A Problem in the Netanyahu Family: Limiting Dad’s Capacity to Manage?

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara are said to have demanded that son Yair stop posting on social media, and avoid speaking with politicians. Apparently, those demands came after Yair ignited tensions within Israel and overseas, especially with the United States.

The young man is in his mid-30s, normally lives at home and is unemployed. A story from his higher education has him responding to a critic with something like, “Don’t you know who I am?”

What the story suggests is that Bibi prefers to manage things, and doesn’t want an extremist son noted for frequent extremist tweets upsetting the apple cart.

The image contrasts with a more popular view, supported by demonstrators in the tens or hundreds of thousands, who see Bibi as an extremist, pushing supporters to change Israel’s judiciary and other features in ways approaching a dictatorship.

Yet Bibi did not create his coalition. He found it, produced by the recent election, with extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Yoav Levin, and Simcha Rothman. So far he’s allowed them to speak and formulate proposals, but not to push them to enactments.

Bibi’s test will come after the holidays, when the freeze on judicial reforms is scheduled to end.

So far, we’re hearing that a freeze will continue.

Now we have Moody’s report. Moody’s is a global and respected risk assessment firm, whose scores given to countries affect the price of loans provided by banks.

It recently downgraded Israel’s rating from “positive” to “stable.”

According to Moody’s, “The change of outlook to stable from positive reflects a deterioration of Israel’s governance, as illustrated by the recent events around the government’s proposal for overhauling the country’s judiciary.”

According to sources attributed to the Prime Minister, they “are being affected by the atmosphere. They have friends in Israel who are telling them tales. Are they well-versed [on the issue]? Not at all. In conversations with them, we discovered that they don’t really understand the details.”

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 demonstrated in Tel Aviv, and thousands at other locales. It was the 15th straight week of protests. Our own demonstration was on a pedestrian bridge across Route 4, between Bnei Dror and Evan Yehuda. There were more than 200 flag wavers, with cars beeping and flashing lights in support as they passed beneath us.

So which Bibi do we accept: the one who silenced his wayward and extremist son, or the one who sought to defend the country against Moody’s?

Most of us don’t trust the Prime Minister, or his current supporters. A poll from last week showed Likud falling to 20 seats compared to the 32 it currently holds. Benny Gantz’s National Union party would become the largest in the Knesset, receiving 29 seats, more than double the 12 it holds now. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid would receive 21 seats, dropping from the 24 it currently controls.

Likud would become the third-largest party in the Knesset. The combined Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit slate would drop from 14 to 11 seats. The Haredi parties would also drop, to a combined 15 seats compared to their current 18. Yisrael Beytenu would drop one seat to 5, and Labor would maintain its 4 seats. Meretz would score below the threshold and be out of the Knesset.

Parties in the current coalition would win 46 seats compared to their current 64, and those in the current Opposition could produce a 64-seat coalition.

Asked what they think of Netanyahu’s performance in office, 71 percent of respondents said he was not doing a good job, compared to just 20% who viewed him favorably. Just 25% of those polled said they wanted to see Netanyahu’s current government remain in office.