The coming elections threaten to cause harm not just because of the financial waste and the political paralysis they will cause. They could also harm the public's trust in the democratic regime's capacity for action. In an election, the public is supposed to vote for its preferred government policies, but this time, as with three previous and miserable rounds, no serious discussion of any serious issue will take place. It is not just that the public won't be choosing between clear alternatives; It stands to reason that outside of presenting itself in a positive light ahead of the fifth elections, the government that is appointed won't know what to do with the mandate it receives. There is no real public debate, and it's highly unlikely the nominees are giving much thought to anything beyond how best to maintain or gain power.
The election campaign focuses on personalities, gossip, and provocations at a time when Israel must decide on three important issues – one domestic, one security-related, and one political, each of them with their own ethical, social, and political dimensions. Israel must decide how to rehabilitate the economy, how to deal with Iran and its emissaries, and how to conduct itself vis-à-vis a far less convenient and understanding US administration.
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Economic rehabilitation does not begin and end with reopening the market. It requires differential social decisions and opens Israel up to an opportunity for fundamental reforms that can only be carried out in times of major crisis. So, for example, the compensation system for epidemic damage in times of scarcity allows for an intermediate stage of subsidized work over state-funded idleness. So, for example, the government can, with calculated sector rehabilitation guidance, enable the modernization of a labor market that has long been held back by political interests. Social and ethical decisions must be made so that state resources are allocated in a way that ensures Israel's unemployed are not concentrated in a certain age group, ethnicity, sector, or place of residence in the periphery.
The violent confrontation in Syria and western Iraq with the security challenge of Iran and its emissaries was fully backed by the United States under President Donald Trump. This backing helped to deter Iran from responding to Israeli attacks, which were carried out at no real strategic cost. They allowed for the consolidation of a national consensus in Israel on the main focus of the covert "war between wars." Israel must assume Iran's response will grow bolder once US President-elect Joe Biden, who has voiced his desire to return to the nuclear deal, takes office. With less US support, Israel must consolidate a policy that serves it well absent a national consensus.
With Biden and his administration expected to restore the focus to the Palestinian issue, Jerusalem must prioritize either the Palestinian or the Iranian issue. Tensions with the administration on both fronts will make it harder for Jerusalem to negotiate on either. Politicians must take this balance into consideration in the election campaign and avoid hasty statements that reduce the margin for political maneuvering later on.
It seems that in the meantime, politicians on all sides are underestimating the threat of public disgust toward those who claim to lead them without a coherent policy on major national issues and without a public discussion of its priorities. If the current trend continues, it could undermine confidence in the political system to its core. This disgust is dangerous to both the leaders themselves and Israeli democracy.
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