How the Right Won the Israeli Election Before Voting Even Began
On April 9 Israel is going for a general election. The main contest is between the Likud party, headed by Bibi Netanyahu and the “Blue and White” party. Blue and White is a newly formed party, headed by previous military chief of staff, Benny Gantz. It is also joined by two other previous chiefs of staff and the seasoned politician Yair Lapid.
The battle is in full flight and it is Bibi vs. Gantz. Right vs. Left…. or wait… is there a left?
In my head, I think of Bibi Netanyahu as the Lance Armstrong of Israeli politics. For those of you that know Lance he is a true master. He is a superb cyclist; very smart; but also a cheater and a fraud. Lance put a serious dent in the world of professional cycling with his drug abuse. He won the Tour de France a record 7 times, but those titles were later taken away from him.
Bibi is kind of the same. His negative, ultra-nationalistic rhetoric is putting an irreversible dent in Israeli society. While he is smart, focused and an incredible statesman, many Israelis believe he is a crook. Just like Lance. His methods and rhetoric are leading to the destruction of the remarkable home of the Jewish people. This home was also supposed to be fair to all its other citizens and residents. But it isn’t. Certainly not to the occupied ones.
Bibi is a strong right winger. He openly opposes a Palestinian state of any form. Even worse, he continuously negotiates with the most extreme of the Palestinians, the Hamas, so as to exclude the more moderate factions with which a peace deal could potentially be made. Many Israelis don’t see this — but Bibi maintains the Hamas to keep Palestinian moderates at bay. He is master!
Then there is Gantz. I’ve served under his indirect command as a soldier (as have many others). He appears to be clean, positive and certainly lacking corruption. He has put together a good group of people (Blue and White Party) who are wishing to make a positive change… However, he stops short of one thing: Critiquing the military control of a Palestinian civilian population that is lacking civil rights. Further, his Blue and White party contains a variety of personas, many of which are ultra-nationalistic.
What kind of person is Gantz? I actually believe he is a good guy. Still, a few months back, he started his political campaign with a vile video glorifying the horror that Israeli inflicted on the Gaza strip during the last big war — Gantz was the military chief of staff during those days. The video presents an increasing count of Hamas terrorists dead (1–1364). Sure, in wars you kill your enemy… but to count them and be proud of it? Come on Gantz! He knows that there were hundreds of kids killed as well. I know it too, because a decade before that war I served in Gaza myself… The right already won!
What can I say to Gantz’s defense?… All I can say is:
THE RIGHT HAS ALREADY WON.
This is somehow just like Lance Armstrong winning Tour de Frances by using extreme drugs. Anyone else who joined the Tour de France at the time, needed to also take sports drugs to be able to compete with Lance… In the same way, Gantz and his lot, feel that they must resort to ugly right wing rhetoric to have chance to win. The problem is that if they do, they will need to continue the hard-line right wing tone that Israel has taken.
What will this mean for Israel and the Palestinians in the long term?