Prime Minister Netanyahu. Gor exactly what he wanted
Photo: Efi Sharir
Netanyahu's Israel Prize spin
Op-ed: The prime minister managed to get out of the colossal failure with Iran's nuclear program and the crisis with Washington by linking the Zionist Camp to the radical left.
Not everything is immediately reflected in election polls, but something has happened in Israel in recent weeks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is feeling the pressure. Even in his own camp, people have been whispering about his provocative trip to Washington. Even AIPAC doesn’t know how to deal with the situation.
So what could he do? Create a spin. Shift the debate into an area that would send the Israeli left into collective shock. That was the moment Netanyahu poked his nose into the Israel Prize's judging committees.
That was all it took. The frenzy began. It became the main issue.
I doubt there is anyone in his immediate surroundings who really thinks that this trip would be good for Israel. And as time goes by, the rift grows bigger. It is inflicting damage not only on Israel, but also on Netanyahu and his Likud party.
Zigzag Policy
Shimon Shiffer
Op-ed: Every time the prime minister convinces Israel's citizens of the rightness of his moves, he backtracks on them. The same could happen with his Congress speech.
It was exactly what Netanyahu wanted. Because this is the place in which he doesn’t have to say a thing. It doesn’t matter if he is acting like a bull in a china shop - he knows it will work. And he also knows, we must admit, that he is right for a change. Because many in the Israeli public have had enough of the masquerade in of "we are wonderful, angels and professional," and that's why no one is allowed to intervene.
The Zionist Camp leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni. Fell into Netanyahu's trap (Photo: EPA)
Ariel Hirschfeld, who was at the center of the commotion, not only signed a petition supporting IDF draft dodgers, he also proved in the past that his political judgment and professional judgment are intertwined. According to two fellow members on the prestigious EMET Prize committee, he was also caught not telling the truth about author Aharon Megged.
And when Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog defends a man who supports draft-dodging, and whose opinions affect his judgment, he is giving Netanyahu exactly what he asked for. And to complete the picture, the Zionist Camp announced that it would run to the High Court to disqualify Netanyahu who disqualified Hirschfeld. Why hasn't the left ever cried out against Hirschfeld, who disqualified others based on his political opinions? Where has decency gone?
That was all Netanyahu needed. He couldn't care less about Hirschfeld, who has already returned to the judges' panel following the attorney general's intervention. Netanyahu has already made his political gain, and even he never believed that his success would reach such dimensions. Now every child in Israel knows that Netanyahu is fighting against a radical leftist politicization of the Israel Prize, and that the Zionist Camp is defending a political commissar from the radical left.
There are issues that are not just right or left. Sometimes, only sometimes, there is a need for integrity. The Zionist Camp could have made a name for itself if it had said: Decency obligates us to say that a judge who disqualifies artists because of his political opinions is unworthy of sitting as a judge on the Israel Prize panel.
But instead of saying that, Herzog linked himself to a leftist draft dodger and to author Amos Oz, who rushed to talk about people who don’t read books. All he had to do was add "chakhchachim" (a derogatory slang word alluding to Israeli Jews of Middle Eastern background) to complete the picture.
Netanyahu knew in advance that this party, in its current incarnation, is incapable of showing a tiny shred of integrity. Netanyahu wanted to link the Zionist Camp to the radical left-wing camp. The Zionist Camp fell into the trap, and played the exact role Netanyahu wanted it to play. The party has a new strategist now. There is no doubt that he has a lot of work to do.
Netanyahu was in the midst of a colossal failure with the Iranian nuclear program and the crisis with Washington. He managed to get out of it thanks to the left's Pavlovian response.
The Zionist Camp's biggest mistake is in the overtly and covertly shown attitude that the public is stupid, or that Netanyahu treats his voters as if they were stupid. Someone did come out of this affair looking stupid. And no, it wasn't the public.
