Two weeks after the almighty fracas occasioned by the abortive attempt to liquidate Khaled Meshal in Jordan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated his 48th birthday. The Prime Minister's Office staff, aware of the boss’s fondness for fine cigars, presented him with a lighter and an ashtray. His lucky stars handed him an even nicer gift: a terror-free week. A whole week with no suicide bombings, disasters, riots or political upheavals. Even the Consumer Price Index behaved itself in exemplary fashion, recording, for the first time in two and a half years, a drop of 0.1%.
A week’s quiet, in mid-October 1997, was something Netanyahu could well have prayed for. Sure enough, the deliberations of the Israel-Palestinian co-ordination committees were resumed with a degree of success, a possible compromise took shape, for the first time, as regards the Conversion Bill, in Gaza the Hamas began making cease-fire noises and relative quiet prevailed in Lebanon. All of which blessings paled into insignificance as against the astounding fact that Foreign Minister David Levy chose the same week to take time out from his thinly veiled threats of overthrowing the government and unseating the premier.
Unnerved, perhaps, by this unwonted grace, Netanyahu whispered certain words into the ear of Kabbalist Rabbi Kadouri. The Left, he intimated, had forgotten what it meant to be Jewish. Recorded by radio correspondents, the innuendo was broadcast on the Voice of Israel, triggering a fresh media brouhaha. The Prime Minister's Office had again to work round the clock, as usual, to formulate and publish denials.
Since being elected, in May 1996, Israel’s Prime Minister has known precious little peace and quiet. Given the frequency of his slips of the tongue, such as the one that reached Rabbi Kadouri’s ear, one might be forgiven for suspecting that Netanyahu just plain doesn’t like quiet weeks, with no roaring headlines. "Arena" correspondent David Gillis took the PM for a test-drive last week, and the results definitely reinforce this impression.
This abhorrence of quiet is not necessarily a fault. A desire for action may well manifest itself in brave and resolute deeds, such as the sale of 12% of the shares of Bezeq (the national telephone company) to Merrill Lynch. The handsome and the ugly Netanyahu have at least one thing in common: the urge to hit the headlines. It was with this in mind that "Arena" decided to create this "Eye on the Prime Minister" feature.
Updated on an almost daily basis, the feature will include:
- Follow-up - a daily analysis of the Prime Minister’s moves and their implications for the political and economic "Arena"s. This section will be authored mainly by "Arena" editorial board member David Gillis, known to most readers from his Press Cuttings.
- Editorial back numbers, reflecting the thoughts of "Globes" columnists at the time Benjamin Netanyahu won the elections; the action they proposed during the Hasmonean Tunnel riots, and the praise with which they greeted the sale of government shares in Bank Leumi and the privatisation of Bank Hapoalim. This will be accompanied by Prime Ministerial op-ed articles and commentary published by the "Arena".
- Netanyahu in surveys - a parade of recent surveys published in the Israeli press regarding the Prime Minister’s standing, his chances of being re-elected and public opinion polls of how his government is functioning.
- The podium - what you, our readers, think of the Israeli Prime Minister. What action would you suggest he take, and what is your opinion of the articles "Arena" publishes concerning him?