NETANJAHU AND KATZ
WOJCIECH DUDKIEWICZ
When the chief of the Israeli diplomacy Israel Katz said that a lot of Poles had cooperated with the Nazis and taken part in extermination of Jews, anti-semitism was inborn in Poles before Holocaust, during it and after it and ‘Poles sucked up anti-semitism with mother’s milk’, a lot of us felt as if somebody slapped us on the cheek.
To make the things worse, instead of apologizing, Katz repeated that a lot of Poles had cooperated with the Nazis and neither apology nor resignation by him took place. Commentators ignored it, obviously: in Israel there is an election campaign. When it is over, Polish-Israeli relations will return to norm. But it will not happen so. In Israel there are often elections.
Voice of the majority
Election which is to be on 9 April 2019 was accelerated by half a year after a decision of the parliament of Israel. When the nationalist party Our Home Israel departed from the governing coalition, it lost its stability: it had a majority by one vote. Generally, it was an unstable body. The coalition consisted of six parties, among the others, Likud, Jewish Home, Our Home Israel and United Judaism of Torah.
Our Home Israel departed when opposing an agreement made by the government with Palestinian groups from the Gaza Sphere after hard fights on the frontier of the sphere and Israel. The chief of this party could not agree to it as well as Awigdor Lieberman, the chief of defence ministry, a Jewish settler considered as a political hawk. But accelerating the election is favourable to the prime minister Beniamin Netanjahu and Liku run by him. Procurators may not be on time to put forward accusations at the politician of issues concerning corruption, overusing the power and defraud.
The last hearing
Regularly in Tel Awiwa there are demonstrations against the prime minister calling him up to dismiss. There are also manifestations of followers of Netanjahu and Likudu. The first ones are asking: who heard that the prime minister holding his post in Israel would be accused? The latter ones are defending him with banners: ‘Netanjahu, we are with you’.
Whereas the general procurator Awichaj Mandelblit assures that before the election he will accuse Netanjahu, who was to be well-presented in a news service belonging to him in return for changes in law beneficial for the giant telecommunication Bezeq. Before that police recommended to put forward accusations towards Netanjahu of his accepting expensive presents from businessmen and offering beneficial changes in law for one of newspapers in return for positive presenting his person.
Whether procurators will accuse the prime minister of or not depends on his the last hearing of him. Netanjahu denies the accusations and says that they are to have an influence on the result of the election.
Bibi with Benny
The accusations may have this influence especially that –as surveys show – a lot of electors are indecisive. According to over a half of them, the election will be more difficult than in the past. And it is so now, as according to the surveys one third Israeli would like a real government of ‘Bibi’ Netanjahu, every fifth – central-rightist government run by Netanjahu or the central-rightist – but with Beniamin Gantz as the prime minister, and every eleventh – the central-leftist government of Gantz…
Beniamin ‘Benny’ Gantz, a leader of Hosen L’Israel party –Resistance of Israel), called – from colours of the country – Blue-White, the general and the former chief of the general staff is becoming the greatest rival of Netanjahu. In most surveys the party of Gantz has less support than Likud but is catching up with him.
The victory of Likud or the Blue-White party is more probable as the Zionist Block got collapsed – after the Labour Party, its main power, left it. The reason: support for the Block fell to the one-digit level. For the Labour Party, one of two main political powers in the country since
Israel began to exist, it has been a weak result. It is starting on its own.
In the role of the Arabs
Netanjahu must somehow neutralize the accusations, proving his hyper-activity, winking an eye to many groups. Hence – maybe – a conference was organized in Near East during which he could glitter, hence the meeting with Putin (one can often meet with Russian immigrants in Israel), a meeting with a popular football star, the president of Liberia George Weah now and playing a role of the patron of Africa.
On hard days for Netanjahu everything can help him to win, also winking an eye by Katz to those in Poland who are not friendly to him, about whom one cannot complain. In the election in 2015, when the future of Netanjahu also seemed uncertain, a thread of Israeli Arabs was strongly exposed, who were called by Netanjahu ‘the fifth column’. This year it is us who are taking on the role of Arabs.
Translated by Aneta Amrozik
Niedziela 11/2019 (17 III 2019)