Lessons for Israel

By the time Israel holds its next elections for the Knesset, the swarm of US consultants descending on the country will have forgotten the mistakes the center-left in the US made in this week’s presidential election. The Democrats failed to beat a far-right movement. While elections in the US and Israel differ, universal electoral approaches do apply. 

Three principles:

Don’t just let your unpopular, divisive opponent defeat himself, while you stand back and project good vibes. The New York Times reported that exit polls showed 55% of Republican supporters had unfavorable views of the presidential candidate for whom they voted!  He exhibited strong-man tendencies and stood on the wrong side of major issues. For example, on the major  question of women’s rights, even deeply Republican states (except Florida) consistently voted to enshrine them in constitutions, the opposite of what the party did and will do now. In his previous term of office, the US suffered beyond description from the mishandled response to COVID.

Similarly, the incumbent here carries baggage.  His decision to fire the Defense Minister (again) sparked large and vehement protests.  The minister took the popular side of issues: the need to draft Haredim, to negotiate in good faith for a cease fire and hostage release and to implement a realistic plan to govern Gaza.  We all know of the “judicial reform” fiasco. 

The diversity and disagreement of factions within the Opposition might tempt them to keep reminding the electorate of the Government’s failures and shortcomings. When the Center-Left ousted the Center-Right, the main appeal came down to “Anyone but Bibi.”

That will keep the Opposition parties quiet, but it will not win the election. .

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should know. They made the danger to democracy the centerpiece of the Democratic campaign. A mistake. Voters rightfully want to know how the next president will affect their everyday lives, more than abstract “democracy.” How many times have voters, with open eyes, surrendered their liberty for the illusion of personal security? How many voters did not think authoritarians would come after “them,” not “us”? 

Voters forgot about the past (the pandemic) to focus on their future. By the time Israel votes, voters may forget, too.

Next, voters want their leaders to show them specific benefits. President Obama promised health care reform, besides Hope and Change. Harris fell short. Vaguely promoting a “freedom” agenda and an end to “price gouging,” (the rabbinic limit of 16.67% profit margins?) did not cut it, as it should not.  Worse, she refused to face tough questions from journalists. When the media asked about her changes in policy proposals, she said, “My values have not changed.” Hmm.

Worst, the self-proclaimed “Change Candidate” told an interviewer that she could not think of one thing she would have done differently from Joe Biden.  After all, she said, she serves as his vice president.    

Israelis can understand this. The policy in Naftali Bennett’s Government regarding legislation to pass in the Knesset sprang from the idea that only what everyone could agree on would go forward – the perfect example of the lowest common denominator. However, in the ensuing election, constituents felt rightly short-changed. Rather, hard as it might have been to swallow, the Cabinet should have given each constituency something it wanted. Supporters would have a reason to vote. 

Finally, keep egos in check. Joe Biden’s family and inner circle, who saw his cognitive decline, let him run for re-election. Even after his disastrous debate performance, egotistically he insisted on persisting and his people enabled his behavior.  By the time former Speaker Nancy Pelosi convinced him to quit because he would drag down the Democrats with him, the Republicans had already held their convention in July and little time remained before the Democrats met in August. The party could not conduct the usual lengthy winnowing process.

Israel has a different way.  Rather than the voters choosing directly, the prime minister emerges from negotiations within the winning coalition. Egos remain a problem. When the Center-Left bloc ousted the Likud bloc, Naftali Bennett wavered between supporting the change coalition and the Likud coalition, reportedly partly on the ministries the leaders promised him.  Indeed, with seven seats and no experience as a political leader, he managed to wrest the prime minister’s job from Yair Lapid, the head of the largest group within the victorious bloc.

The county’s direction should not change as a result of such horse trading. Maybe, hope against hope, it won’t the next time.