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| Ben-Gvir's hero - mass murderer Baruch Goldstein |
The question is, how is it possible that Netanyahu has so much support with all of his negatives? Which include the following.
He is a man that is hated by the left; a man that has made enemies of many former supporters - even in his own party if he saw them as a threat to his power. He has alienated many of his former voters. He is a man that is on trial for corruption. He is a man that is willing to include the party of Kahanist, Itamar Ben Gvir into his coalition (just as he was willing to include the Arab parties into his coalition in a previous election if that would have enabled him to retain power). He is a man that will sell his soul to the devil - whether it is the extreme right, the extreme left, or the Charedi parties in order to be in power. He is a man that seems to place his own self interests above the interests of his country.
How is that kind of support even possible for a man with so many flaws? Is the Israeli electorate that clueless? Or do they simply not care about the ethics their leaders? Do they not care that Ben Gvir - a man that hung a picture of mass murderer Baruch Goldstein on his wall; a man that justifies - and as a lawyer has defended - extremist right wing price taggers who have violently attacked government institutions for policies they didn't like; and innocent Palestinians that have nothing to do with the terrorism they were reacting to - will now surely be given a powerful ministerial portfolio in a new government?
I don’t think there is a simple answer to any of these questions. But there are certain facts that are undeniable that sways voters to support both Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir.
First even Netanyahu’s political enemies give him credit for improving the Israeli economy – which he did as finance minster under the late Ariel Sharon. It is also true that Israeli security was improved on his watch. He is a master politician and a leader that got things done. That is at least how half the electorate sees him.
The biggest issue facing Israel these days is security. There has been an increased spate of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis. With that in the minds of many typical Israelis, Ben-Gvir’s hard line against Palestinians has substantially increased his popularity among voters. Together with the Religious Zionist party of Bezalel Smotrich with which Otzma Yehudit has combined - they will surely win enough seats to assure Ben-Gvir’s participation in a coalition government led by Netanyahu. Ben-Gvir’s policy of shipping anti Israel Palestinians out of the state smacks of racism, but might actually appeal to increasing numbers of Israelis who are tired of being targets of murderous Palestinian terrorists.
Israelis are not racist. They just don’t want to be killed. In the face of these increasing attacks a lot of voters don’t care anymore how racist Ben-Gvir might be.
Meanwhile Netanyahu’s voters are as loyal as ever. They see him as the best alternative by far to lead the country. Much of that confidence is based on his many years of leadership. His current supporters see his corruption trial as political. They could not care less that Netanyahu received a few expensive gifts like cigars and champagne in violation of Israel’s ethics laws. They feel that it’s not as tough he ever received envelopes filled with cash in a dark back alley.
Did he break the law? Sure. But his supporters don’t consider his crime to be much more serious than a parking ticket. In fact there is talk about changing the corruption laws so that what Netanyahu did will no longer be considered a crime. Furthermore, even if they see him as self serving, they nevertheless see him as an effective leader.
Netanyahu’s opponents – which probably consist of about half of the Israeli electorate can’t stand him! They are appalled by a self serving attitude of placing himself over the best interests of the country. They are appalled by his lack of ethics. And his penchant for throwing former allies to the wolves if he sees them as a threat to his leadership. They consider him the ‘Trump’ of Israeli politics, a threat to Israel’s future, and would vote for the devil before voting for him.
It seems that Israelis are more polarized than ever. Much the same Americans are here, in the US. The question is, what will the seemingly inevitable Netanyahu government be like? Will it spell the end of democracy in the land - turning it into a dictatorship? Do Netanyahu’s voters even care? Will an extreme right wing government whose polices the US will surely oppose - spell the end of US support? I sure hope not.
Just some of my thoughts prior to what may be the most consequential election in Israel’s history.