The Teflon Prime Minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Haaretz)

Who’d a thunk it.  Certainly not the vast number of people that absolutely despise him and think he is the worst thing that happened to Israel since the founding of the state. With all the controversy and  negativity surrounding the man, I find it difficult to believe that this is actually happening. According to Haaretz - perhaps the most anti Netanyahu publication in Israel - Benjamin Netanyahu seems to now be as popular as ever:

On Friday, August 9, for the first time since the start of the war, the weekly Maariv poll conducted by Dr. Menachem Lazar found Netanyahu's Likud would win in a party vote if elections were held that day. Netanyahu also hit another landmark, coming in first place with 42 percent in a head-to-head question about whether he or National Unity party leader Benny Gantz is best suited to be prime minister. Gantz, who left Netanyahu's war cabinet in June to return to the opposition, was chosen by 40 percent of respondents. 

The obvious question is why? How is it possible that a man that has been indicted for corruption; a man that has made so many political enemies, even in his own Likud party; a man who – as the leader of his nation must take responsibility for allowing October 7^th to happen (the buck stops with him); a man that the entire leadership of Western Europe hates; a man despised by half the population of Israel; a man who caters to the both religious extremists and religious Zionist extremists in order to retain power; a man who is hated by about half of America’s political leaders (the left half); a man many believe would sell his own mother to Hamas if it meant staying in power… how is it possible that a man like this can retain the popularity he had that brought him into power and made him the longest serving prime minister in Israel’s history?

I can only speculate as to what the answer might be. But my guess is this mirrors what is going on here on the good ole US of A. Both countries are divided between left and right. And each side despises the other’s politics  to the point of  considering it the antithesis of the values upon which their country was founded. Depending upon which side one listens to at any given moment, one will hear the election of the opposing candidate to be considered the literal end of democracy as we know it. That was the theme of last night’s DNC convention. And that was the theme of the party of Trump (formerly known as the Republican party) at their convention. A theme that each side keeps repeating at every opportunity. 

I find it a bit humorous to hear each side claim that they want to unify the American people while at the same time vilifying half the country. MAGA Republicans are deplorables. Democrats are socialists  bordering on communism. But let’s unify the country. Sounds a bit schizophrenic to me. But I digress.

With respect to both Netanyahu and Trump - what about character.  Doesn’t that matter anymore? Is half the electorate of each country immoral and unethical? 

That is certainly untrue. And yet they surely know the moral and ethical lapses of their respective candidate and are voting for them anyway. They have apparently decided to vote policy rather than character. They believe that the country in which they live is better off under an immoral leader with good policies than they are with a moral leader with bad polices. Whether that is objectively true about the policies they support doesn't matter. This is what they believe. When it comes to elections. perception is reality.

What is it exactly they see in Netanyahu? True or not, they see as a strong leader that will stand up to world criticism if he thinks it will benefit Israel. They see a man who has done positive things for the country during his long tenure as prime minister. A man who has always been an eloquent spokesman for their cause. Whether any of that is true or not is irrelevant. Because as I said, when it comes to elections – perception is the reality. Besides who is to say that the electorate is wrong? Both democracies have done pretty well so far– each in their own democratic way. 

What about the US? If the elections were held today, I think Harris would win. She surely has momentum and she has the media on her side. As well as the polls. But the same thnig was true about Clinton in 2016. She won the popular vote but lost the election. That could easily happen again. 

Will Harris be able to maintain her momentum? She will surely get a major bump in the polls after the convention. That happens all the time. In both parties. But will that carry her through the rest of the campaign? Or will the issues that favor Trump slowly erode that momentum? Will Harris’s exuberant positive campaigning style pick up votes over Trumps dower negative campaigning style? Who knows? Soon enough we will find out. That said, a win by either candidate will not make me happy. Not even slightly.