Vote against Netanyahu, save Israel
If Netanyahu wins again at the ballot box, Israel’s future is in danger.
Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 3, 2014 | 3:02 AM | 
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo by AP
After less than two years in power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s third government has reached the end of its road. Israel is once again heading for an election.
The
seeds of the coalition’s destruction were sown in the spring, when
negotiations with the Palestinians were halted. Economy Minister Naftali
Bennett took over foreign and security policy, pushing Netanyahu into
ever more extreme positions.
Meanwhile,
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid had
problems justifying their membership in an extreme right-wing coalition,
but they stuck to their seats until the ultra-Orthodox politicians, who
saw their chance to return to power, maneuvered the prime minister and
finance minister into an open rift.
The
outgoing government was one of the worst in Israel’s history. It’s hard
to list one achievement, while the damage was great. Foreign and
security policies were suicidal.
The
government halted the peace process and accelerated annexation steps in
the West Bank while upsetting the delicate status quo on the Temple
Mount. It undercut democracy’s foundations with its repeated efforts to
pass bills against illegal entry into Israel, its challenge of High
Court rulings and its racist nation-state bills.
It
got entangled in a 50-day war with Hamas that ended in a tie despite
the great price in casualties, destruction and treasure. It put
Washington’s support at risk and brought Europe closer to imposing
sanctions on Israel.
The
government’s economic policies were no less destructive. Lacking the
ability to make decisions, and out of fear of facing off against the
economy’s power brokers, Netanyahu and Lapid ran a profligate deficit
budget and shunned reforms or structural changes.
The
Israeli economy’s basic problems – the high cost of living, the housing
shortage, the powerful monopolies and the big unions – only got worse
amid the neglect. Plans to fight poverty and fix the health care system
were shelved in favor of inflating the defense budget.
Under
these circumstances, it’s not enough for this government to end its
term. Anyone who fears for Israel’s future as a peace-loving democracy
with a stable economy should join forces to keep Netanyahu from winning a
fourth term. The prime minister has once again proved to be an
extreme nationalist willing to sacrifice the country’s basic values to
realize a destructive ideology. If he wins again at the ballot box,
Israel’s future is in danger.
The approaching election is not “unnecessary”
but rather critical to save the country. Party schisms, ego problems,
disagreements in the left and center and the Zionist parties’ balking at
cooperation with the Arab parties must not be allowed to perpetuate
right-wing rule. People who want to bring Israel back to the path of
sanity must vote to replace Netanyahu.
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