 1967 with a capital in Jerusalem remains alive, and is a major element in the decline of the left in Israeli politics. For much of the Israeli electorate, the intifada of nearly 20 years ago, and the frequent incidence of terror attacks, plus the repetition of the Palestinian dream remains an element in the rejection of leftist politics. As well as the repeated expressions of lip service or something more serious in countries’ statement of support for a two-state solution.
If there is a solution for the Palestinians?
The pandemic of Coronavirus is also playing a role in politics. Here and elsewhere–except perhaps in the United States–it reinforces the support for publicly provided medical care and–to some extent–the government’s role in providing aid to sectors kept closed. It also provides part of Bibi’s efforts to pose as the great national defender, even though he bends to the pressures to open this and that in a confused situation that challenges comprehension.
Donald Trump’s four years have solidified the American position of uniqueness, in respect to public medical care, and with respect to environmental concerns and a frontal assault on any agreement with Iran.
Trump’s peculiarity remains in his efforts to overturn the election. It’s hard to judge his support on this and other things, but the election was close, and there are still prominent figures supporting his challenges to the outcome.
Lots of speculation in the face of uncertainties.
“We’ll see” is an acceptable conclusion. So far.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World