by Michael Sparber, member of the Judea & Samaria forum, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Israel will be holding national elections three weeks from now. If the "Change" coalition – the alliance of parties ranging from the extreme left (Yair Golan) to the extreme right (Avigdor Lieberman) whose exclusive shared goal is to oust Binyamin Netanyahu – loses these elections, let them not complain that the nation was fooled, or is immature, or does not understand. If they lose, it's because they simply don't understand what the nation wants.
It is the "Change" bloc itself that seems to be out of touch. It does not grasp that much of the nation feels that though the current government failed us (even if only partially, together with significant achievements), it still sees the alternative being offered to it as even worse.
It's possible to be angry at Netanyahu, to demand that he take responsibility and even resign – without wanting to return to the very policies that brought us to where we are now.
The people who feel this way are precisely the public that the Change bloc is missing. They are those who want more determination and initiative on the part of the government, and less dependency on others; they are angry at the government for not finishing the job in Gaza as it promised to do. But the opposition hears only the anger, and is convinced that whoever is upset at Netanyahu will vote for them.
I have news for them: That is not the case.
Consider what the opposition is offering us. Gadi Eisencott, the former IDF Chief of Staff whose party now presents the biggest electoral threat to the Likud, supported in the midst of the war the renewal of permits for Palestinian workers to enter Israel – as if he had learned nothing from past experience! And when asked if he would partner with the Arab party headed by Mansour Abbas, he could not provide a clear answer. Is that what he thinks the public wants now?
And what about Lieberman? He now proposes a Jordanian police force to run Palestinian civilian affairs in Areas A and B, alongside Israeli security control. Is this his great solution – Jordanians in Tul Karem and Kalkilye adjacent to Route 6, Netanya and Kfar Saba?! He promises to cancel Oslo, yet still wants to rely on others to take responsibility for our security.
And then there is Naftali Bennett. This former Yesha Council leader has already assured us that "in the end, Areas A and B will be part of the Palestinian autonomy." Does he not understand that this is the opposite of what the many voters who wish to break out of Oslo want to see? Does he not see that his partnership with Lapid, Golan, and the others appears to many to be a repeat of what he did five years ago when his right-wing voters found themselves having chosen the head of a left-wing government predicated on the support of an Arab party?!
Right-wing voters who want to replace Netanyahu are therefore rightly suspicious of those who call themselves right-wing yet propose policies that are far from it.
Yair Lapid, Bennett's senior partner, has proposed that Egypt run Gaza for 15 years and then pass it on to the Palestinian Authority after it has made "reforms." Golan says that Mansour Abbas is a legitimate government coalition partner. These are the leaders with whom Eisencott would like to form a government.
On the other hand, with all the anger at Netanyahu, we can see that in Judea and Samaria, his government has carried out major changes and improvements. In Jenin, Tul Karem and elsewhere, IDF forces are working against the terrorist infrastructures, remaining in place to prevent their rehabilitation. The policy changeover from "attacking, withdrawing, then waiting for the next round" to one of more initiative is clearly felt on the ground. And of course the establishment of over 100 new communities in Yesha (!) is a very welcome development; will a new Eisencott-Lapid government continue this approach?
All this does not mean that the public forgives Netanyahu for his failures. But it does mean that it wants his current policies and moves to be perpetuated, without reverting to the tried-and-failed policies of the left. Netanyahu has disappointed many, but his electoral opponents appear headed to disappoint them even more. If the "Change" bloc does not realize this, its defeat is all but guaranteed.