Is the documentary’s wide release perfect timing for Netanyahu, or for his opponents?

It couldn’t be better timing for director Dan Shadur. After working on “King Bibi,” his documentary about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for three-and-a-half years, negotiating with distributors and showing it at film festivals, an election was called just a few weeks before it was set to be made available via the Yes Doco channel and Yes VOD.

Surely the documentary will hold even more interest for viewers now than it would have even two months ago. And that begs the question of what kind of impression it will make on viewers. Continue reading 

The Knesset is a place where many talented, qualified people can’t survive, but vulgarians, serial harassers and terrorism-supporters get elected over and over again.

It’s hard to imagine a more qualified candidate than Michael Oren in national politics. With decades of public service behind him – working as an adviser to former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and ambassador to the US appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, writing bestselling books on the history of Israel and the Middle East, and being an excellent public speaker in English and Hebrew – Oren seemed like a great candidate for the Knesset and even a cabinet post.

But now it seems that unless there’s a surprise change of events, and after four years, Oren’s short-lived Knesset career is over. The Kulanu MK and deputy minister for diplomacy announced that he won’t be running with the party again. And while he left his options open for another party to invite him into the fold, his political prospects seem dim. Continue reading

Bennett and Shaked may think that they can take Likud votes instead of killing their old home, but they are further dividing up right-wing votes.

Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked’s break from Bayit Yehudi, their political home for the past six years, to form Hayamin Hehadash (The New Right) came as a surprise to many – and, in fact, the final decision was only made on Thursday – but it has been several years in the making. Continue reading

Former US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld famously said in 2002: “There are known unknowns…. But there are also unknown unknowns.” Rumsfeld was mocked at the time, but he was making a point that is relevant to the upcoming early election. There are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered – known unknowns – and there are sure to be surprises – unknown unknowns – on the way.

Here are some of the questions that will be answered in the next few months:

Continue reading

Can the opposition repeat the Left’s success of 1992 in making corruption a central issue?

When an election is called, there’s often a tendency to make it about something. To some extent, it’s a silly thing to do; a national election is about everything the government has done and plans to do.

But inasmuch as we can give the election a theme at this point, it is definitely corruption and the rule of law. Continue reading

The ministers are calling to crack down on terror, but what they are really doing is signaling to their base.

What does it mean when a government protests against itself?

With such a strange and counterintuitive occurrence, sometimes it’s what isn’t said that tells us more than the usual posturing about security. Yes, the ministers are calling to crack down on terrorism, but what they are really doing is signaling to their voter base. Continue reading

A few tidbits from the latest week in the life of the 61-seat coalition, from Kara’s convenient collapse to the MK who isn’t here to make friends, and the books Likudniks use to pass the time.

he 61-seat coalition continued to take its toll on the MKs who had to sit in the plenum for long hours to vote and were prohibited from pairing off with anyone from the other side because of the stiff competition. But the long hours and the political pressures brought on quite a few unusual and unexpected occurrences.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was spotted laughing with his presumed top competitor, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid. The word “porno” was thrown around regularly, as its censorship was the most talked-about bill for days. It was a strange week in the Knesset. Continue reading

The operation is advantageous to Netanyahu in its timing, burnishing his own “Mr. Security” image.

Two weeks ago, The Jerusalem Post reported that the chain of events leading to last month’s political crisis came from concerns about the security situation in the north, specifically Iranian involvement in Lebanon. On Sunday, this became clear, as the IDF embarked on Operation Northern Shield to destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels into Israel.

Last month, when Hamas responded to a botched IDF operation in Gaza by launching 460 rockets into Israel in one day, the IDF struck back at Gaza, but the Security Cabinet quickly agreed to a ceasefire without a vote, because there was no serious opposition. The reason? Because they knew their focus would soon need to shift to the northern border. They chose Northern Shield over a southern shield. And they said they would respond more harshly to Gaza at a time that’s better for, and determined by Israel. Continue reading

The recommendation to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges over Case 4000, otherwise known as the Bezeq Affair, is not likely to have much of an immediate impact, but it is a step toward what could be the most dramatic development in Israeli politics in a decade.

“There will be nothing, because there is nothing,” has been Netanyahu’s mantra all along, and he repeated it again after the police released their statement on Sunday, trying to shrug off the latest development.

In the short term, Netanyahu may be right not to despair because it seems likely that he will be safe, both politically and legally, for the coming months. Continue reading

Neither the coalition nor the opposition will really be passing any laws in the Knesset under the current political constellation.

The Knesset is often, if not usually, the focal point for Israeli politics. Will this or that controversial bill get passed? Will the Finance Committee approve the funding for a key policy? Did the Likud’s Oren Hazan really say that about another MK?

And so it has been for the past few weeks, with the coalition’s one-seat majority making every vote suspenseful and dramatic. Any vote is a chance for the opposition to rally and have a fairly realistic shot to block the coalition’s efforts.

But behind that veneer of drama and excitement is actually a Knesset that’s not doing much. Continue reading