Benjamin Netanyahu

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“Once Upon A Time, Israel Was A Country Of Egalitarian Ideals”

March 17, 2015 in Excerpts, Politics | Permalink

Today may be Netanyahu’s waterloo, or not, with the ideologue shifting further right at the eleventh hour, hoping to extend his time in office. One thing which shouldn’t be lost regardless of the election’s outcome, is that in addition to worries about diplomatic bungling and existential threats from without, the country is enduring serious income inequality. From “Israel’s Gilded Age,” by Paul Krugman of the New York Times:

Why did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel feel the need to wag the dog in Washington? For that was, of course, what he was doing in his anti-Iran speech to Congress. If you’re seriously trying to affect American foreign policy, you don’t insult the president and so obviously align yourself with his political opposition. No, the real purpose of that speech was to distract the Israeli electorate with saber-rattling bombast, to shift its attention away from the economic discontent that, polls suggest, may well boot Mr. Netanyahu from office in Tuesday’s election.

But wait: Why are Israelis discontented? After all, Israel’s economy has performed well by the usual measures. It weathered the financial crisis with minimal damage. Over the longer term, it has grown more rapidly than most other advanced economies, and has developed into a high-technology powerhouse. What is there to complain about?

The answer, which I don’t think is widely appreciated here, is that while Israel’s economy has grown, this growth has been accompanied by a disturbing transformation in the country’s income distribution and society. Once upon a time, Israel was a country of egalitarian ideals — the kibbutz population was always a small minority, but it had a large impact on the nation’s self-perception. And it was a fairly equal society in reality, too, right up to the early 1990s.

Since then, however, Israel has experienced a dramatic widening of income disparities. Key measures of inequality have soared; Israel is now right up there with America as one of the most unequal societies in the advanced world. And Israel’s experience shows that this matters, that extreme inequality has a corrosive effect on social and political life.•

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“They May Be Worried About The High Prices, But They Are Really Afraid Of The Existential Threat”

February 17, 2015 in Excerpts, Politics | Permalink

Israelis may be at a tipping point, struggling under the twin burdens of a weak economy and endless war. Bibi Netanyahu, a perplexing and unpopular Rumsfeldian figure, has maintained power with nimble behind-the-scenes maneuvering and by playing the politics of fear. Of course, those fears aren’t baseless. Isaac Herzog, a candidate for Prime Minister approaching the center from the left, hopes to take Israel in a new direction. Nicola Abé and Juliane von Mittelstaedt interviewed him for Spiegel. An excerpt:

Spiegel:

The journalist Ari Shavit wrote that “People don’t like Bibi, but they sleep better when he’s in charge.” So they may be worried about the high prices, but they are really afraid of the existential threat posed by Hamas, Islamic State and Iran. Can you overcome this fear, especially in a country that has shifted to the right for the last 20 years?

Isaac Herzog:

Oh, I am not sure the country has substantially shifted to the right. Israelis are demanding peace, and they are demanding that the Palestinians don’t shoot at us. And, I think, they want to know that if I negotiate peace, I will not sell them out. That’s legitimate. However, Israelis are fed up with the prime minister’s politics of fear. They are fed up from hearing the same music again and again. He’s been prime minister for six years, and yet he has failed substantially in providing Israelis a decent economy and prospects for peace and security.

Spiegel:

Some people say that Labor can only win if it has a former general at its helm.

Isaac Herzog:

Netanyahu was a captain and I am a major in one of the country’s famous intelligence units. I don’t think that matters at all. This is old politics.

Spiegel:

Do you think the time of the macho politician is over? Is Israel ready for a softie in power?

Isaac Herzog:

I think so. And more than that, Israel is ready for a serious, considered and experienced leader. For something else.

Spiegel:

Netanyahu’s most important topic is Iran. He warns about the potential of an Iranian atomic bomb and doesn’t believe it will give up its nuclear program. Do you believe the ongoing negotiations could bring about a compromise?

Isaac Herzog:

Iran is a hateful regime that spreads hate. I think that the international community that is negotiating with Iran has to be stern. However, I think one needs to talk, in a quiet, professional manner, without any blame game, but with all options on the table. That is where I differ from Netanyahu.

Spiegel:

Are you in favor of an easing sanctions?

Isaac Herzog:

It think it has to be part of a process, when we know that they are liquidating their nuclear program.

Spiegel:

What about the other unsolved conflict — the one with the Palestinians? Why is the peace process playing virtually no role in your election campaign? Do you want to focus only on social issues and economy?

Isaac Herzog:

I want to be frank about this. The current situation with the Palestinians is one of the worst ever. Abu Mazen (President Mahmoud Abbas) has decided to act unilaterally against Israel, so there’s not much confidence among Israelis regarding the prospect of a negotiation process. But Livni and I are both identified with the peace process, and yes, we want to reignite that process. Because our great advantage is that we know much better than Netanyahu how to protect the interests of Israeli citizens.•

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“The Thing About Bibi Is, He’s A Chickenshit”

October 28, 2014 in Excerpts, Politics | Permalink

Jeffrey Goldberg’s devastating Atlantic essay plumbs the depth of distrust between the Obama White House and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who seems more and more like a one-man Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld, desultory and self-preserving to the nth degree. The “chickenshit” quote refers to his lack of will, which has good and bad ramifications: He won’t order a major military strike, such as one against Iran, but nor will he move forward the peace process with the Palestinians. The opening:

‘The other day I was talking to a senior Obama administration official about the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White House and the State Department the most. ‘The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,’ this official said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname.

This comment is representative of the gloves-off manner in which American and Israeli officials now talk about each other behind closed doors, and is yet another sign that relations between the Obama and Netanyahu governments have moved toward a full-blown crisis. The relationship between these two administrations— dual guarantors of the putatively ‘unbreakable’ bond between the U.S. and Israel—is now the worst it’s ever been, and it stands to get significantly worse after the November midterm elections. By next year, the Obama administration may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, but even before that, both sides are expecting a showdown over Iran, should an agreement be reached about the future of its nuclear program.

The fault for this breakdown in relations can be assigned in good part to the junior partner in the relationship, Netanyahu, and in particular, to the behavior of his cabinet. Netanyahu has told several people I’ve spoken to in recent days that he has ‘written off’ the Obama administration, and plans to speak directly to Congress and to the American people should an Iran nuclear deal be reached. For their part, Obama administration officials express, in the words of one official, a ‘red-hot anger’ at Netanyahu for pursuing settlement policies on the West Bank, and building policies in Jerusalem, that they believe have fatally undermined Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace process.

Over the years, Obama administration officials have described Netanyahu to me as recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and ‘Aspergery.’ (These are verbatim descriptions; I keep a running list.)  But I had not previously heard Netanyahu described as a ‘chickenshit.’ I thought I appreciated the implication of this description, but it turns out I didn’t have a full understanding. From time to time, current and former administration officials have described Netanyahu as a national leader who acts as though he is mayor of Jerusalem, which is to say, a no-vision small-timer who worries mainly about pleasing the hardest core of his political constituency.”

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“The Combination Of All Of That Leads Israelis To Feel More Independent Of The United States”

August 26, 2014 in Excerpts, Politics | Permalink

In David Rothkopf’s recent Foreign Policy interview with Martin Indyk, two-time U.S. Ambassador to Israel, the diplomat predicted (accurately) the foundering of Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity among Israelis and worried over the splintering of support for the country among Americans, especially young Jewish-Americans. Indyk also outlined the shifting political dynamics in the Middle East. An excerpt:

“Martin Indyk:

Few people noticed that the Indian government came out in support of Israel in this war; social media in China was pro-Israel. It has developed strategic relations with both countries, and with Russia as well, that led Israel to absent itself from the vote of the U.N. General Assembly condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea. I think there’s a sense in Israel, particularly on the right, that they can afford to be defiant of the United States. Israelis also sense a potential for a new alignment with Gulf Arab states that didn’t exist before that is generated by their common interest in curbing Iran’s nuclear program and countering Iran’s efforts to dominate the region, opposing if not overthrowing Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and combating Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood, with its stepchild Hamas in Gaza. Israel shares this array of enemies with the Sunni Arab monarchs and the Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regime in Egypt. You can see it in this Gaza crisis quite clearly, where the Saudis and the Egyptians in particular wanted Israel to take down Hamas.

So the combination of all of that leads Israelis to feel more independent of the United States, especially in the context of their sense that the United States is withdrawing from the region and therefore may be less reliable for Israel. These Arab states are also concerned about what they see as an American withdrawal and feel a greater need to cooperate under the table with Israel to help deal with the chaos and threats around them.”

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