In Israel, the budget crises is over, temporarily. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz refused to buckle under the pressure put upon him by PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who threatened to call new elections, the fourth within two years, if Gantz did not agree to terms demanded by Netanyahu’s Likud party. (In Israel, the government must approve a budget by a certain date, in this case it was Aug 25, 2020, or the government automatically dissolved and new elections had to be called.)
In the coalition agreement Gantz and Netanyahu signed only a few months ago, the two parties agreed that a two-year budget would be passed. Pundits say that Netanyahu then pushed for only a one-year budget, thus keeping open the negotiations for the 2021 budget so that Netanyahu could later demand concessions before agreeing to that budget or he’d call new elections. Gantz pointed out that the two parties had a signed agreement. Netanyahu ignored him.
Moreover, Netanyahu had other terms he wanted Gantz to agree to before he’d vote in favor of a budget. Netanyahu reportedly wanted his Likud party to control the committees that appointed judges and the top police officials. Critics said this was akin to letting the fox guard the hen house. Netanyahu has been indicted on three felony charges and is currently on trial. By appointing judges and police, pundits say Netanyahu was maneuvering to have the investigation into his felony charges reopened, and perhaps even dismissed.
Again, Gantz refused to agree. Then Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition in Israel’s 120 seat Knesset, proposed a bill to demand that any Prime Minister who had been indicted must step down. In the coalition agreement signed between Gantz and Netanyahu, Gantz had agreed not to vote for such a bill should it be proposed. And indeed he did not. Gantz knew that if he’d voted for the bill the Likud would have cited his breaking the terms of the agreement and called new elections. Gantz said he was a patriot and had ‘fallen on the grenade’ when he’d joined this coalition in order to prevent new elections and to stage a united front in the fight against COVID-19. Observers agreed. Gantz may have been a political neophyte but he was a patriot. And a mench.
Then came the UAE agreement. Analysts say it was no coincidence that the announcement came as the Republican National Convention was about to begin. US President Trump called this a great historic achievement with more to come. Netanyahu boasted the same thing. Again, no coincidence since Netanyahu was playing a game of brinksmanship with his coalition partner Benny Gantz.
Then, the media was buzzing with reports that Netanyahu had not informed Gantz, the Defense Minister and alternate Prime Minister, nor Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel’s Foreign Minister, of the impending agreement with the UAE. Nor had Netanyahu informed his coalition partners of one of the hidden terms of the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates: the Israeli approval for the US to sell F-35 warplanes, the most advanced fighter-jets in the world, to the UAE.
Defense Minister, and alternate Prime Minister, Gantz objected. “Not a button of the plane will be sold,” he told the media. According to analysts, the USA had brokered the deal with the UAE using the F-35s as an inticement. One commentator complained that Netanyahu had already approved the sale of advanced submarines to Egypt and that by selling the F-35s he was putting Israel’s security at risk.
There was also rumors that Netanyahu might have received a thoroughly disguised kickback for the sale of the submarines. And that he might still be caught in the net of the submarine scandal that caught other Israelis taking bribes for the multi-billion dollar purchase of the subs from Germany.
Following the initial UAE agreement Netanyahu’s numbers nudged up slightly in the polls. But the fallout over the sale of the F-35s and the UAE’s complaining they would cancel any meetings with Israeli officials if the sale were canceled dented Netanyahu’s standing. Polls showed the Likud had dropped down to 30 seats. Not as bad as Blue and White. Since their split with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, Blue and White had dropped down to only 12 seats. Netanyahu’s popularity had also dropped. Over 60 percent of the people polled by Channel 13 news thought he wasn’t doing a good job managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Commentators blasted Netanyahu for putting his own “petty political demands” above the needs of the country. Others were more forthcoming, they claimed all Netanyahu wanted to do was stay out of jail. Appointing judges and a police chief, or calling new elections so he could appoint new ministers to key positions, were all aimed at keeping him in his seat, and not behind bars.
The nightly protests against Netanyahu, calling him the “Crime Minister,” didn’t do him any good either. The crowds frequently passed the 10,000 protester mark. Police violence against the protesters was also on the rise with critics questioning if the police were acting on orders of Netanyahu. Slowly, between the protests, the rise in COVID-19 cases, the tricky manuevers in the UAE deal, the stink seemed to be catching up to Netanyahu.
Zvi Hauser, a right-wing politician of the Israel Resilience party, sought a compromise on the budget to prevent new elections. Hauser proposed a 100 day postponement on the budget vote giving the sides time to reach an agreement. Netanayahu ignored the compromise and kept demanding terms, like approval of judges and chief of police, that Gantz kept refusing to agree to. The clock was ticking. Nightly news reports counted down the days until the budget deadline was reached and new elections were automatically called.
On the evening of Aug 24, 2020, with only hours to go before new elections were automatically called, Gantz called a press conference. The commentators expected him to announce he wasn’t going to vote for the budget extension along with his withdrawal from the government that would force new elections.
Netanyahu, according to analysts, was worried. Netanyahu’s right-wing rivals, Neftali Bennet’s Yamina party now with16 seats, and Lapid’s Yesh Atid with 17 seats, were draining away Netanyahu’s support. Pundits believed Netanyahu was bluffing and wouldn’t call new elections, fearing the results.
Gantz scheduled his TV appearance to coincide with the nightly news. But and hour before Gantz was scheduled to appear Netanyahu made a surprise TV appearance. In a hastily called press conference Netanyahu blinked. He went on TV and said he’d never wanted to appoint judges or the chief of police, calling that an “urban legend.” And that he did not want new elections. And that he’d vote in favor of extending the budget deadline.One commentator said that the public “No longer believed a word” Netanyahu said.
TV commentators were excitedly saying that Netanyahu had tried to pull the rug out from under Gantz’s feet. When Gantz did finally make his appearance he gave a moving speech, critics said one of his best, telling the viewers he was a patriot and interested in the country’s welfare not his own, unlike Netanyahu, and would therefore vote for the budget vote postponement. What was clear after the speech was that the two coalition partners were like an unhappy couple ready to meet with the divorce lawyers.
It was also no coincidence that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew into Israel as the RNC (Republican National Convention) began. More headlines favorable to the Trump administration were expected. Pompeo met with Netanyahu and announced he was flying to other countries in the Middle East to try to get them to normalize ties with Israel. Then Pompeo made a speech supporting President Trump. From Jerusalem. This, according to sources, in opposition to orders he’d issued to US Ambassadors not to make political statements during the conventions. Some questioned if he’d broken the law.
Israel is now 29th in the world with the number of COVID-19 cases, more than China. The USA is #1.
Israel’s Corona Czar Ronni Gamzo is fighting to keep the numbers down. So far, Israel has nearly 900 deaths, about 90 per million, but the USA has over 800,00 deaths, about 550 per million. Israel has nearly 110,000 cases, @11,600 per million. The USA has nearly 6,000,000 cases with nearly 18,000 per million. Neither country is a shining example of how to fight COVID-19.
With the Jewish High Holidays on the horizon, health officials worry about another outbreak. Synagogues have proven to be a danger zone for the spread of COVID-19. So are Yeshivot, Jewish religious seminaries, where the rule of thumb is two young men sitting side by side with their copies of Talmud open before them, arguing the finer points of the meaning of sentences and interpretation of commentaries.
Moreover, the annual pilgrimage of Breslov Hassidim to Oman, in the Ukraine, to pray at the site, or in the area, where the great sage Reb Nachman of Breslov is buried. The annual pilgrimage sees upwards of 50,000 men go to the town that has more a county fair atmosphere than that of a somber religious gathering. Israel’s Corona Czar Gamzo has implored the Ukrainian government to forbid Israelis into the country for the high holidays fearing the outbreak of COVID-19 upon their return to Israel.
Beyond the political and health drama, there’s the security issue. Hamas has been sending rockets as well as helium balloons dangling explosives into Israel. Nearly 30 fires have been caused so far when the balloons land, burning Israeli farmers’ fields to the ground. Rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza have hit homes in Sderot. Hamas uses these attacks as leverage to get money from Qatar and the Arab countries. A Qatar emissary landed in Gaza yesterday with $30 million in cash to prop up the Hamas government. Pundits expect this “protection money” to quell the Hamas attacks.
To make matters even worse, a COVID-19 outbreak has been reported in Gaza, a small land mass with nearly 2 million tightly packed residents.
What makes a dictator? How many are there today in the world? The most famous, who hide behind a thin veil of democracy, are obvious: Russia’s Putin, Turkey’s Erdogan, N. Korea’s Kim Jong-un, China’s Xi Jinping, Syria’s Bashir Assad. But what of the wannabe dictators? Those who, given the chance, will do what they want, serve their own interests, ignore the needs of the population, all in order to feed their own egos and garner power at any cost, by any means. Which are more dangerous, those who are already dictators, or those who have ambitions to copy those already in power, and use whatever tools they can to get there?
With the RNC about to chose a candidate, and Israel struggling to get a stable government to fight the pandemic and Israel’s enemies, what is needed, say the pundits, are leaders who put the good of the world and their country first. And, as labor organizer Saul Alinsky once said, “The essence of any choice is in its alternatives.” It will be interesting to see if the populations chose a leader with a moral compass. Or just one who has the most patronage votes to pass out. Or one who dangles conspiracy theories to incite the fanatics. Some of the options are good. Others, well… you decide.
