2005-08-10-Netanyahu |
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jewishsightseeing.com, August 10, 2005 |
By Ira Sharkansky
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.
If he really cared about the economy, wouldn't he have waited 30 minutes
before announcing his resignation? Thoughtful firms and even politicians
know how to wait until the market closes for the day before delivering
news that is likely to roil the numbers. And if he really cared about
disengagement, why did he wait so long to resign and urge a reversal in
the Knesset? The program has been in the works for 18 months.
Implementation is due to begin next week. Some families have already
moved. Others are packing. The chance of reversing course is close to
zero. The danger to international credibility would be considerable if he
really works at it and overcomes the procedural and political hurdles.
A newspaper poll released today indicates that Netanyahu leads Sharon
among members of the Likud party eligible to vote in a primary to select
the party's candidate for prime minister.
Currently there is no election scheduled, and no party primary about to
happen. It is too early to count Netanyahu in and Sharon out. Netanyahu is
persuasive when you listen to him one presentation at a time. Those who
have followed him over the years are not so easily led.
The television commentator in Ha'aretz ended his review of Netanyahu's
farewell speech with the following paragraph:
An economic commentator in the same newspaper wrote an article
entitled, "Not a leader. And not prime minister"
Sharkansky is a member of the political science department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem |