I understand Netanyahu’s negatives. They are well known and
substantial. They have of late been regurgitated with a passion by his
political opponents. Some of which are the following.
His dependence on the far-right parties of Ben-Gvir and the
Charedi parties is a sore subject with most mainstream voters.
His refusal to take any responsibility for the October 7th
massacre is another legitimate complaint.
There are also accusations by many that his motives in
prolonging the war in Gaza are entirely political, as well as accusations that
political considerations delayed the release of hostages, some of whom were
killed because of those delays.
Then there is the corruption trial and other accusations of
corruption, his alienation of former political allies, all in pursuit of
retaining power.
There are accusations that he has alienated Democrats in
Congress, thus destroying the once-bipartisan congressional support for Israel.
There is also his tacit support - or at least his
willingness to look the other way - when violent, “Hilltop” type Jewish
settlers terrorize Palestinians.
All really bad stuff, to be sure. And I’m sure there are
many more issues that don’t come to mind at the moment. Netanyahu is probably
at the lowest point in his popularity at this stage of his political career. My
guess is that his chances of pulling off another victory and retaining power as
prime minister by virtue of another far-right/Charedi coalition - are pretty
slim.
And yet Perry seems to be worried about a Trump endorsement.
Maybe Netanyahu’s chances aren’t as slim as many think. There is a reason for
this. First as Perry noted, Trump is very popular in Israel. His endorsement of
Netanyahu could sway the election
Then there’s this. October 7th did one thing for Netanyahu
that no one else could: It moved many Israeli voters to the right, including
many right-wing voters toward the extremist right. Someone recently mentioned a
poll they had seen not long ago showing a substantial increase in support for
Ben-Gvir’s extremist party, Otzma Yehudit. That could make a governing
coalition with him even more likely, giving Ben-Gvir even more power.
That would be a terrible outcome. But would it be the worst
outcome? I’m not sure.
That’s because the anti-Bibi opinion pieces completely
disregard what Netanyahu has done for the country. Or they discount his
accomplishments as either worthless or even damaging to Israel.
It’s amazing how differently one can view a set of
accomplishments – as either very positive or very negative - based on one’s
positive or negative opinions of the individual responsible for them. It’s hard
to be objective when one has such strong biases…
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