The Lieberman success story

Op-ed: We must admit that foreign minister’s strategy working, political clout keeps growing

Sima Kadmon|Published: 10.16.10 , 11:54

This past week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fought for his status as leader of Israel’s rightist camp. As always, the person who dragged him to this court was his Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman.

One cannot deny the fact that Lieberman is taking off. His electoral power has not only been maintained, it keeps growing. There is plenty of euphoria around him and the polls are impressive. It appears that the plan devised by Arthur Finkelstein that worked well before the elections continues to work well after them too: The willingness to press buttons that bring votes, regardless of the daily events and immediate responses.

Once upon a time, Sharon and Netanyahu were said to be contending for the leadership of the rightist camp. For some time, there was talk about Netanyahu and Silvan Shalom. Now, it’s Bibi and Lieberman.

Lieberman has turned into a tangible threat on Netanyahu’s status within the Right. Somehow, the foreign minister’s repeated clashes with world leaders, including the way he reprimanded the French and Spanish foreign ministers this past week, his outrageous UN speech, and his bluntness (not to mention rudeness) have a different effect on Israel’s public opinion.

The loyalty oath which the government voted on this week, requiring non-Jews to pledge their allegiance to a Jewish state, is very remote from the law originally proposed by Lieberman, yet the foreign minister was fully credited for it. Netanyahu appeared to be a fly sitting on an elephant’s back and showing off: Look at how strong we are.

This law may greatly bother leftists, intellectuals, and journalists, yet this issue preoccupies the public at this time and public support for the legislation is much greater than the support for Lieberman himself.

Prominent and relevant

Overall, the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman is currently associated with Israeli pride that does not compromise or ingratiate. His solutions are simplistic, yet are well received by many. One may not like it, yet the foreign minister’s position that there will be no peace with the Palestinians – either in this generation or the next – sounds logical to many, as the public opinion polls show.

Moreover, Lieberman’s territorial tradeoff proposal is no longer perceived as immoral or inhumane: What’s the problem; we’ll take Ariel and give away Umm al-Fahm in return. Meanwhile, his election slogan, “no citizenship without loyalty,” stirs debate more than it provokes revulsion: What’s the big deal, said many people this past week, they do the same in America.

While Lieberman’s blunt conduct vis-à-vis European foreign ministers made some people uneasy, you can be sure that many others believe it was justified and logical. Suddenly it appears that every foreign leader feels the right to slam us – they should solve their own problems before criticizing us.

One thing is clear: Lieberman makes sure to remain prominent and relevant at all times. He ensures that people identify him with the issues on the agenda, rather than with his legal troubles. He is able to and allows himself to speak out more than the prime minister, especially after deciding to ignore his own official title. No doubt, Lieberman created a new model for his position: A foreign minister who thinks there’s nobody to talk to.

One may be angry, revolted, or opposed to this, yet we cannot ignore one fact: It’s working. Many Israelis say that only Lieberman speaks Arabic. How simple it is: The public accepted the “nobody to talk to” approach and that there will be no peace here, certainly not in this generation.

When Lieberman is asked how he’s doing, he always replies: True heaven. There’s no doubt this is precisely where he is at this time.