How has Benjamin Netanyahu become an undisputed leader? I don't mean his victory over Moshe Feiglin in this week's Likud leadership election; Feiglin is no measure of Bibi's standing. I'm talking about the fact that, apart from Feiglin, there was no other candidate, more serious, who could challenge the prime minister's position. This tells us that anyone who saw himself as worthy of leading the Likud party realized that he stood no chance against Netanyahu. Not many people achieve that kind of status.
What is even more impressive is that in the country as a whole Bibi's strength is little less than it is in the Likud. When there is talk of elections today, few think about the possibility that Netanyahu might not win. There are politicians who say that they can beat Bibi, but those are predictable statements by politicians lined up against him. Among the public at large, they are greeted skeptically, in fact dismissively. It is highly doubtful whether the politicians who talk about defeating the prime minister really believe in their ability to do so.
Of course, all this is true now, and by the time elections take place the picture could change. Even so, the phenomenon of Bibi as unchallenged leader is impressive. How has it happened? What does he have that makes most of the public place almost unreserved faith in him? How has he managed to persuade "the people" that he is worthiest and best person to lead the country at this time, and perhaps at any time?
Rhetorician
Is it his rhetoric? Certainly that element plays no small part. Speaking is something Bibi knows how to do very well. There is no-one currently in politics better than him in this area, and it is doubtful whether anyone even comes close. When one adds to this his handsome appearance, television is a medium he dominates. And television, as is well known, plays a central role in determining a politician's image. There are hardly any failures or missteps the effect of which cannot be softened, or even avoided altogether, through a good television appearance. That without doubt is one of the main reasons that scandals and investigations have left Bibi unscathed, without a scratch, enabling him to achieve the status that he has, despite all of them.
Doing a good job
Another reason, perhaps the most important, is that, one the whole, Netanyahu is doing a good job. Not excellent, certainly not perfect, but not bad. Yes, there's the cost of housing; yes, there are distress and problems, social and others, but it seems that the public sees all these problems as unpleasant, but not terrible; and it's doubtful whether they would disappear under any other leader. After, with any leader there have been, and will be, distress, failures, and unappealing actions. What's more, over and against social injustice stands the fact that the country's economy is strong. That is certainly no trivial matter in a period of collapsing economies elsewhere.
The peace process factor
Scoring a hit against Bibi in relation to the peace process is almost mission impossible. By now, most of the public does not buy the argument that the peace process is stuck because of the stance of the government of Israel. Most of the public, including many on the left, understand that the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular bear more, or at any rate not less, responsibility for the halt in the peace process than the State of Israel, and that there is not much that one leader can do that another can't. That is to say, on this issue, the line between left and right has become blurred. All that works to Bibi's benefit. He knows how to steer a course as someone who wants peace, but…
Not wholly mistaken
One has to recognize the fact that Bibi is not a bluff. He has something. Quite a lot in fact, both merits and deficiencies, but on balance, at least in the eyes of Israeli voters, the former outweigh the latter. And perhaps Israeli voters aren't entirely wrong, at least for now.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 2, 2012
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