A lesson to all politicians: Skeletons in your closet will eventually come out
Op-ed: There was no courage in Yinon Magal's decision to resign from the Knesset over harassment claims, just lack of choice; he realized there was no room for him in a conservative party which sanctifies family values.
He should be given credit for not dragging the affair and for making the decision as soon as possible. He could have remained a Knesset member, but he knew very well - and if he didn't know, there were those who made it clear to him - that his standing in the Bayit Yehudi party was like that of a dead man walking.
The day the first post accusing Magal of harassment was published, I spoke to a person involved in the political system. What do you think will happen to him, I asked. His answer consisted of three words: He is dead. Not dead in the acceptable sense of the word, God forbid, but when it comes to politics - Magal is finished.
And it doesn’t matter if complaints are filed or not, and if the affair remains in the moral domain and isn't moved to the criminal domain. Facebook may have convicted Magal, but the Bayit Yehudi party determined his fate: There is no room for Magal in the conservative party which sanctifies family values. And I didn’t take a genius to understand that what was first said halfheartedly, weakly, because of pressure from the party's chairman, Minister Naftali Bennett, would grow stronger as the stories multiplied, as more complainants were exposed.
One can only guess, because we won't get any confirmation from Magal's good friend, that in their very first conversation, when it was decided that Magal would quit his role as faction chairman, it was clear to both Bennett and to Magal that it wouldn’t be the bottom line. It was simply a desperate attempt by the two friends from the elite IDF unit to prevent the threat falling upon them.
Since then, they must have has a few more conversations in which they looked into data, received intelligence information and assessed the situation. But Bennett, with all his goodwill and friendly loyalty, was unable to overcome this mishap. Magal was his personal appointment. He was the one who brought him to his party as a great promise, as part of his attempt to turn the former National Religious Party into a trendy, up-to-date, attractive party, appealing to both young seculars and religious.
In the previous elections it worked. In the latest elections he failed. The Magal affair gives Bennett's rivals, particularly within his party, good reasons to question his discretion. It's hard to see him being able to demand personal appointments in the future after the two blows he received - from Eli Ohana and from Magal. On Monday, he had no choice but to talk about a worthy act and try to put the affair behind him as soon as possible.
And then there are the harassed women, and perhaps those who didn't get the chance to complain. Magal's resignation saved him at least from the horror of waking up in the morning and discovering another demon chasing him from the past.
It's safe to assume that Magal also wanted to minimize the damage on the criminal level. His resignation will likely lead to the end of the police investigation, as the complainants have already received what they wanted.
And there is also a moral to this story: If you are a young person considering a public career, you should act every day of your life as if you are about to be summoned to the Turkel Committee on senior government appointments the next day.
And if you are a person who has already done a few things in his life and suddenly decides to become a public figure, think twice. You should take a good look at your past. Don't say, "That wasn't serious," "that one wouldn't dare" and "that won't come out." It will come out. Everything comes out.
