Netanyahu's movie

Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a new career: He started uploading video clips to his website where he promises to try to answer questions posed by visitors. Netanyahu plays two key roles in the movie: A commentator who adds a sense of drama and emotion, as well as the hero who saved Israel's collapsing economy.

Netanyahu-the-hero arrived just like heroes usually do: When the situation was so grave and the country was on the edge of an abyss of idleness and degenerating poverty.

Netanyahu, the commentator with the dramatic voice, describes the savior's heroism while condemning all his predecessors at the post of finance minister.

The problem that Netanyahu-the-hero attempts to address is the reality he left in the wake of his innovative acts of heroism. Those included cutbacks to government allowances, welfare and education budgets, alongside tax reforms that benefit the wealthy.

Netanyahu-the-commentator found an interesting way to deal with the facts. He changes them slightly, makes a few additions and hides other facts.

What was the problem according to the hero? Growing poverty. Who's at fault? The poor, and particularly the young who chose the life of poverty and need over work and taking personal responsibility.

Or in Bibi's words: The bogus needy; "There were plenty of bogus needy," Netanyahu-the-commentator explains: Not only did people who didn't want to work receive an allowance, but also a great many working people received allowances under false pretenses.

The commentator describes in a dramatic voice the results of the conduct of the irresponsible liars, the citizens: The government allowances budget was inflated and became larger than the education and defense budgets.

Netanyahu describes to the viewers the disaster that he was able to avert, completely on his own: Banks were about to collapse, unemployment was about to rise above 12 percent, the allowances system was facing collapse – it was a catastrophe; even the Bank of Israel governor said so.

We're not dumb

Many inaccuracies can be found in the movie: The welfare budget was never larger than the education and defense budgets. The number of cheaters among those who receive allowances, according to National Insurance Institute inquiries, is so small that it can be said to be negligible.

Nobody chooses the life of poverty and need in order to receive an inadequate allowance. The state of the national coffers improved not only because of, and not mostly because of, Netanyahu's economic policy. He actually gave up on considerable revenues through his tax reform.

The change came mostly due to global economic realities. The growing wealth of the rich did not trickle down, and will not trickle down, to the poor, as opposed to what the capitalist doctrine predicts.

The problem of poverty stems not only from the scope of government allowances, but mostly because of the difficult blow led by Netanyahu to the value of work and workers, and the severe deterioration in the level and quality of services provided to the public as a whole, and to the lower socioeconomic strata in particular.

In addition, the banks were not facing collapse and unemployment is still high. Those who work part-time are part-time unemployed at the very least, even if they're not counted.

Yet Netanyahu never allowed the facts to confuse him. He is playing the role of his life, and does so exceptionally well we must say. It appears he's enjoying every moment. He explains to the idiots who watch him, using clear and simple language, that the problem was with us, while he was the one who started helping the needy.

That is, not only are the citizens liars and lazy, they're also dumb. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that the public doesn't understand that it's actually doing well, even when it's suffering, and that the only mistake here was Netanyahu's departure?

The most logical explanation is that the public is actually not so dumb, and that we understand the economic situation well. We also know very well who we mustn't entrust with the Treasury under any circumstances. We just live in a different movie than Netanyahu's.