In a classic moment that seems like only Miri Regev can provide, the former Likud minister and current member of Knesset announced over the weekend that she plans to run for prime minister and leader of her party in the post-Benjamin Netanyahu era.
“The time has come to have a Sephardi prime minister,” Regev told the Yediot Aharonot weekend magazine. “I think the Likud rank and file must vote this time for someone who represents their class, their ethnicity and their agenda.
“Sephardi Likudniks voted over the years for ‘white people’ to lead them,” she added. “I think the day after Bibi Netanyahu, Likudniks will have to some soul-searching.”
Regev came under harsh attack from her Likud colleagues, especially those who also see themselves as future leaders of Israel’s largest political party.
Yuli Edelstein, No 2 on the Likud list, said in an interview to Channel 20, “we don’t choose parties based on ethnicity, sector, religion, race or sex. I don’t think that the Likud will begin to check people’s identification cards. I don’t know why she said that.”
Nir Barkat, former mayor of Jerusalem who is pouring millions of shekels into his candidacy, said that Regev’s comments “are divisive and have no place in the movement. We are a movement of the people, and, thank God, we have everyone – secular, religious and traditional, Jewish and non-Jewish. We have the entire variety, and choose our leaders based on their vision and on the ideals they bring with them from home.”
Fellow Likud MK Galit Distal Atbaryan – of Mizrachi descent – struck a softer tone, saying that while she respected Regev and might even support her bid, she would not vote along ethnic lines.
While Regev has a point – many of Likud’s voters are of Sephardic descent but have traditionally voted for Ashkenazi leaders – her use of the ethnic genie was not because she is striving to achieve greater equality in Israel. It was politically motivated – she is looking to use ethnicity to advance her political career.
This is dangerous. Israel has worked hard to move beyond the clear ethnic divisions that used to separate different parts of this country. Has it succeeded? Of course not. But one factor that speaks to the progress is the number of mixed Sephardi and Ashkenazi families that is growing. If in the 1970s mixed marriages accounted for only about 5% of Israeli families, today one in five Israelis are reportedly born to mixed parents.
Regev is not the first to speak about the schism between Israel’s old Ashkenazi elites who traditionally have supported a liberal agenda, and segments of the country’s Sephardic population that is more traditional and tends to vote to the Right.
There were some before her who tried to revive the ethnic genie – like journalist Avishai Ben Haim, who likes to talk about how Netanyahu is the leader of “second-class Israel.” What makes this most recent attempt so petty is that it stinks of politics.
Regev is looking for an angle to overtake her primary contenders in Likud including Edelstein, Barkat and possibly even one day Yossi Cohen, former head of the Mossad.
It was for this reason, for example, that she called the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid “an Ashkenazi elitist bond,” and said Bennett was not her prime minister. She said the country was run by what she called “the deep state,” and concluded with a threat to the party: “If the Likudniks continue to elect leaders with ‘white’ DNA, a new Likud will arise. There will be a real Sephardi Likud that will express the Sephardi voice that has been quieted for years.”
What Regev decides to do with her own political career is her business. Before joining the Likud in 2009 she reportedly spoke with the Labor Party and contemplated joining its left-wing ranks.
It is important to not let ethnic divisions overtake our political or social discourse. Regev is doing this for political gain. It is up to regular Israelis to ensure that her rhetoric does not further divide our already polarized political map.