OpEd: Israel would be better off with the Blue and White

By Rabbi Dow Marmur

JERUSALEM — Neither Benny Gantz nor Yair Lapid – the leaders of the Blue and White party in Israel who have agreed to take turns as prime minister should they come to power – are likely to be more competent politicians than Binyamin Netanyahu. And no successor, whoever s/he may be, is likely to have a better relationship with Donald Trump. Nevertheless, I’m among those who believe that it’s essential for the good of the country that Netanyahu be retired. I cite but three reasons.

*Netanyahu, his Likud party and its coalition partners have been too long in office. His political acumen may no longer serve well the citizens of Israel. At times he seems to act as if the country belongs mainly to him and to his family. The recent lawsuit that imposed a hefty fine on his wife for abusing state funds in the prime minister’s residence is one instance.

The impending law suit against himself points to much more serious abuse of power. Having already had a prime minister (Olmert), a president (Katsav) and several cabinet ministers serve time in prison, the country might be better served this time if a deal could be struck with the attorney-general to drop the charges against Netanyahu on condition that he now retires from public office.

*But even more important than suspicions about Netanyahu’s integrity is the fear that he will only be able to form a government again by including all the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-right-wing parties that veer more and more toward extremism. Israel may end up with a dangerously reactionary government. The fact that Netanyahu has already appointed an Orthodox rabbi as minister of education until the elections in September is a signal of things to come.

Bezalel Smotrich who often parades his extremist politics is now also a member of the cabinet, albeit not as minister of justice, as he wanted, but as minister of transportation. He has recently declared that he wants to “restore” the country to the times of King David. Someone asked if that means that he’ll seek to replace motor vehicles and trains with donkeys and camels.

Even if the Blue and White cabinet should turn out to be not up to scratch, the mere fact that it won’t have extremists among its midst may be sufficient to keep the country on an even keel, even if the relationship with the president of the United States may be less intimate.

*Gantz & Co. are likely to have better relations with American Jewry, indeed all of the Diaspora. In the long run this may turn out to be much more important than the current love-in with Trump and his administration. Many Jews who live in the Diaspora are liberal, which is anathema to Netanyahu.

Unfortunately, a change of leadership remains slim at least in part because it’s doubtful whether the leaders of Blue and White have the political maturity to present themselves to the electorate as a responsible alternative to Likud & Co. One of its four leaders, Moshe Ya’alon {#3 on the list) has already come out in public against Yair Lapid (#2) which is bound to cost their party precious votes.

And Benny Gantz (#1) may be a good looking nice man with a distinguished military career as a former chief of staff, but he doesn’t exactly impress a crowd the way Netanyahu does. Optimists caught up in wishful thinking may try to tell us that he’s holding back to allow Netanyahu and his party to destroy themselves before the elections. They’re probably ominously wrong.

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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.  Now a resident of Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com