“Let us pause for a moment to appreciate this remarkable day. Let us rise above any political division. Let us all put aside conscience. Let us feel the beating of history on this day,” he said last Tuesday. “Long after the epidemic is eradicated, the peace we have today will endure.”
The generalization deals were the latest feathers in the leader’s cap that were on the recent diplomatic winning streak. From the outside, Israel represents the image of a small but powerful country that pushes many smaller than its weight on the global stage, an innovative “start-up nation” whose thousands of tech companies attract billions of foreign investment each year.
However, at home it is a different story. The second wave of coronavirus infection in Israel took over a long time ago, forcing the country into another general lockdown that closed schools, restaurants, entertainment venues and more. And while the coronavirus may be Netanyahu’s toughest challenge right now, it is far from the only one. The 70-year-old leader is being attacked from both left and right, not only for controlling the public health crisis, but also for his mismanagement of the economy, his response to his criminal experiments and more.
“We have a dysfunctional government, good at producing ceremonies at the White House, bad at running the country,” said opposition leader Yair Lapid. “It’s the worst failure Netanyahu has ever experienced and we’re experiencing it with him … or because of him.”
At home, weekly protests erupted outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, where thousands of people came out and called for the resignation of Israel’s longest-serving leader. Crowds annoyed by the continued aggression of Netanyahu’s political allies have signs reading “crime minister” and “BB go home”. Eleven protesters were arrested this past week in the first protest since Israel staged a general lockdown, police said.
Unemployment is close to 19% and the already fragile economy will take another hit during the current lockdown, according to the Israel Unemployment Service. (Central Bureau of Statistics, which uses a different set of criteria for determining unemployment, states that the current rate is between 10.4% and 11.8%.)
Restaurant owners, frustrated that they faced restrictions threatening their livelihoods, smashed plates on the floor in protest. Some are more arrogant, saying they plan to keep their businesses open.
“No one cares about us, we have to take care of ourselves,” restaurateur Yoni Salomon told Israel’s Kan News. “We will not allow anyone to take away our most basic right – these restrictions make no sense and I will deal with the fine.”
They are not just re-activists who reject government lockdown orders. According to police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld, Israeli police had imposed a fine of about 7,000 for violating restrictions on Rosh Hashanah’s leave.
There is also a significant lack of exemplary leadership from the top. Despite Netanyahu’s emphasis on wearing a mask and the importance of social distance, some of his ministers posed for photos without face masks during cabinet meetings, and two of Netanyahu’s allies have been accused of violating quarantine rules in the past week.
Lower down sanctions They are a study of the legal study of bureaucracy, Netanyahu’s ultra-rhetoric coalition partners, or any other group is often arranged at the last second so as not to get angry with its own interests and goals and the Prime Minister cannot make that decision. Guilt.
The current Israeli government is the largest in the country’s five-year history, the so-called unity government – at least in principle – of two major political parties: Netanyahu’s Likud Party and alternate Prime Minister Benny Gentz’s Blue and White Party. With the bloated political Frankenstein, ministers 34 ministers and deputy deputy ministers, bits and pieces were made from existing ministries to create additional jobs to fill politicians such as the alternate prime minister and the status of the Ministry of Higher Education and Water Resources. .
And despite the size of the government, it remains almost a one-man show. Netanyahu did not even name his foreign minister or defense minister – who will be Benny Gentz - until the agreement with the UAE is publicly announced, claiming he is worried he will leak the news.
The government, specifically designed to deal with the coronavirus crisis, was officially sworn in on May 17. On that day, Israel reported only 11 new cases of Kovid-19, according to health ministry data. There were 44 patients and 3,403 active cases on ventilators nationwide, out of a total of 16,617 cases.
At the time, critics calmed down that the government could put a government minister on a ventilator next to every patient.
Four months later, Israel’s unity government has vaguely failed in its self-proclaimed primary mission. As of Wednesday morning, 54,322 active cases out of a total of 200,041 cases have been reported in Israel since the onset of the epidemic.
The health ministry on Tuesday registered 6,861 new cases with 171 patients on ventilators. In the hospital system around the country, 634 patients were in critical condition.
“Israelis are very pessimistic as a result of the Corona crisis, and the alleged mismanagement of the economic and health aspects of the crisis,” said Johann Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). The former politician, Plesner, said he had never seen such problems within the current government.
A recent survey by IDI showed that the Israeli people strongly support the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates, but that has not translated into a sense of government or confidence about the country’s future. Nearly two-thirds of Israelis believe that the national mood is either moderately pessimistic or very pessimistic, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Midgam Institute and prepared by the Gutman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research. And
“Presumably, this should have been a government of national unity that is pulling us out of the crisis, and making the necessary reforms to prepare us for the next Corona era; instead it is a government that is completely paralyzed.”
And yet Netanyahu showed confidence in his brush brand last Thursday, when he tried to reassure Israeli citizens that they are in good hands. “The main thing I’m telling you is that health and the economy are in our hands. This is the time for responsibility – personal responsibility and mutual guarantee. We will defeat the coronavirus but only together,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu bragged about making peace with the two Arab nations in 29 days, from 13 August Gust to 11 September. During the same period, about 62,000 Israelis were diagnosed with Covid-19, while 446 civilians died from the disease. But when Netanyahu was asked last week who should be blamed for the failure to contain the virus, he replied, “There are no failures, only achievements.”
The remarks marked a different tone from President Reuven Rivlin a few days later, when the Israeli president made a clear apology to the nation for his failure to lead the country.
“I know we haven’t done enough as a leader to get your attention. You trusted us and we disappointed you,” Rivlin said. “You, the citizens of Israel, deserve the security that the country gives you. Decision makers, government ministries, policy makers must work for you and only for you – to save lives, reduce infection, save the economy. I understand that. None of this has been done satisfactorily. ”
If Israel’s public health policy is under fire, its economic policy making is even more dynamic. The last national budget was passed in 2018, and Netanyahu and Gents were unable to reach an agreement on a new issue last month, so they decided to postpone their government for only a few months in the interest of keeping the momentum going. The head of the budget department in the finance ministry quit his job, joining his counterpart in the public health department of the health ministry, who left just a few months ago. Both wrote fiery resignation letters criticizing the country’s leadership or lack thereof.
And yet from the high position of the Prime Minister of Israel, none of the above counts as the number one problem. Netanyahu’s biggest point is that he is accused of bribery and fraud and breach of trust. He maintained his innocence, attacking the attorney general, investigators and the judicial system, accusing the left and the media of attempted coup.
His trial will begin in earnest in January, when a panel of judges will begin hearing from witnesses. It’s hard to imagine a White House ceremony to draw attention from that criminal proceeding.
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