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Jewish World Review Oct. 2, 1998 / 12 Tishrei, 5759
Jonathan S. Tobin
Bibi: No Messiah, just a politician
Last Sunday, I was among an invited group of Jewish
editors to meet with the prime minister in his suite at the Park Lane Hotel
in New York City. After more than an hour of discussion, I came away wondering
why a man who is so articulate has such trouble getting his message across.
Netanyahu has generally taken a beating in the media and from the Clinton
Administration. One reason for that is fairly simple: both the
Administration and most of the journalistic elite openly rooted for Shimon Peres and Labor
to win the 1996 election. They have never forgiven Bibi for beating their guy
and puncturing their illusions about the peace process. No matter how often the
Palestinian Authority flouts the Oslo agreements, the lack of "progress" is
always blamed on Bibi, who has assumed the mantle of chief "obstacle to
peace."
Even this week, as Netanyahu dutifully trooped to the White House for a
photo-op with President Clinton and Arafat and made clear that he has agreed to
give up the much ballyhooed 13 percent of the territories to Arafat, Netanyahu
still seemed to be playing the role of the bad guy.
But what about American Jews? Where does Bibi stand with them?
In my travels around the Jewish community, I have yet to discover any
groundswell of support for Netanyahu the man. That strikes me as unusual
because he is, after all, the first Israeli prime minister who was directly
elected by the people.
Sure, he has his fans. But I have never sensed among American audiences the
kind of natural respect that his predecessors of both parties commanded
(even fellow Likud leaders Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir who also suffered
with the "obstacle to peace" label). Maybe that's because men like Yitzhak Rabin,
Shimon Peres, Begin and Shamir all were of the generation of Israel's
founders and Netanyahu is the first Israel prime minister born since 1948. This is
another similarity to Clinton --- the first of the baby boomers to reach the
White House.
Yet unlike Clinton's "feel your pain" natural empathy which translates into
a high charisma quotient, Netanyahu's personality is intellectual and a bit
aloof. Bill Clinton wants you to love him. Those who know our president say
that it is almost impossible to resist his personal charm, even if you
fervently disagree with him.
Spend an hour in the same room with Benjamin Netanyahu, and the primary
characteristic that comes across is his desire to prove to you that he is
smarter and more knowledgeable than everyone present.
The fact of the matter is that he often is the smartest guy in the room, and
I think his policies are usually sensible. But his efforts to prove it --
sparring one moment, joking the next, and then invariably lecturing --
spiked with sarcasm and condescension, is not a display which generates much
affection. He gets his points across brilliantly. But likeable? Not very.
The bottom line with Bibi is that he is, first, last and always, a
politician.
Remember last spring when he devoted his energy to resisting American
pressure to give up the 13 percent? That battle was supposedly about security
concerns that couldn't be compromised. But today he stands ready to give it up, and
there is little in the way of explanation from him about why he was drawing
a line in the sand about it then and not now.
When I asked him about this, he took great umbrage at the idea that he had
"conceded" to the Americans. "It was not conceded," he snapped. "You should
use the word ‘resolved.' We were not under enormous pressure," he told me.
Yet just a few minutes later as he insisted that the Palestinians would be held
accountable for their promises and repeated that he wouldn't compromise
security, he admitted that American pressure on Israel was "quite severe."
Even Netanyahu's strongest critics need to acknowledge that he has, as he
put it, brought "the peace process back to a realistic foundation." He has
stopped the "headlong rush to the 1967 boundaries," and introduced the Palestinians
to the concept that "they can't get something for nothing," as they had from
his immediate predecessors. Whether the process leads to some form of uneasy
peace or to further bloodshed, Netanyahu's hard-headed demand for reciprocity is
simple common sense that deserves American Jewish support.
And even though it gets little attention here, his economic policies of
pushing free market reform and privatization may be his most lasting legacy
to Israel. When he bragged that he had "made Israel behave macroeconomically"
and therefore rejected the socialist dogma that had hindered its economy for
decades, he was telling the truth.
But listen carefully to the man and what comes through loud and clear is the
prime minister is someone with his eyes on the next election and his ears
attuned to the latest polls. That's what his meaningless slogan of "peace
with
security" is all about. He can say, as he told me and my colleagues, "I am
prepared to face the political consequences [if the peace process breaks
down
due to Palestinian unwillingness to fulfill their Oslo pledges on terror] --
including for me personally-- I'm not prepared to take on security risks for
the State of Israel."
But he has already conceded points that he was telling us a few months ago
were security risks. Fear of personal political consequences is what had him
scurrying to Washington this week. And though everything he says and does
makes one believe the Oslo process is a path to disaster, for all his
bravado,
he is too politically savvy to say so openly and face the consequences.
Ask him about the religious pluralism dispute which continues to drive a
wedge
between Israel and the Diaspora, and the most he can say is, "The best thing
is to have this issue go away." From his point of view, that makes sense
since
there is little that is politically possible that he can do to ameliorate
the
situation.
Benjamin Netanyahu understands that idealogues don't get elected prime
minister. That's why he is where he is and one cannot reasonably criticize
him
for it. But can his trimming and hedging, followed by ringing rhetoric about
lines in the sand the next moment, inspire American Jews or anyone else to
stand up and fight for him when things get sticky? Especially, come next
May,
after the Palestinians declare their state.
Netanyahu will then have to be more than just a clever politician. His place
in history will largely depend on
ISRAEL, WHICH GETS SO MUCH EXPOSURE in the American media, ironically is
poorly understood by most Americans. The same applies to Israel's current
leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu first became well- known to Americans as a spokesperson for Israel
on American television news shows. There -- speaking in reasonable tones in
American English -- he was Israel's most effective defender on a variety of
issues. Yet most Americans still seem to think of him as some sort of an
extremist. Despite this reputation, the truth is, he's just a garden variety
politician.
Bibi
JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He was
the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association highest award: First
Place in The Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary and Editorial
Writing. The Rapoport award is named for the longtime editor of the
Jerusalem Post and was given to Mr. Tobin at the AJPA's 1997 Simon Rockower Awards dinner
at Cleveland on June 18, 1998.
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