Despite all the Likud lamentations, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should see
the 2013 election results as a gift. Israeli voters demolished the growing
stereotype of them as overwhelmingly right-wing and religious, let alone
allegedly racist, anti-democratic, and theocratic.
Blue-and-white ballot
boxes across the country tallied Israel’s centrist sentiments, chaotic
complexity and democratic dynamism. And when a country’s standing improves, so
does its leader’s.
But this was more than a propaganda victory and a blow
against the oversimplifiers and delegitimizers so quick to say “this is not my
Israel anymore,” as if you can judge a thriving, multi-dimensional nation so
easily. Forging a coalition anchored in the Center- Left will allow Netanyahu to
be the leader he’s always wanted to be.
Netanyahu can be a bold,
principled yet pragmatic leader. He should remember that morality in politics,
especially for Israel, is fundamental, not mere posturing. Wise men say that
“anyone engaged in political or military conflict in this century must seek to
persuade international audiences that his cause is just.”
Moreover,
historically, “Israel’s greatest shield,” has been “its moral stature.” In
compromising with Yair Lapid and others, in refusing to buy off politicians with
useless Cabinet posts, and in snubbing anti-Zionists, Netanyahu will be making
“the tough decisions.”
On personnel matters, and in establishing new
principles responsive to middle class needs, rebuffing political extortionists
by asserting broader principles such as universal national service – not always
military in nature – Netanyahu should proclaim that when “it is the right
policy... it is worth fighting for.”
In staring down the shortsighted
compromisers, the greedy glory-seekers, the corrupt allies, the appeasers, he
should remember Winston Churchill, who bemoaned what he called “the want of
foresight, the unwillingness to act when action will be simple and effective,
the lack of clear thinking, the confusion of counsel until emergency comes,
until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong.”
And in leading this
old-new land into a moral politics rooted in tradition but suited to
21st-century realities, Netanyahu should remember “the timeless words spoken to
Joshua over 3,000 years ago, let us be strong and of good courage.”
THESE
CALLS for path-breaking, ethical leadership do not come from lily-livered
liberals preaching ethics, dismissed by the Right as the “yefeh nefesh,”
delicate souls living in la la land. These calls are from the author and orator,
Binyamin Netanyahu.
Despite having spent too much time in the past four
years catering to coalition blackmailers, Netanyahu has shown the potential to
be a bolder leader. When prime minister Ariel Sharon assigned Netanyahu the
Treasury Ministry in 2003 the task was thankless: Netanyahu would be blamed for
any failures and Sharon would share in any successes.
Eventually, the
success was so great Netanyahu’s reputation grew too. The needed Netanyahu
reforms, “1.0,” need a 2.0 – building on the economic prosperity he fostered by
helping to free Israel from its socialist shackles, he now must blend startup-
friendly capitalism with a robust and humane safety net for the poorest, along
with a shot at a living wage and reasonable prices for the middle
class.
Israel’s superior economic performance compared to the US these
past few years is a marvel – and a credit to Netanyahu. Middle class Israelis
would have been even more burdened had the economy crashed and the recovery been
as anemic as America’s.
Beyond the economy, Netanyahu has encouraged
traditional Zionist values through education reforms and his Heritage sites
initiatives. He, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Likud “princes” like Dan
Meridor and Bennie Begin upheld the Ze’ev Jabotinsky- Menachem Begin liberal
democratic values they were raised on, by blocking anti-democratic and racist
legislation.
And Netanyahu’s leadership during the recent Gaza conflict
inflicted maximum damage on Hamas and minimum damage on Israel’s reputation,
demonstrating far more discipline than Ehud Olmert in avoiding an unwinnable
quagmire.
UNFORTUNATELY, NETANYAHU and the Likud helped voters overlook
these impressive accomplishments.
Middle class frustrations grew as the
costs of basic taxes and services ballooned. The Palestinians outmaneuvered
Israel as Netanyahu was too passive on the peace front while overreacting to
Palestinians’ otherwise empty UN follies. Stumbling in and out of a coalition
with Kadima highlighted Netanyahu’s fear of the ultra-Orthodox on the draft
issue, while entering an electoral alliance with a morally compromised Avigdor
Liberman backfired.
Netanyahu should learn from his rival Barack Obama –
who still leads Israel’s best friend, the United States of America. Obama won
seven million fewer popular votes in 2012 when compared to 2008. But reelected
is reelected. Obama has acted like a big winner since America’s Election
Day.
Judging by the polls and the ecstatic news coverage, Americans love
it.
So lead, Bibi, lead. Pioneer a new approach to capitalism that has
the rest of the world admiring Israel as an exemplary society while emulating
it.
Inspire, Bibi, inspire. Stand strong against citizens shirking their
national duties, shifting the conversation from one of ultra-Orthodox or Arab
collective goodies to one of how all individuals can serve their
country.
Risk, Bibi, risk. Return to Bar-Ilan University.
Update
your two-states-for-two-nations speech which polls show reflects the Israeli
consensus.
Then call the Palestinians’ bluff by freezing settlements,
drawing maps and offering to negotiate. At best, some progress might occur; at
worst Israel will score points with others, including America’s
newly-inaugurated, newly-empowered president.
So lead, Bibi, lead. Live
by your teachings that moral stature counts, that Israel is a values nation,
that the secular idealism of a Begin, of a Jabotinsky, was not just a counter to
religion but was actually a point of overlap, the basis for what we would
nowadays call – and hail – as a common platform to renew Israel as a model
nation, a healthy society, a valued friend, a strong economy, and a safe
country.
The writer is a professor of history at McGill University and a
Shalom Hartman Engaging Israel Research Fellow. His latest book
Moynihan’s Moment: America’s Fight Against Zionism as Racism was just published.
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