Arab rulers dreaming of a new Israeli PM
Analysis: While Netanyahu doesn’t have a single advocate in Arab world, Israel's security cooperation and strategic coordination with Jordan, Egypt and other undisclosed places have never been better.
Their excuse will be that they're "too busy" and can't afford to intervene in our election campaign. It seems completely reasonable to assume that at the height of the campaign, the candidates – this time not from the right-wing camp – will make an effort to get a photo opportunity with Jordan's King Abdullah
and with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
This time it looks different. From conversations with commentators and senior advisors in the Arab world, the first thing I have learned is that we look bad. We may be the only democracy in the neighborhood, but we're a crazy democracy.
This patent has been working for the past four or five election campaigns. Suddenly we saw Benjamin Netanyahu visit Aqaba, and Hosni Mubarak with Tzipi Livni. The palace knows that it must swallow this bitter pill in order to ensure proper cooperation with the winners.
Election Fever
Ben-Dror Yemini
Op-ed: Israel needs to decide which incarnation it wants - the rapidly disappearing statesman who will lead it out of isolation, or the thriving politico who is bringing about a binational state.
They take down every word published here, and I feel sorry for the palaces' advisors who are drowning in information in order to indicate to the ruler, even in countries we don’t have open relations with, who will be our next prime minister.
It is my understanding that the conservatives are betting that, even after the recent polls, we'll have more of the same for a fourth term: He may be weak, but the neighborhood is hanging onto Netanyahu (for now).
I also looked for articles about the elections in Israel. I found a total of two or three commentaries, in addition to news reports about who's attacking who here and the direction Moshe Kahlon is heading in.
No one on the other side is whining about peace plans. The rulers are busy with the Islamic State, with the Iranians' slow movement in the region and with the search for sources to fund about two million refugees who have escaped Syria and those who continue to flee.
No one is dreaming about a resumption of the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and Mahmoud Abbas is running wild in the media. There was no process even before we went to elections. Instead of talks, we received strong signs of an intifada.
Knesset votes to move up elections. 'From the political aspect, we look bad: Democracy loonies moving to the right without considering the consequences. The security aspect produces a different picture' (Photo: Barel Efraim)
With our neighbors embroiled among themselves, al-Sisi with the Muslim Brotherhood and the terror in Sinai, and Abdullah with terrorist cells raising their head in the kingdom and on its borders, they will make sure not to provide a reason for the right-wing camp to grow stronger here.
In their dream, I am told by an expert on Israeli affairs in one of the palaces, they would like to wake up in four months with a Labor-Lapid-Kahlon-Meretz government. In their nightmare they realize that if there will be terror attacks here, they will wake up with a Netanyahu-Bennett- Lieberman-Deri government.
At some point they will want to lend a hand to Isaac Herzog, but a photo opportunity has not been finalized yet.
Lieberman, the experts from across the border tells me, has changed his tone but is still engraved in people's minds as a dangerous politician. The Jordanians remember his population transfer plan, and in Cairo they remember his threat to bomb the Aswan Dam.
It's safe to assume that the Qatar ruler's court philosopher, former Knesset Member Azmi Bishara, will stir things up with Israel's Arabs. He will try to get them to vote and cut down the number of factions in the sector. It will be interesting to see if any funding arrives from Qatar. It will be fascinating to see which strings they will pull, who will be the messengers from there and the contacts here.
They will proceed with caution. For them, it's a complicated picture: Netanyahu doesn’t have a single advocate in the Arab world, but the security cooperation and strategic coordination have never been better – with Jordan, with Egypt, and with more distant places which the censorship won't let us reveal.
From the political aspect, we look bad: Democracy loonies moving to the right without considering the consequences. The security aspect produces a different picture. What happens in closed discussions and on the ground is convenient for them. They are much more interested in who will be the next defense minister.
In April, according to my impression, they would like to wake up with an announcement about an overthrow here, a real one without Netanyahu.
