The Do-Over Election Performed a Vital Service For

Selected articles concerning Israel, published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum ( [email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L Issue 8 1 2 Volume 19 , Number 3 8 Parshias Vayeilech | Shabbos Shuva October 5 , 201 9 The Do - Over Election Performed a Vital Service for Israeli Democracy By Evelyn Gordon jns.org September 25, 2019 Netanyahu’s final service to Israel? (Syria refused). The effect on voter trust was devastating, Like many Israelis, I was horrified when April’s as evidenced by one centrist colleague who told me that election led to another in September; it seemed a colossal she agreed with de monstrators chanting “Rabin is a waste of time and money. But the do - ever election proved traitor”: Having voted for him due to those promises, she critical to maintaining Israel’s democratic legitimacy among felt betrayed. half the public — the half that would otherwise have Far worse, however, was the way Rabin ratified the thought that April’s election was stolen from them. Oslo - 2 agreement in 1995. He achieved his 61 - 59 Knesset In April, rightist parties that explicitly promised to majority by openly buying two votes from th e right - wing support Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister won 65 Tzomet party in exchange for government posts with all of the Knesset’s 120 seats. In other words, a clear majority the attendant perks (free mail and telephone for life, a of voters seemingly cast their ballots for a rightist, government pension, etc.). Since this was illegal at the Netanyahu - led government. But after the election, Yisrael time, as confirmed by a High Court of Justice ruling on the Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman refused to join such deal, he then amended the law to retroactively legalize it. a government. Needless to say, both the blatant vote - buying and its Thus even if an alternative government could have retroactive legalization were heartily cheered by the left’s been formed — whether a unity government or one led by self - proclaimed democrats. Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz — it would have Eight years later, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon further undermined rightists’ faith in the democratic process . Any eviscerated t he right’s belief in democracy. The 2003 such government would have looked like a product not of campaign revolved around the Labor party’s plan to the majority’s will, but of the whims of a single individual unilaterally withdraw from Gaza; Sharon won in a who “stole” right - wing votes and gave them to the left. landslide by opposing this idea. But after being elected, he The do - over election showed this wasn’t the case. promptly adopted his rival’s policy, prompting fury am ong Lieberman’s party not only maintained its strength, but his own voters and cheers from the self - proclaimed “pro - increased it, thereby proving him right that his voters cared democracy” camp. more about curbing ultra - Orthodox power than about To quell the uproar, Sharon promised to put the plan keeping Netanyahu in office. Moreover, the pro - to a referendum among his Likud party’s registered Netanyahu bloc shrank even further — from 60 seats membership. So the right - wing democrats who had gone (excluding Lieberm an) in April to 55 in September — due door - to - door to secure his election victory launched entirely to Netanyahu’s own appalling behavior in the another door - to - door campaign, with equal success: intervening months, which prompted a nontrivial number Sharon lost the referendum by a decisive 60 - 40 margin. of center - right voters to either switch sides or stay home But he simply ignored the results and implemented the and a massive increase in Arab turnout. pullout anyway. And once again, his undemocratic That doesn’t mean Gantz won; the bloc he heads can’t behavior won pla udits from the left’s self - proclaimed form a government on its own. But neither can “democrats.” Netanyahu’s bloc. Any possible solution — a unity This chain of events resulted in a non - negligible government, a Netanyahu government with leftist partners minority of rightists becoming completely disillusioned or a Gantz government with rightist partners — will re quire with democracy. They came to view it as a system whose compromise between the blocs. And nobody will be able rules were gamed in the left’s favor, rather than applying to claim the election was stolen when that happens. equally to everyone, because they saw election results and This matters greatly because the democratic process even laws repeatedly being ignored with impunity when has been subverted far too often over the past 25 years, this served the left’s purposes. The only rule seemed to be usually in the left’s favor, with e nthusiastic applause from that anything furthering left - wing policies was the left’s self - proclaimed democrats. “democratic,” while anything furthering right - wing policies It began with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was “undemocratic.” And this has been reinforced by 10 gained the center - right votes he needed to win in 1992 years of watching the left tar Netanyahu — who, until the thanks to two promises — no negotiations with the PLO past five months, never did anything remotely as and no retreat from the Golan Heights . He promptly undemocratic as Rabin and Sharon — as “anti - democratic.” broke both, signing the Oslo Accord with the PLO in T he pernicious consequences are obvious. People who 1993 and offering Syria the Golan in exchange for peace have lost faith in democracy are more likely to see violence Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 2 as a legitimate means of achieving their goals or fantasize pretty exciting and new to me that voting could actually about some form of absolutism (theocracy, monarchy, make a difference, lead to a real change in the country’s etc.). Indeed, it’s a tribute to the resilience of the right’s fate. You can vote in Russia, but it will make no democratic instincts that these are still marginal difference.” phenomena. But they have undeniably grown, and another Thanks to the Sept. 17 do - over election, which “stolen” election would have reinforced this trend. Netanyahu almost singlehandedly forced on an astonished Democracy’s sine qua non is that voting actually nation, Israel was spared a situation in which half the matters. When peop le stop believing this, democracy dies; electorate once again concluded that voting makes no that’s precisely why the left’s consistent support for difference. Given the outcome, it could be his final service undemocratic moves that serve its goals is so dangerous. to Israel, but it turned out to be an important one. And And people who actually live in undemocratic countries though I doubt he’d appreciate the irony, that wouldn’t be understand this very well. As Dima Eygenson, who a bad ending to a long career of public service. recently immigrated to Israel from Russia, told JTA, “It’s Ms. Gordon is a journalist and commentator living in Israel. Ho w France Became Iran’s Biggest Advocate By Amb. Freddy Eytan jcpa.org September 23, 2019 In search of former glory — and money. “new and original” diplomatic process. He searches for an From the day President Emmanuel Macron entered initiative that will restore France to the front of the the Presidential Palace in May 2017, he has tried to international stage and political activity in the Middle East. improve France’s image in the international arena and play It should be noted that despite their closeness to Iran, a central role in resolving conflicts. the French have always preferred the Sunni camp to the France has a lways been worried about armed conflicts Shiites. During the Iran - Iraq War in the 1980s, France and strategic inequality. For this reason, its policy is based wholehearted ly supported Saddam Hussein. It supplied on classic diplomacy and honoring UN Security Council him with weapons and even a nuclear reactor (that was resolutions and international agreements. destroyed by Israel in 1981). Macron exploits Europe’s political and economic With the withdrawal of President Donald Trump from weakness and the internal struggles of other countries, the JCPOA nuclear deal on May 8, 2018, and the re - such as in Germany, where Chancellor Merkel’s retirement imposition of sanctions on Ira n, President Macron saw a looms, in Italy, with the rise of the extreme Right and the golden opportunity to undertake a new diplomatic coalition crisis, and in the United Kingdom with the offensive and gesture to preserve the deal, which was implications of its withdrawal from th e European Union. signed on July 14, 2015, in Vienna. Macron’s objective is to prove that the presidential Diplomatic Processes The previous French administration in France is very stable, in spite of the administration played an essential role in the contacts that domestic “Yellow Vest” demonstrations. He is essentially led to the signing of the nuclear agreement in Vienna. The the only leader on the Continent who is capable of position of the then - Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was “restoring the forme r glory” of the European community, firmer than that of the United States when he demanded maintaining proper and friendly relations with all camps to r each a final agreement that was “robust from all points and sides, and negotiating directly and equally with the of view,” including an agreement that prohibited the leaders of the great powers as a fair and ultimate mediator. development of ballistic missiles. In the end, France fell in Macron has held this ambition ever since he m oved line with President Obama and signed the terrible nuclear into politics and was appointed as finance minister in the agreement.

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