Why is it that the Israeli Left, which can rally hundreds of senior IDF reservists, academics and former senior civil servants to sign petitions protesting the policies of right-wing governments through the ages, cannot seem to find a foothold in the run-up to the March elections?
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Despite a sizeable arsenal of potential leaders, the Left has become almost irrelevant. Not only has it failed to produce a legitimate candidate for prime minister, even when it disguises itself as centrist, it fails to present a single slate that can claim to present an alternative to the Right's rule.
The Left holds conventions on the issue of how the bloc that "founded the state" has found itself perpetually on the benches of the opposition, but it avoids at all costs the inevitable conclusion: the Left is shrinking because its path has failed and claimed the lives of thousands of Israelis in the process.
The Left's reaction to this failure included every possible excuse other than a reckoning. Electorally, the Left has opted for a strategy of ambiguous positions and establishing fad parties that brand themselves as centrist.
The massive success of Blue and White proved the tremendous electoral power inherent in left-wing control of the centers of power.
Its slate included three retired chiefs of staff and the TV superstar, two generals in reserve, two senior police commanders, a former Mossad deputy director, and two senior media figures.
A handful of advertisers successfully harnessed the arsenal of left-wing public brands, creating a political mutation that brought an almost irrelevant political camp within touching distance of the Prime Minister's Office – yet this, too, failed.
Blue and White's political demise is of paramount educational significance. It proved again, that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Former IDF chiefs of stuff don't necessarily have what it takes to survive the political battlefield, let alone lead the country.
This has made many Israelis question – is this the best the Left has to offer?
Here lies the Left's mediocrity paradox: The Left seems utterly unable to come up with one figure the public can trust.
The lesson learned from Blue and White's implosion revealed a poignant truth: the vast majority of those who reach the top of the public service sector are, at the end of the day, mediocre people.
The reason for this is simple: the centers of power in Israel do not work in accordance with the meritocratic principle, according to which those who excel are promoted rather they are based in organizational politics, vetting committees, and semi-fixed tenders.
Nepotism and playing favoritism in the centers of power gives the Left superiority over the Right in terms of its ability to flaunt endless lists of former seniors; but this practice has taken its toll on the Left in the form of its complete degeneration.
The result is a camp that has fatally damaged its ability to nurture people of stature. The left can present us with endless lists of senior officials with hollow titles - but not a single charismatic and high-ranking leader can be found among them.
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