Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on December 24 announced elections in April, which seems like a snap decision to avoid any decision that may be made on indictments against him. If indicted, Netanyahu might be forced to step down and could be looking at jail-time.
Supreme Court of Israel just ruled that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit does not have to delay an indictment until after the election. The prime minister, also known as Bibi, has often used media (like many other world leaders) to his advantage. He has had editors edit or hold stories that show him in a bad light with regards to the various cases he is being investigated on like bribery, fraud and breach of trust. In fact, the prime minister in return for positive coverage on Walla', has allegedly intervened for regulatory issues to benefit Bezeq, the company that owns the website.
The press in Israel has generally been secular. And Israeli journalist Amir Tibon vouches for it too. In a chat with THE WEEK, said, “Israel is a democratic country with a proudly independent media. However, Prime Minsiter Netanyahu tried over the past decade to change that by weakening the independence of the media, and creating or strengthening media outlets that will be loyal and subordinate to him. Those attempts have led him into his current legal trouble, and could eventually lead to his political and legal downfall. I hope future prime ministers will learn the lesson and allow Israel to remain a country with a free press, which is required for a healthy democracy.”
Tibon is is the Washington D.C. correspondent for Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. Dealings with Bezeq is one of the three cases that could bring Netanyahu down. Of the other two, one is in which he is accused of negotiating illicit deals with another newspaper publisher for favourable coverage and yet another is where he has accepted expensive gifts from Israeli tycoons in exchange of being favourable to them and their businesses. The gifts have been reported to be worth over $200,000.
“I think the prime minister initiated this election because he knew he was going to get indicted soon. He wanted to use the election to slow down or delay the indictment process. I’m not sure he will succeed in achieving that,” Tibon says. Netanyahu is also using Donald Trump as part of his campaign material. For example, a poster that popped up on February 4 in Tel Aviv that showed Trump standing next to the PM. “Trump is very popular in Israel, much more than Netanyahu himself,” Tibon says.
He also feels that Netanyahu will be indicted in at least two of the corruption cases. Tibon also thinks after Netanyahu is gone, there will be a chance for a woman to become Prime Minister for the first time since Gold Meir, who led Israel in the 1970s. Such a scenario, however, could only happen in the future — not in the upcoming election.
One of the popular women leader is, Tzipi Livni, leader of Hatnuah. She has been the closest to Golda Meir to become a PM with winning 29 Knesset seats in 2009 (out of 30) as head of Kadima. The other is Ayelet Shaked, co-leader, Hayamin Hehadash, who is also the justice minister.
Netanyahu's followers in Likud are not rallying to his cause despite the charges against him (normally, they would have expressed support). Recently held primary polls are not in favour of Netanyahu either. He also has a formidable rival in Naftali Bennet, the education minister and former leader of the pro-settler Jewish Home. Another strong challenger is Benny Gantz, former chief of staff of the defence forces.
Netanyahu, however made it clear today that he will not be willing to form a coalition with Gantz. He added that he would like to build a coalition which would be a right-led government. According to a pre-election poll by a local news channel, if an election were to take place now, The alliance led by Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi would lead with 36 seats.
