Facts speak for themselves: In six years of Likud governments, our economic situation improved
Photo: Marc Israel Sellem
Netanyahu won thanks to improved economy
Op-ed: The left promised to replace Israel's engine, but most voters didn't want an economic turnover; they are satisfied with their economic situation and are willing to settle for small repairs.
A future political historian will have no trouble analyzing and explaining the 2015 election results in Israel: He will turn to the facts. From the statistics he will learn that in the six years of Likud-led governments, Israelis' economic situation improved. The inflation disappeared, the unemployment rate decreased and households' standard of living increased significantly, even in the lower echelons.
The Israeli society researcher will find out that even the lowest echelon's economic situation improved: From 2009 to 2013, its part in the net income rose from 2.4% to 2.7%, the percentage of poor families which own a car went up from 24.5% to 31.5%, the percentage of poor families with two cell phones increased from 50% to 58%, and the percentage of poor families with air conditioning in their apartment went up from 42.4% to 62.5%. That's an impressive increase in the standard of living, the researcher will say to himself.
These are the figures available to him: In 2009, every other family in the fourth echelon had one car; in 2013 the ownership of private cars jumped to 61% of families in the same echelon (an average monthly salary of about NIS 9,000 per family). In 2009, 66% of the families in the fourth echelon had two cell phones; in 2013 – 72%. In 2009, an air conditioner was installed in the apartments of 74% of families in the fourth echelon; 86.5% in 2013. Finally, the fourth echelon's part in the net income of all families rose from 6.4% to 7%.
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From additional statistical sources, the historian will receive information about a major investment in infrastructures connecting the periphery to central Israel and about a sharp rise in the value of the assets of the public living there. All this will lead to the only rational conclusion: The Israelis voted in favor of the re-election of a Netanyahu-led government for economic reasons. He may recall the British Conservative Party's famous and winning slogan from 1959: "You never had it so good."
Herzog and Livni. Instead of telling Israelis how bad their situation is now, they should have told them how bad things will be in a binational state
The historian will find it difficult, however, to understand the discourse which developed in Israel after the elections, a discourse filled with attempts to explain the results using every other factor apart from the economic-factual factor.
He will be surprised to read that the left and center lost the elections because the voters' situation, objectively, had never been worse. But they, the voters, either lied to themselves or voted from their stomach, or gave in to nationalistic incitement, or followed ethnic sentiments like a blind herd, or wanted to punish the Labor Party which has not been in power for 15 years, or reached an agreement to teach the "state of Tel Aviv" a lesson – and were apparently driven by all these irrational motives all together. Not because, as completely rational voters, they wanted the Likud in general, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular, to remain in power for benefitting them economically.
Why should I, the historian of Israeli politics will ask himself (and I am asking myself now too), deal with conspiracy theories about a "ruling junta," post-Marxist theories about a "distorted consciousness" or post-modernist theories about "politics of identities," when the facts speak for themselves in a loud a clear voice?
The left promised the voters a "political turnover" – replacing the State of Israel's engine. But most of the voters didn't want an economic turnover or a new engine for the state. They are satisfied with what they have and are willing to settle for small repairs. And even Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party appeared too revolutionary to them. He should be a minister, but under Bibi.
It's time for the opposition parties to stop blaming the voters for their defeats and start blaming themselves, and especially their erroneous focus on the economic issue. Instead of shouting, "Bad! Bad!", the left could have told the public the truth: "While things are good right now, Netanyahu's policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians is inevitably leading to the creation of a binational state, where things will be bad for all of us, very bad. Really scary."
