After the elections, the right doesn't care
Op-ed: Right-wing politicians, who would have caused a ruckus had Netanyahu released Palestinian tax money before the elections, are now keeping quiet for fear of being left out of his new government.
Like other decisions made after the elections, this decision also flew under the radar. After an exhausting and ugly election campaign, Israelis have the full right to take a time-out from politics, especially politics which has to do with the conflict. Enough already.
The lawsuit spells trouble, starting from restrictions on IDF officers and retired officers' visits to European countries to a boycott on exports and investments in Israel. This is a significant part of what the Palestinians refer to as a "diplomatic intifada."
The money was frozen as a means of pressure, as a punishment. The punishment failed. The day Israel announced it would release the money, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that his plan still stands: On April 1, he will launch the criminal action against Israel in The Hague.
The tax money freeze cast a heavy shadow on the security cooperation between Israel and the PA. When salaries are not paid in Ramallah, responsible officials in Israel start sweating. In the short run, the masses might take to the streets and terror might be resumed; in the slightly longer run, the PA could fall apart on our doorstep. The decision also had harmful diplomatic ramifications: The money is theirs, not ours; there is no way to justify its freeze to the world.
But the political echelon – the prime minister and defense minister – was busy competing over right-wing votes. It wouldn’t release the money until the elections.
Now it's okay. Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, who would have raised a ruckus had the money been released before March 17, is now keeping quiet: The fear that he will be left out of the government is silencing him.
Let's not forget the senior Likud members – the ministers who are expecting an upgrade and the Knesset members who are hoping for the title of minister. When Netanyahu announced on the eve of the elections that there would be no Palestinian state, they welcomed the announcement enthusiastically.
When he announced the day after the elections that he was retracting the retraction, they kept quiet. Even Yariv Levin, the great ideologist, was mute, as were Benny Begin and Zeev Elkin. As far as they are concerned, he can give the Palestinians whatever they want, as long as he gives them something too.
In the 1950s, there were two popular beauticians in Tel Aviv: Sisters Nina and Bella. Nina-Bella used to publish an ad in the newspapers with two pictures: One showed the face of an ugly woman, covered with pimples, and the other showed a beautiful, glowing woman. The caption under the first picture read "before," and the caption under the second picture read "after."
Netanyahu can now publish his own Nina-Bella pictures, before and after the elections. If there was ever an argument over his skills in this area, it was decided in the 2015 elections: Netanyahu is great in cosmetics, the greatest.
What has changed? Very little. It's the same man, the same cynicism and the same policy. If anyone in the Labor Party, Isaac Herzog for example, is deluding himself that joining the government with his party will change anything in its policy, he is living in a dream world.
On the contrary. In a right-wing government, Netanyahu will be more attentive to the world's reactions than in a national unity government. He will be more exposed, more cautious.
The politicians in the right-wing bloc will also be more cautious, at least in the beginning: Netanyahu has an alternative government; they don't.
