There have not been many Israeli politicians more articulate than Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, in Hebrew or English. He was a fine ambassador to the United Nations, and an impressive minister of finance. In that position his ideology in behalf of free enterprise, along with his powers of expression and persuasion, led him to a series of reforms widely described as among the most far reaching in the country's history. To be sure, he proposed steps greater than he achieved. He urged drastic cuts in social programs, and sharp changes in enterprises that were state-owned. He had to compromise in the face of strong opposition from labor unions and colleagues in the government. Nonetheless, there was a lot remaining after he finished compromising. The economy is less encumbered by overly generous entitlement programs and overstaffed enterprises left over from the heydays of Israeli socialism.

 

One can quarrel with the credit that Netanyahu claims for his reforms. He has applauded every tick upward in GNP and every tick downward in unemployment as his work, when much of it has been due to improvements in the international economy. Israel depends heavily on foreign trade and investment from overseas, so not all (or perhaps even most) short term improvements in the national economy are due to decisions taken locally.

 

Sunday afternoon Netanyahu announced his resignation as Finance Minister. He did it 30 minutes before the close of trading on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. The leading indices dropped by 5 percent.

 

Netanyahu again claimed credit for economic progress. Thanks to him, Israel will become a world leader in its rate of growth, and rival Hong Kong, Singapore, and Switzerland as economic centers.

 

The principal reason he gave for resigning was an inability to continue in a government that would withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza and the northern West Bank. He is convinced that these steps will reward terror. Gaza will turn into a base of Islamic extremism and threaten Israel more than at present. Two days after his resignation, in his first speech to the Knesset, he urged that body to reverse itself and vote down the plan that it has already approved, several times, in different votes.

 

Not every day does a politician resign from a valued post because of conscience. Nonetheless, Netanhahu's step has been received cooly, with suspicion, and reservations by all commentators, regardless of sex, position, or media outlet. Some will say that this reflects the harshness of Israeli media. The truth is that Netanyahu is reaping the results of his credibility. Although he might believe himself, others do not believe him.

One cannot abandon the war in the middle and still talk about growth. One cannot present a far-reaching program as part of the budget, including important reforms and structural changes, and then run away the minute the time comes to implement them.

Anyone who abandons the socioeconomic war in this fashion proves that neither the economy nor society interests him. In other words, the entire public does not interest Netanyahu. The only one who interests Netanyahu is himself. Such a man is unfit to be a leader. And he is certainly unfit to be prime minister.