8 | APRIL 8 • 2021
analysis
Israel Still Can’t Make Up its
Mind About Netanyahu
W
hen the first exit
polls were pub-
lished, it seemed
as if the long stalemate had
been ended. Within a couple
of hours, howev-
er, the polls had
been revised,
and by the end
of a long night
and morning
of counting, it
turned out that
the deadlock
between those who wish to
keep Benjamin Netanyahu as
prime minister and those who
want to get rid of him hadn’t
been broken.
With all the ballots tallied,
Netanyahu won the majority
of the vote but doesn’t have a
clear path to a 61-seat majori-
ty needed to form a coalition.
This fourth consecutive
election stalemate in two years
is a discouraging outcome for
the Jewish state. It’s not just an
annoying waste of time. More
than that, it has been estimat-
ed that the cost of holding
these four votes amounted to
$4.24 billion — a staggering
sum for a small country that,
like the rest of the world, is
dealing with the economic
catastrophe caused by the
ongoing coronavirus pandem-
ic. Aside from the not-incon-
siderable expenses involved in
staging the contest, election
days are legal holidays in
Israel. That costs company
holiday pay, as well as a loss
of productivity and sales, even
though some businesses, like
restaurants, benefit from peo-
ple having the day off.
Then there is the plain fact
that the lack of a national bud-
get for 2020 — let alone 2021
— is also a blow to stability
and the country’s economic
well-being.
There is a national con-
sensus that the standoff has
been something of a disgrace
since, among other things, the
frequency of elections means
that Israel has now surpassed
Italy as the home of the most
unstable democracy in the
world. And yet, the one per-
son who hasn’t been hurt by
it is Netanyahu. The failure to
form a stable government has
served him fairly well since it
enables him to govern without
actually winning an election.
Even the lack of a budget has
made it easier for him since
he hasn’t been hampered by
the financial negotiations that
would have undermined his
agenda.
Indeed, in the course of the
last year, Netanyahu hasn’t
just managed to stay afloat.
Since Israel was last forced to
the polls, the prime minis-
ter had what historians may
ultimately say were his two
greatest accomplishments:
the signing of the Abraham
Accords and the successful
effort to get Israelis vaccinated
against COVID-19, enabling
it to be the first of nations to
essentially emerge from the
yearlong pandemic crisis.
Any leader with two such
impressive achievements to
his credit might have expected
to be easily re-elected. But the
election results speak volumes
about both his strengths and
his weaknesses. That’s because
it could also be said that no
prime minister who was fac-
ing trial for three corruption
charges and who had worn
out his welcome with both the
public and political colleagues
after 12 consecutive years in
office could reasonably pre-
sume to emerge from an elec-
tion as the head of the largest
party and as the only person
with a chance to form a gov-
ernment, as is also the case
with Netanyahu.
His able statesmanship and
skillful governance — not to
mention a national consen-
sus behind his core positions
on issues that used to divide
Israel over policy toward the
Palestinians, territory and
settlements — have made him
something of an institution.
It’s no wonder that polls show
that most Israelis (including
many who don’t vote for him)
think that he’s the most qual-
ified person to hold the top
job.
Still, his constant scheming,
untrustworthiness in political
negotiations and the sense
of entitlement that go with
having stayed in office so long
with no thought of groom-
ing a successor, let alone
stepping aside for the next
generation, has also fueled
rage at Netanyahu on the part
of a broad cross-section of
the Israeli public. It may be
created by a mix of partisan-
ship and ideology (many in
the “anybody but Bibi” camp
would be similarly determined
to oppose any Likud leader or
non-leftist), but it is nonethe-
less real. His followers cannot
imagine Israel being led by
anyone else. And yet the fact
that so many Israelis seem
focused on nothing but the
quest to topple him has fur-
ther embittered the country’s
political discourse.
Can Netanyahu find a way
out of the corner into which
the Israeli public has painted
itself?
Jonathan S.
Tobin
JNS.org
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters
on election night at Likud Party headquarters in Jerusalem,
March 23, 2021.
PHOTO BY OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90.
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