Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beteinu party took a beating in yesterday’s elections — but he’s still likely to head the next Israeli government, and stick to his tough stance toward Iran and other foreign policies.
But domestic policies may be in for big changes.
“The public wants me to continue serving as prime minister,” Netanyahu, who has ruled the country since 2009, wrote on his Facebook page yesterday, moments after the first exit polls were broadcast on the major television channels.
According to those polls, his party suffered a significant loss of power in the Knesset. But, with 31 seats, it remained by far the largest, making Netanyahu the most likely candidate to be tasked by President Shimon Peres with forming the next government.
And here’s where things get interesting.
In a surprising strong finish, a startup named Yesh Atid (“there’s a future”) emerged as the No. 2 party. It captured 19 projected Knesset seats, making it by far the biggest winner of the election.
It’s headed by a political newbie, former columnist and TV star Yair Lapid. Although often labeled “center left,” Lapid’s political writings have always been more center than left.
Like his late father, Yosef Lapid (who also left journalism for politics), Israel’s newest political star is most passionate about social issues. And chief among those, he stresses the need to secularize Israel’s laws and weaken Orthodox parties’ stranglehold on Israel’s politics.
Lapid was reportedly the first politician Netanyahu called last night. “Together we can achieve great things” for Israel, Bibi told the new star.
Yes, Lapid also spoke with Shelly Yechimovitz, the leftist leader of the Labor party, which emerged yesterday as the No. 3 party, with 17 seats. Yechimovitz still hopes to join forces with Lapid and others to topple Netanyahu.
So Lapid emerges as king maker — not bad for a man who has never held a public office and who was (unfairly) derided by some of his opponents as nothing more than a pretty face.
Lapid was emblematic of the entire Israeli campaign — which for once all but ignored the top national-security issues the country faces, like Iran’s nuclear dash and the growing unrest in neighboring countries.
Even Palestinian issues, Israel’s traditional left-right dividing line, captured only little of the campaign — and mostly as part of a debate over Israel’s relations with America and Europe.
That’s not because Israel no longer cares. Security is still Topic A. But most Israelis pretty much agree with the way Bibi’s government has handled those issues: Awaken the world to the threat Iran poses, but don’t stray too far from America. Keep a low profile on the “Arab Spring,” but remain vigilant on things like the Syrian chemical weapon threat.
The purely leftist parties, those who say the dispute with the Palestinians is Israel’s top challenge and settlements are the main impediment to its resolution, have failed to gain new voters.
Polls say Israelis still largely believe the two-state solution is the answer, but also that it’s a distant hope, given the existing Palestinian leadership.
With that sort of (near) national consensus on security, the election turned more on fears that the country’s economic success is about to end. Dominating the campaign were issues like women’s rights, the gap between rich and poor and the widening secular-religious rift.
Those socio-economic issues may well figure in negotiations to form the next government, while the security and diplomatic issues that traditionally dominate Israeli politics stay in the background.
But that’s not because Israelis stopped caring, just months after a major military confrontation with the Islamists of Gaza. It’s because the country largely agrees on how to handle them; disagreements are more about internal issues.
“Tomorrow we start anew,” Netanyahu told supporters last night. With Lapid as partner, he’ll likely change some policies, even on the Palestinian front. But he still said the toughest challenge remains the Iranian threat.
Twitter: @bennyavni