Center bloc should make defense their election cornerstone
Op-ed: Netanyahu likes to think he's Mr. Security, but he has failed at that too; the center, however, has an excellent defense minister in waiting in the form of Shaul Mofaz.
Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, a former chief of staff, acquired himself a place in the books of epigrams and aphorisms with his statement about the need to wear high-top shoes at the snake-infested Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. Bogie has learned in recent weeks, however, that the Kirya serpents are friendly, pet snakes. The venomous and deadly ones are in his party, at his political headquarters, in the viper nest at the Prime Minister's Residence.
Everyone is saying Benjamin Netanyahu has promised the defense portfolio to Naftali Bennett. The political establishment is rife with whisperings that Netanyahu has already sold out Bogie; it's nodding its head at Bogie and viewing him as someone who once was, with a small cross mark affixed to the edge of his picture. Bennett said as much, in his own words, to his rivals in the party, when he warned them that their desire to split could keep the defense portfolio out of the hands of Bayit Yehudi.
I won't elaborate too much on Bennett's suitability, or lack thereof, for the post of defense minister. David Ben-Gurion didn't disband all the pre-state military groups – the Haganah, Palmach, Irgun and Stern Gang – so that the defense establishment could be headed one day by a sectorial minister who is more committed to the settlement enterprise than to the state enterprise. Not in his darkest of nightmares did Ben-Gurion envision a defense minister whose party places the defense of Judea and Samaria above the defense of the State of Israel within its recognized borders – and we haven't yet come to the issue of disobeying a direct order on political grounds.
Precisely two years ago, on the eve of the previous election, Bennett was interviewed by Nissim Mishal and spoke about conscientious objection as something inherent in every soldier. OMG – the storm that erupted! Bennett convened an urgent press conference to explain himself and calm the elements. Likud spokespersons came at him with glaring rage. "Whoever calls for disobeying orders will never be a minister in my government," Netanyahu thundered. The center and left, on the other hand, leaned towards accepting Bennett's clarification and adopted a forgiving attitude. Netanyahu and his people refused to let go.
The issue of security is a central theme in any Israeli election, and the deciding factor insofar as the outcome is concerned. This can be proven scientifically. Even when all the talk and protesting and demonstrating is about social and economic issues, the votes are cast based on a sense of security. The mouth, the spoken voice, has its particular preference. The hand that reaches for the ballot at the polling station has a mind of its own.
Commendably so, Netanyahu does manage to convey an authoritative tough-guy image – his cutting speech, the bass-baritone, the outward appearance. The truth is, however, that this image is simply a paste-on, like a hairpiece for a bald patch. Netanyahu is suited to talking security, not doing it. On the eve of the 2009 elections, he pledged at a party rally in Hadera to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program. Two years ago, on the eve of the previous election, he reiterated this commitment in an interview with Ilana Dayan.
The sad truth is that whenever Netanyahu touches military operations, whenever he's called on to take security related action, he fails. Bad luck of sorts; he's jinxed. There's a point at which bad luck becomes a fixed pattern. There's a critical mass that when reached, becomes a fundamental characteristic.
Long is the list that decorates his three terms in office: Operation Protective Edge, which lasted 50 days and ended inconclusively, came at a cost of 74 fatalities, hundreds of wounded and billions of shekels, and also saw the evacuation of Gaza-border communities – a picture of defeat the likes of which we haven't witnessed since the War of Independence; the unsuccessful attempt to commandeer the Mavi Marmara that ended in an apology to the Turks; the Mossad operation to assassinate Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai; the botched and embarrassing attempt on the life of Khaled Mashal in Jordan; the Mossad's failure in Switzerland and the arrest of a covert operative; the Mossad's screw-up in Cyprus and the exposure and arrest of the agents; and, of course, the hasty decision to open the Western Wall Tunnel, which for a brief moment was the rock of our existence and ended with 17 Israeli fatalities and dozens of wounded.
If you ask me, the center bloc has an excellent candidate for the post of defense minister; Shaul Mofaz is his name – a former defense minister and chief of staff, experienced and responsible, with unsullied hands. This bloc is backed by the vast majority of former senior defense establishment officials – from the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad and the Shin Bet security service – who are now concerned citizens prepared/eager to publicly warn against Netanyahu's political-security approach. Their warning will be - should be – the center bloc's primary tool in this election campaign.
