Netanyahu flies flag of governance
Op-ed: What's good for Netanyahu, thinks Netanyahu, is good for the Jews. It's not a matter of self-interest, of course. It's a national interest. The prime minister desperately wants to continue to govern us not for his sake but for ours.
The issue of governance is an important one for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bibi, as many have pointed out, has promised on several occasions in the past to change Israel's system of government. So what if he promised.
But now he's serious. Like always. Now he's suggesting that the leader of the largest party in the Knesset should be the one to form the government, period. And the Redeemer will come to Zion.
He hasn't always supported such a notion. Instead, it was Tzipi Livni who flew that flag in the 2009 elections. She was leader of the largest party at the time, with 28 Knesset seats. Netanyahu's Likud came in second, with 27 seats.
Back then, Netanyahu scorned the idea – and rightly so. From the depths of second place, he put together a stable government and headed it for four years (the first government in 30 years to see out its full term in office).
The problem with the biggest-party idea is that Israel (surprisingly enough) has a parliamentary system of government: The individual who forms the government is the individual who heads the largest bloc and not the largest party.
If, let's say, Labor, Meretz and the Arab parties were to unite, they would be the largest party. This doesn't mean that they could govern; after all, they wouldn't have a majority in the Knesset.
The head of a parliamentary regime is not the leader of the largest party, but the individual who holds a majority in the Knesset. Israel is not a two-party country in which the winner takes all. It's a multi-party country in which the winner is the individual who can piece together a stable coalition.
Netanyahu also believes that a bloated administration is a bad thing, yet he established a cabinet comprising 30 ministers, three of them without portfolio. Germany, for example, gets by with 14 ministers, and none are without portfolio.
Netanyahu is aware of this, of course. He knows, too, that when it comes to the issue of governance, like that of a lean government, he has no cover for his check. Never mind; looking good is all that really matters.
For Netanyahu, the promise itself is always more important than its fulfillment. Promises win elections. And this, in a nutshell, is the perception of governance held by the man who governs us.
What's good for Netanyahu, thinks Netanyahu, is good for the Jews. It's not a matter of self-interest, of course. It's a national interest. Netanyahu desperately wants to continue to govern us not for his sake but for ours. He wants to govern us so that he can lead us to more and more successes.
Exactly what successes are we talking about? Boosting Israel's international standing? Uh, not exactly. After all, the prime minister who has been governing us for years has led Israel into further isolation. Reducing social inequalities? Come on. The gap between his house in Caesarea and the young Israelis' unattainable apartments is only getting wider.
Raising the standard of living? Where? In Berlin? Because in Netanyahu's Israel's, that's not exactly happening.
Upping our deterrence vis-à-vis Hamas? We deterred them so well that Hamas sent us running for shelter for 50 days and is vigorously readying for the next round.
Strengthening the democracy? Governance, we said, not democracy. New enterprises? We certainly witnessed a very nice flow of funds to the settlement enterprise.
Let's be honest: Bibi's greatest success has been his own survival – despite it all. Netanyahu manages to make empty promises to his voters and demand that they vote Bibi – not because only Bibi can.
Bibi can't or doesn't want to lead us forward. Bibi can entrench himself in the mud for us. And to entrench himself in the mud for us, he requires governance. Vote Bibi. Let him govern us. Say Bibi, because you have no choice.
So here is a principle of government that Netanyahu failed to mention: Someone who was an awful, timid, cowardly and visionless prime minister is not worthy of the public's faith. There is an alternative.
