The following article is extracted from the
July-August 1997
issue of
THE OTHER ISRAEL
A fractured society
Israeli peace activists watched with frustration Netanyahu's ability to
survive crisis after crisis. All of us would have heaved a sigh of relief at
Netanyahu's downfall, even for the most silly or irrelevant reason -- and even
though many doubts remain concerning the personality and political intentions of
Ehud Barak, the new leader of the Labor Party opposition.
So far, however, not enough of Netanyahu's coalition partners have come to
the point of confronting him directly -- and the "internal Likud opposition" is
extremely heterogeneous on anything but its opposition to Netanyahu, comprising
moderates and hardliners, neo-liberals and social populists.
Moreover, the new Israeli electoral system makes it quite difficult to get
rid of a prime minister: a simple majority of the members present is no longer
sufficient; 61 of the 120-member Knesset must actually vote against the
government, with the knowledge that they themselves would also face reelection
-- rather intimidating for many. But perhaps most important: though Netanyahu in
many ways alienated his voters and grassroots supporters, their feeling of
confusion and depression did not yet crystallize into clear opposition.
The months of government crisis have brought out in sharp relief the
essential nature of the Israeli society and politics -- a society divided into
distinct socio-ethnic-cultural groups, which often correspond to economic class
as well, and which tend to vote as a block for parties and leaders to which they
feel a kind of "tribal loyalty."
There are the Ashkenazis, descendants of the early pioneers who built and
shaped Israel, who mostly vote for Labor and the parties to its left; the Arab
citizens of Israel who -- despite many reservations -- also support the Labor
block; the Orientals, Jews who came from the Arab countries and who
traditionally support the Likud; the religious community, which tends sharply to
the right and which supported Netanyahu almost unanimously; and the immigrants
from the former Soviet Union, the only "shifting block," who supported Rabin in
1992 out of being disappointed with the Likud Government, and who supported
Netanyahu in 1996 out of disappointment with Labor.
The repeated crises of the Netanyahu Government so far failed to break this
deadlock. On the contrary: one of Netanyahu's best strokes has been to present
himself as an underdog, unjustly persecuted by "the elites" which dominate the
media and judicial system -- an emotional appeal which caught on among his
voters (even though Netanyahu himself is quite a typical member of the affluent
Ashkenazi elite).
Netanyahu's first year in power had seen a sharp increase in the tensions
between the component "tribes" of Israeli society: between Ashkenazis and
Orientals, between secularists and religious, between immigrants and veteran
Israelis. The Prime Minister benefited from this phenomenon, to retain power and
overcome his internal problems -- but at a price: a sharply divided society is
less capable of standing the war into which Netanyahu seems to lead it.
True, throughout history there were leaders who started wars for the very
purpose of uniting behind themselves a divided people -- but for that panacea to
work, the war needs to be quick and visibly successful, which does not seem a
likely option in the Netanyahu case. In the Army General Staff's opinion, leaked
to Israeli TV, reconquest of the Palestinian cities would cost the lives of
hundreds of soldiers -- a price which many among Netanyahu's own voters would
consider prohibitive, and which would only bring Israel back into the
intolerable situation of three years ago...
The Editors
THE OTHER ISRAEL
is the newsletter of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
P.O.Box 2542
58125 Holon
Israel.
Phone/Fax: (03) 5565804
Editor: Adam Keller
Coeditor: Beate Zilversmidt
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