When the institution of marriage was still in fashion, there was talk of something called the "seven-year itch." There are quite a few prominent examples of this in the political sphere, although in this field, it seems it would be more historically accurate to describe the phenomenon as a 10-year itch. That is not to say that leaders are incapable of holding on to power a few years longer, it's just that if they do, things usually start to fall apart at the seams fairly quickly.
Just a few days ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel implicitly spoke out against U.S. President Donald Trump in a keynote address at Harvard University. While her remarks drew thunderous applause, Merkel's leadership has been below par for some time now. Merkel, who entered Germany's senior role in 2005, was heralded as a historic leader up until 2015, when the terrible decisions she made roiled Europe and threw the continent into crisis. Of particular note was her inability to take control of the flood of illegal Muslim immigration that rendered Germany unstable, radicalized positions and imported anti-Semitism into the country. Her past four years in office have been extraneous, to say the least.
Margaret Thatcher, considered by many to be one of Britain's most important prime ministers since World War Two, saved her country in 1979 by adopting policies aimed at reversing unemployment and pulling the U.S. out of recession. But after a decade in office, Thatcher resigned from office over criticism from her Conservative Party over her support for unpopular domestic policies.
President Charles de Gaulle put a crumbling France back together in 1958, in the exact same way that Emmanuel Macron is now tearing it apart. As someone considered by some to be the greatest French leader of the 20th century, he changed the regime system and did great things to restore France's global standing despite having lost Vietnam to Japan in 1940 as well as control over Algeria during that country's war of independence throughout the 1950s. De Gaulle, and France in general, though just barely survived the student riots of 1968. He ultimately held out for another year before retiring.
The closest example from our perspective, however, relates to Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. After about a decade – 11 years to be exact – in power, Ben-Gurion led Mapai (the predecessor to today's Labor party) to a record victory in the 1959 elections, earning 47 Knesset seats and a relatively large base for forming a broad coalition. Yet within a year, things got out of control and Ben-Gurion's government fell apart. This was due to the recurring crisis that resulted from a shameful Israeli false-flag operation in Egypt attributed to Mapai party leader Pinhas Lavon.
Two years after Ben-Gurion's impressive election victory, the government was dissolved and elections were held, after which Ben-Gurion was unable to form a coalition for quite some time. The crisis did not subside and was exacerbated by the addition of further catastrophes for Israel's foreign policy. On June 16, 1963, the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Zionist leader Haim Arlosoroff, Ben-Gurion resigned. In his case, these four weak years were necessary for the political system to adapt to life without its founding father.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can follow in the footsteps of historic leaders who were able to function fairly well for 14 and even 16 years in Germany, among them: Chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. Netanyahu has the beginnings of a new diplomatic agenda with U.S. President Donald Trump's forthcoming "deal of the century." This is probably why a few of his detractors on the religious Right are now praising Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Lieberman and are comfortable embarking on another election campaign: The new election serves to postpone the best diplomatic plan Israel could ever dream of, albeit one they consider to be too left-wing. Still, after a decade in office, it could be that Netanyahu is not immune to the 10-year itch.
