By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM — Yair Lapid has a few days left in his mandate. Possibilities exist, commentators bet against him a few days ago. Now not so sure..
Naftali Bennett has decided against Netanyahu, and Bibi has responded with a vicious attack. It isn’t done until it’s done, but now it looks like the end of Bibi.
Bennett’s comments have been obtuse. He’s wanted a right wing government, but now has come out for a government of change.
Again, we can ask, what is a “right wing” government? Or a left wing government? Or a centrist government?
The labels get to the heart of Israeli ideologies, but none of them with a chance to produce policy. We’re pretty much stuck where we are, waiting to be rid of Bibi, but with little or no hope of realizing the dreams of those who call themselves rightists or leftists.
There’s no chance of absorbing the West Bank. It’s Palestinian. A slow growth of settlement is widely accepted, but is far from the dreams of the rightists.
And there is no chance of creating socialism, or reaching an accord with Palestinians that creates a state. Those are the dreams of the leftists.
For the foreseeable future, we’re stuck with some kind of accord with the Palestinians of the West Bank, and with less than that with the Palestinians of Gaza. And the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza aren’t speaking with one another.
And internally, there remain tensions between Jews and Arabs. My American friends may not like the comparison, but it’s similar to the tensions there between Blacks and Whites.
Neither Blacks nor Israeli Arabs are fully equal with Whites and Jews, there and here. And the Black and Arab percentages of the American and Israeli population are similar, i.e., more or less 20 percent.
Most of the time we live together with a degree of tension. Every once in a while there is a spark that sets off a wave of violence. Then there is calm. Or again tension.
There remains violence between Jews and Arabs. Most seems to be the work of extremists on both sides. Neither have a hope of doing more than individual damage, and keeping tensions at a higher than usual level.
A crucial difference there and here is that Blacks have no force or government close by to speak for them, as do the Israeli Arabs/Palestinians. But here, those who speak for them are not strong enough to produce a change. They can add to the upset when it occurs, but do little more.
Israeli ideologues claim that the condition here is intolerable. But they do not compare it with what occurs elsewhere.
We’ve pretty much solved the issue of Covid-19. Daily infections are in the teens. Sure there is inequality, but there is also a wide range of social services, much closer to what is available in Western Europe and above what Americans receive from their governments. We don’t have a budget, or other elements of an orderly government, but that’s due to a confused political setting, dominated so far by Bibi, but without the capacity to become orderly over the long run.
So we muddle through. Now waiting to see if Lapid can produce some kind of accord between those who call themselves rightists and the Arabs.
And now it’s looking like the end of Bibi. He’s offered deals to Gideon Sa’ar, Bennett, and Benny Gantz, but none have accepted. And he’s cursed them all for aligning with the “left.” He’s also sparking protests, along the same lines. With it spilling over the line between politics and violence.
But it hasn’t worked. No one with political experience believes what Bibi offers or promises.
His end? We’ll see. A bit early to call the movers to Balfour. And when they come, that’ll be a story for the media.
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Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com