By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D
JERUSALEM — Donald and Bibi, friends and mutual supporters while in office. Now out, getting older, one of them standing trial, both aspiring to holding power again, and seeking how to get there.
Trump is responding to being ousted from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube by undertaking his own web site, to be called Truth Social.
Bibi has celebrated his birthday, with supporters referring to him as Prime Minister Netanyahu, and citing the weakness–as they see it– of the man sitting in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Trump and his supporters continue to refer to the 2020 election as stolen, and have pursued, unsuccessfully, efforts to change the results. He and his supporters chide the working incumbent, Joe Biden, whose opinion poll standings resemble those of Donald Trump, generally below 50 percent approval and often below 40 percent.
One can criticize Biden’s record as President, but there are points of success as well as cases of legislative failure.
Both Trump and Bibi have substantial popular support. And their opponents cling to power with slim majorities.
Bibi’s trial continues. Current guesses that it’ll take three and one half more years. Before appeals, assuming there is a guilty verdict. The Legal Adviser to the Government has ruled out the possibility of a plea bargain, but that may not be the end of the efforts. And a lot can happen while the trial proceeds, slowly, slowly. Gideon Sa’ar, the Minister of Justice, is promoting a law that would bar someone accused of a serious crime from serving as Prime Minister. The Legal Adviser to the Government has approved the proposal, saying that it is not drafted in a way to focus on any individual, but is in general terms. But meanwhile, Bibi’s people continue to refer to him as Prime Minister.
Equivalent to Bibi’s trial are a number of inquiries into the dealings of Donald Trump. Via aides, perhaps, organizing the January 6th attack against the Capitol, and a slew of charges against various aides and companies ranging from tax issues, criminal contempt with respect to Congressional procedures, fiddling with the 2020 election results, and the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Biden and Bennett are both managing. An article in The Jerusalem Post calls Bennett an “accidental leader.” How else could a man be termed who reached the Prime Minister’s Office with the support of only six Knesset Seats. He came as the result of a political bargain, and Yair Lapid’s giving in to a man with only a third of his own Knesset support.
The author of the Post‘s article, Amotz Asa-El, compares Bennett’s situation to those of Harry Truman and Yitzhak Shamir. Both came to office via the death or resignation of party leaders, and both proved themselves capable to lead their nations. He credits Bennett with ordering a third inoculation despite lack of approval from the FDA, the avoidance of a lockdown despite recommendations from the Health Ministry, several tussles with the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox religious establishment, and foreign policy progress beyond where Bibi left the situation with several Muslim countries.
Bennett is also doing well politically, with close working relations with Meretz’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, and the right wing Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The Post article speculates about the future of Bennett and Sa’ar, calling them the new Likud, as successors of Menachem Begin and this national liberalism. Combining their parties would amount to a near-healthy number of 12 Knesset seats, so far.
There remain creaks and shakes in Israel’s left to right coalition, including an Arab party, and its need to pass a national budget in less than two weeks. Being anti-Bibi, and with a pragmatic leader has helped it stay together.
And across the sea, the equally fragile Biden government manages, also with an anti-Trump sentiment that keeps a problematic Democratic Congressional-Presidential alliance working, more or less. His prominent actions include withdrawal from Afghanistan and the acceptance of refugees that had aligned themselves with the American effort there, other moves against migrants from Haiti and Mexico, efforts to increase financing of transportation, climate control, and efforts to promote vaccination against Covid-19.
We’ll see how both Bennett and Biden proceed. With Trump and Bibi acting as the ghosts of power past, and maybe future. .
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Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com