Knesset speaker: Israel's leaders act like dogs

Likud's Reuven Rivlin resorts to particularly unkind analogy to slam current-day Israeli leadership; Knesset speaker recalls his beloved dog, says leaders look back to see what people want instead of leading the way

Ynet|Published: 12.14.10 , 23:00

In an especially colorful analogy, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin compared Tuesday Israel's current-day leadership to dogs being led by their masters.

Rivlin told his audience about his own beloved dog, Stephan, charging that when leaders reach decision-making junctions these days they look back to see what the people want instead of leading the way themselves.

The longtime Likud official, who in recent months clashed with Prime Minister and fellow party member Benjamin Netanyahu several times, made the analogy in Jerusalem during the annual conference of municipal deputy heads.

"I had several dogs during my life. The most beloved was Stephan. It would always walk ahead of me, run ahead of me with his tail up…until he would reach a junction where one path led left and the other right. When he would reach that junction, he wouldn't know where I want to go," Rivlin said. "It would then start to play games, yawning as if it was tired, waiting to see where I wish to go. Once he did, he would immediately overtake me and again raise its tail and head, as if he's leading me"

"Today, the leaders look back at the people in order to see what the people want," Rivlin then added. "How do they do this? It's very simple. If public opinion on that day wants peace, we say peace. If public opinion wants us to get tough with the Arabs, we're tough with the Arabs that day. If they want us to be democratic, we're democratic. If they want us to be communist or Bolshevik, we do that too."

Rivlin completed his fable by highlighting the bottom line, charging that at this time it doesn't matter what the leaders want for the people. Leaders mostly care about what the people want, so they can get their votes, he concluded.