Pillow talk of the power hungry

GEOFF SIFRIN

What if we took this example to Israel, to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not physically but ideologically? Netanyahu isn’t a stupid man, nor inexperienced in politics, coming from prestigious ideological roots aimed at building the state of Israel.

With his background, he must understand the danger for Israel of developing a close relationship to United States President Donald Trump, who is deemed stupid, untrustworthy, and dangerous to most of the thinking world. And, of turning Israel into an “ethnic” state, rather than one where everyone is equal, which is what founders like David Ben-Gurion envisaged.

He has played a powerful role in developing Israel as a technological, potent state. This is why so many are puzzled at why he concentrates unrelentingly on the dangers to Israel from Arabs rather than all possibilities of seeking peace with them.

This is similar to the idea of swart gevaar, which South African Jews can’t but remember from history. The rhetoric was used by South African leaders under apartheid, painting blacks as the irreconcilable enemies of whites.

What can he be thinking about in his private moments when he puts his head on his pillow to sleep at night? Is it blind personal power, as many say? Or the looming possibility of indictment for corruption? It’s impossible to pick through anyone’s throwaway thoughts, just as prying in people’s physical dustbins is borderline immoral.

One of Netanyahu’s outstanding qualities in the past was his ability to project an image of sophisticated forcefulness about Israel and himself, which convinced world leaders to trust and admire him. Today, many say he has no serious long-term vision for Israel aside from keeping himself in power.

This is illustrated by media advisor to the Israel Police, Lior Horev, who recently stepped down amid allegations levelled against him by Netanyahu of attempts to sway corruption investigations against him.

Why should a prime minister who is busy dealing with the nuclear threat from Iran, the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, and similar crises, engage in settling accounts with media advisors?

With the investigations roiling about him, Netanyahu clearly can’t function rationally. Will he make critical decisions based on personal troubles rather than the state of Israel? For example, will he continue to encourage the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. This outcome could ultimately make the two-state solution – the only realistic solution – unviable and lead to a one-state reality, the opposite of what the Zionist ideal was originally about.

Yet this is what he does, either because he actually believes in it, which is foolish, or because he thinks it helps preserve popularity with the right wing. Either way, it’s extremely dangerous for Israel.