Taking campaign promises in proportion - analysis

The E1 site between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim in particular is a symbol of Netanyahu’s broken promises.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Knesset ahead of the vote on whether it will disperse, May 29 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Knesset ahead of the vote on whether it will disperse, May 29
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokespeople played up Tuesday’s  announcement for hours in advance as being “dramatic.”
And indeed, an announcement that Israel will apply sovereignty to every Jewish community over the Green Line fits that category. Historic would even apply.
The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council celebrated the announcement even before it was made.
But it is too soon to uncork champagne at the Dead Sea. Every statement made ahead of an election must be viewed with scrutiny, and Netanyahu’s announcement would end up being remembered as much less dramatic if it ends up being an unkept campaign promise.
The prime minister stressed that the reason he made the announcement a week before the election and not a week after was that he wanted the voters to know what they would be getting after September 17. The real reason, of course, was to take votes away from Likud’s satellite parties on the Right, just as he tries to do before every election.
The heads of Yamina keep a list of campaign of Netanyahu’s broken promises. The E1 site between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim in particular is a symbol of Netanyahu’s broken promises – he has gone there before elections time and time again.
E1 leads into the Jordan Valley. Perhaps if he is now promising the entire valley, he will really implement the closest part of it to Jerusalem.
Parties on the Right demanded Netanyahu take actual immediate steps. But Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit reportedly told Netanyahu’s associates that such steps cannot be taken this close to an election.
There is one step that can be taken, however. Jordan announced last October that it would end Israel’s lease on the beautiful Naharayim area in the Jordan Valley within a year. That year is almost up.
Speaking to King Abdullah II about Naharayim and trying to get him to extend the lease could persuade residents of the Jordan Valley that other real steps actually are on the way if Netanyahu is reelected.
If Israel loses Naharayim and never actually annexes the Jordan Valley, Tuesday’s announcement will indeed go down in history, but only on the list of major campaign promises that were broken.