The editorial of Haaretz on June 21 set the tone. “And again, anyone but Bibi!” The article continued: Regardless of what we think of the Lapid-Bennett government and the reasons for its failure, we remain goal-oriented; the task of the Israeli people is to prevent Bibi from returning to power. The key word here is undoubtedly “again”, with voters going to the polls for the fifth time under the slogan “anyone but Bibi.” The goal is to thwart Netanyahu’s attempts to reach the coveted 61 seats, which will push members of the Likud and the right-wing bloc to show him the exit door.

Therefore, this election campaign, like its four predecessors, will be cruel, full of hatred and incitement, and leave behind scorched earth. The Lapid – Bennett bloc will call on its camp to stand behind the flag with the well-known anti-fascist slogan “no pasaran” against Bibi, Ben Gvir and Smotrich. On the other hand, the national camp will call on its voters to defend the flag, the Jewish people and prevent “supporters of terrorism” from taking over the national agenda.

The question, therefore, is what price left-wing parties and liberals will have to pay in their war against Bibi. The price the Likud is paying is obvious – providing legitimacy to Kahanism in the form of Ben Gvir and Zionist Messianism in the form of Smotrich – but this is not a fatal blow to the basic Likud agenda. The Left, on the other hand, pays a great deal more. It must give up all its principles, provide legitimacy to the nationalist conservatism of the right-wing parties: Yemina, New Hope, Yisrael Beiteinu and even Blue and White. Adherence to “anyone but Bibi” entails a relinquishment of the basic values of a liberal society, such as opposition to the occupation, opposition to discrimination against Arab citizens (as expressed in the Nation State and Citizenship laws, which place state Judaism above basic human and civil rights). And the highest price of all: adoption of the premise that there is no solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, and that all that can be done is to manage it.

Over time, the frogs that the Left is swallowing become the daily food of us all. Yielding to the Right has been transformed from a one-time event into routine. The failure of the “government of change” stems from the fact that those frogs popped up every morning in Knesset votes, until they caused severe indigestion. The coalition’s premise that ideological debates can be set aside has proved false. In a situation of ongoing national conflict, and despite the good will of the coalition members, the Palestinian question and Jewish-Arab relations have re-emerged in full, dictating the agenda and unravelling cohesion. It turns out that the hatred for Bibi is not strong enough to overcome basic questions.

The teachers ‘strike, the bus drivers’ protest, the tent protests asking for affordable housing, the state of the hospitals, the endless traffic jams, the violence in Arab society, the huge social gaps and the rising cost of living—all go to show that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the only concern of Israelis, Jews and Arabs but also the struggles of everyday life, which are rapidly becoming unbearable. Even amid these existential questions, the Israeli Left surrenders without a fight to the Right. For an entire year, the coalition has proved that on socioeconomic issues, it is even to the right of the Likud. Neoliberal policies, which have caused tremendous social gaps, are viewed like natural law by both Right and Left. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz did nothing to heal the health care system. In particular, despite talk of reform, nothing was done to improve the miserable job conditions of medical interns. Meretz Environmental Minister Tamar Zandberg presented a plan to reduce emissions by 2030, but no trace of it remains after the intervention of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, who prefer gas. Transport Minister Merav Michaeli raised public transportation prices so as not to break the budget given to her by finance officials. The policy of budget reduction and privatization continues just as in the days of Netanyahu, while Israel sits on a barrel of social dynamite.

The failure of the Bennett government raises the question: if not Bibi, then what? Will it be possible to restore the coalition of the eight parties, reconnecting the settler Right with the Left and the Islamists? If the answer is no, what is the alternative to Netanyahu? The only possible answer is a government led by the Likud without him, on the model of past governments that connected the Likud and Labor, as well as Yesh Atid and the ultra-Orthodox, while Meretz, the Arab parties and the Jewish Home Party remain outside.

But that coveted government, the same vehicle that is supposed to restore sanity and normalcy to our lives, would be running a country that is completely abnormal. Apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza is abnormal, extreme social gaps are abnormal, global warming is abnormal, the state of violence—both in schools and in Arab society—is abnormal, the situation of teachers, doctors and the elderly is abnormal, not to mention the state of the roads. It is a country living in anomaly, whose very existence is based on the eternal conflict with the Palestinians and the constant need to cultivate an external enemy, presently in the form of Iran. Imagine how much could have been improved with the huge budget set aside for the army and security apparatus!

When the basic question is “anyone but Bibi,” these existential issues have no place in the public sphere. Israel in 2022 is completely dried up on new ideas, is gradually disengaging from the democracies of the world, is connecting to dark regimes like Putin’s Russia and Muhammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia, and denies in practice the climate crisis. It lacks a social vision, blindly relies on market forces that have distorted the economy and left most people far behind. Most importantly, it deceives itself that it can be Jewish, democratic, and an occupier all at once. This is a country that has no place for progressives who strive for an egalitarian society and refuse to hate Arabs.

The Da’am party sees this election as an opportunity to expand discourse on a program that will present an alternative to the Right. Unfortunately, the existing parties, both Right and Left, are not partners for a new political discourse. Those who support Putin, Assad and Abu Mazen cannot engage in democratic discourse. Extremist Islamic ideologues cannot be political partners. Those who are willing to give up their principles to join the fundamentalist Right can hardly be expected to join a discussion on a fundamental change in direction.

Possible partners for such a discourse are people who are willing to oppose apartheid, who prefer partnership over nationalist separation, who support an egalitarian economy, who are willing to sacrifice to save the planet, and whose hearts belong to the global democratic camp. This camp supports Ukraine in its fight against Putin, and it supports the US Democratic Party against the dark proclivities of Donald Trump.

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The Bennett-led government is wobbling. Since resignation of coalition leader Idit Silman (of the Yamina party), it has lost its thin majority in the Knesset, and the countdown has begun. How will the government fall? There are two alternatives: a vote of no confidence or dissolution of the Knesset.  The no-confidence alternative must be “constructive”, meaning there must be a candidate for prime minister from within the current Knesset who can muster a majority, thus rendering an election unnecessary. On the other hand, dissolution of the Knesset requires an absolute majority of 61, followed by an election, but here too there is a “twist.”

According to the current coalition agreement, if two MKs from Bennett’s right-wing bloc (Yamina and Tikva Khadashah [New Hope]), break ranks and support dissolution of the Knesset, then Yair Lapid of centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) will take Bennett’s place as prime minister, pending a newly elected government. (The same agreement excludes MK Amichai Chikli (Yamina) from being among the two, because he has voted against the government from the start.)   On the other hand, if a member of the United Arab List (UAL) leaves the coalition and supports new elections, Bennett will serve as the transitional PM, with all the benefits of an incumbent during the campaign.

But let’s start from the beginning. Lapid and his allies on the Left were forced to grant the prime ministership to Bennett, even though the latter’s Yamina had won a mere six seats. This marked the odd character of the government. The sole reason it has lasted a year is aversion to and fear of Netanyahu, which forces its members to twist and turn, politically and ideologically. Yet the current Knesset’s gravitational center is clearly on the right. Yamina members are influenced by the right-wing pull, peeling off from the coalition and speeding its death. Following the resignation of Silman, all that remains is for Nir Orbach, director general of a Yamina faction called the Jewish Home, to take steps to ensure the government falls. Yair Lapid will then replace Bennett in a transitional government until a newly elected one is sworn in.

Although the Bennett-Lapid rotation agreement initially gave Bennett and his like, representing the settler Right, the top job and other key positions, it soon became clear they could not deliver what the settlers wanted. On the other hand, the government’s left-wing factions, Labor and Meretz, swallowed every conceivable frog to maintain the coalition. Their purpose was to somehow get through Bennett’s first two years and reach the day when Yair Lapid would become PM. But this coveted day is like the horizon, which moves ever farther away as you try to approach. In addition, members of Yamina have shown how much they suffer in the hybrid government. It seems that a Lapid-led government would drive them into the lap of Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc.

Apparently, this is why UAL party head Mansour Abbas (The Islamic Brotherhood) , who had frozen his faction’s participation in Knesset votes following disruptions and police violence at the al-Aqsa mosque, returned to the coalition. UAL did not want to take responsibility for the government’s overthrow. This would not only signal failure of its political strategy, but it would grant the transitional prime ministry to Bennett. It seems that Yamina’s Nir Orbach will do the work instead by resigning. If he does, the transitional PM will be Yair Lapid, who suits Abbas better.

Beyond this cynical political game, and regardless of who will be PM, the change that this government promised was miniscule, and the fundamental problems that threaten the integrity and security of Israeli society have only intensified. If the fact that a criminal defendant is not serving as prime minister signifies change, then what we have is indeed a Government of Change. The style of speech has undoubtedly improved, as raw vituperation has given way to pleasantness, mutual support, and reconciliation. However, niceness is not the main role of a government. A government is supposed to deal with fundamental problems, and here it has failed miserably.

The fact that after twenty years Israel is forced to return to Jenin to fight terrorism is a clear failure that cries out to heaven. As usual, the Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, has gone to search for terrorism under the lamplight, when the wave of attacks actually came from Hura and Umm al-Fahm, both in Israel, inspiring young people in villages scattered throughout the West Bank. There is nothing in the Israeli army’s much touted entries into Jenin that will change its ability to control this refugee camp. It is merely a show to slake the Israeli thirst for revenge.

The government has decided to ignore the Palestinian issue on two grounds: its ideological heterogeneity does not permit it to handle politically explosive tasks, and it continues to broadcast the mantra that there is no Palestinian partner. But what about the “civil” issues that the “Government of Change” was created to resolve? Here the coalition depends only on itself, but it has been an abject failure. A few examples will suffice. Instead of narrowing social gaps and raising labor productivity, the government continues to nurture high-tech at the expense of other sectors. The housing crisis deepens day by day, and apartment prices are increasing 20% annually. The educational system is in deep crisis, and thousands of underpaid teachers are leaving the profession. Kindergartens and nurseries suffer from low-quality staffing, and horrific stories of violence against children appear in the mainstream news. Hospital reform cannot get underway due to a severe shortage of doctors. In ​​transportation, the government continues to encourage the purchase of private vehicles over use of public transportation. The frequency of trains is decreasing and traffic jams make commuting a nightmare. Climate policy has become a hostage of the Chevron Corporation, while promises of alternative energy remain on paper. Neglect of Arab society continues as usual, with the government interested in fighting violence but not addressing its root causes: the huge social disparities, widespread unemployment among youth, and a poor educational level.

There is no doubt that change is needed, not in style but in content. Israel has been captive for decades to political, economic and social conceptions that have lost their relevance. The success of high-tech on the one hand, and Israel’s military power on the other, dazzle and entangle the country. High-tech does not solve the problems of a socially, culturally and politically divided society, nor is military force an answer to the needs of five million Palestinians lacking any civil or national status. The political crisis that threatens to lead us to a fifth election campaign, and the inability to form a stable and functioning government, express the unwillingness of the political establishment in all its parts – Right, Left and the Arab parties – to step out of their ideological fixations and propose ideas toward a better future.

Those who ignore the Palestinian question will not find solutions to the problems of social disparity, housing, education, transportation, health and welfare. It is no coincidence that Israel links its fate to dark regimes that perpetuate the past. It continues its ties with Putin, refusing to join the democratic camp in the Ukraine war, because of the same ideological fixation. As long as there is no democratic movement based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians, we will continue to be entangled in pointless rounds of elections. If we do not change reality through our actions, it will not change on its own.

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“We are not prepared to apologize for being Zionist,” Finance Minister Yair Lapid said to justify the blatant discrimination against Arabs in the new law which grants full VAT exemption to those buying a first home. Lapid’s declaration takes us back to 1975 when Israel’s UN representative, Yitzhak Herzog, standing on the General Assembly platform, ripped up the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism. In 1991, the UN rescinded the 1975 resolution, but Israel of 2014, led by the Netanyahu-Bennett-Lapid triumvirate, is again confirming that Zionism is indeed an ideology that discriminates on racial, religious and national grounds. According to Lapid, whoever serves in the army is a better and more worthy citizen. If we were to hear such a sentence from a holder of such a high office in any other country, from Eritrea to Germany (where Jews are exempt from military service), it wouldn’t take long for Lapid and others like him to conclude what kind of regime was in power there.

The Arabs are the new Marranos

Lapid’s Zionist law cannot be separated from that other law, no less Zionist, being promoted by Prime Minister Netanyahu – the law to define Israel as the nation state of the Jews. It seems the new housing law is supplying tangible content to Netanyahu’s law, which determines that Israel’s Jewish character takes precedence over its democratic character and equality. In this context, it is immediately clear that Lapid’s argument is nothing more than a transparent excuse to promote a discriminatory policy. After all, how can one demand loyalty from a citizen who, by law, is considered “second class” because of his national-religious background? How can a young Arab, who served in the army, live in a Jewish “community town” if the prime minister prevents this by legislation aimed at avoiding a repetition of the case of the (Arab) Qa’adan family, who won a High Court petition to allow them to live in the (Jewish) town of Qazir?

Lapid’s law lumps together the Haredim (the ultra-Orthodox) and Arabs in an effort to blur the discrimination against Arab citizens. Though the Haredim are not Zionist, they are certainly Jewish, so Israel is indeed their state and they have enormous political power – unlike the Arabs who have almost no political power at all even though they are represented in the current Knesset by 10 MKs. Moreover, Lapid’s demand that the Haredim serve in the army is not an aim in itself, but an attempt to get them out of the yeshivas and into the labor market. The Finance Ministry wants them to work because they are an economic burden and barrier to future economic growth. The Arabs are in a completely different situation: the motivation in their case is not economic, because the Arabs are already active in the labor market (just the men; only some 20% of Arab women work outside the home), and they receive no state support to study the Koran. The Arabs are being compelled to transfer their loyalty from the Arab people to the Jewish nation (because the High Court ruled that there is no Israeli nation), just like the Marranos in Spain were forced to convert to Christianity to avoid expulsion.

Now we’ll hear the cries of establishment liberals like Yaron London and Razi Barkai, who like to interview Arabs and skewer them with the arrogant trick question, “Why do you refuse to do national service? It’s true you can’t serve in the army, but what’s so bad about volunteering with the aged, or in a hospital that serves the Arab population?” In interviews like this, the Arab interviewee writhes uncomfortably in his attempt to explain that citizenship rights must not be conditional on duties towards the state. We have a right to housing, education and health regardless of whether we served in the army. Uri Shani, special advisor to the “housing cabinet”, added his own take: “Housing is increasingly unobtainable for an entire generation that did military service and pays taxes. During their three years of military service, the Arabs and Haredim have an opportunity to work and earn” (from Calcalist) In other words, Arabs have three years’ advantage over Jews who risk their lives in the military. But this claim too is bogus.

What about national service?

According to research carried out by Prof. Zvi Eckstein and Prof. Momi Dahan, 40% of Arab youth between the ages of 18 and 22 do not work. “The combination of the impressive rise in the number of young Arabs who study, together with the relative stability in the number of those who do not work in the Arab population between the ages of 18 and 22, is expressed in the sharp transition of young Arabs from studies to inactivity,” Dr. Dahan says. “At the age of 17, the difference between the number of inactive Jews and inactive Arabs is just 10%. This difference doubles at the age of 18, and remains steady through ages 19 to 22” (from the Caesarea Forum 2011). Indeed, most young Arabs do not work in those years because there are few jobs open to them. And when they do manage to get work in industry or construction, they’ll receive minimum wage which will keep them on the poverty line.

Dahan’s words are a partial response to journalists like London and Barkai. Volunteering is the privilege of the satiated. The hungry cannot allow themselves to volunteer – they must earn an income, which is why the proposed national service is deceptive. The Arab citizen knows well that in Netanyahu’s Jewish state, controlled by the Zionist ideology of which Lapid is so proud, he has no chance of being an equal citizen, even if he serves in the army or volunteers for national service. The government discriminates against Arabs in local government budgets, so Arabs receive municipal services some 60% below the level of those Jews receive; the education budget is 35% less for Arabs than Jews; only 8% of workers in government ministries are Arabs; and since the state was established some 700 new towns have been set up for Jews and not a single new town for Arabs. All this justifies Meirav Arlosoroff’s words, “There is no need to give preference to the Jewish majority which serves in the army, because this preference is already granted” (TheMarker, 15 May 2014).

Second class citizen

Lapid is mixing things up. Discrimination against Arabs is structured within the state’s Jewish character, and for 66 years the state has made every effort to create a gap between Arabs and Jews. Today, after generations of Arabs have suffered discrimination, Lapid has decided to give grades for good citizenship. If the government were to change direction, create jobs and industrial zones in Arab towns, increase investment in education and local authorities, and raise the standard of living of its Arab citizens, no doubt national service would be beneficial. But granting equal rights to Arabs is ideologically forbidden, clashing as this would with the state’s Jewish character. Therefore the laws being legislated now, like the nation-state law, housing law and loyalty law, give formal expression to a warped reality in which Arabs are second class citizens. Lapid and his party, Yesh Atid, are partners in an extreme rightwing government which has just brought talks with the Palestinians to a halt, extends the settlements, and deepens the occupation of the West Bank. His participation in this government is not accidental, just as Lapid’s “Zoabis” was not a slip of the tongue. The son, Yair, follows in the footsteps of his racist father, Tommy, and is not ashamed to say so. Racism has become an exalted value.

Translated by Yonatan Preminger

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When Naftali Bennett compared the Palestinians to shrapnel in the backside of an IDF soldier, undoubtedly many public figures in Israel identifies with his allegory. Bennett, Israel’s newest political star and now Economy Minister, asserted it was better to leave the shrapnel where it is than risk paralysis in removing it. Having seen how the political issue was marginalized during the last elections, and how the social protest movement of 2011 embraced the settlers, it’s clear that Bennett isn’t the only one who believes it’s better to leave the shrapnel firmly lodged in Israel’s backside, which will lead to nothing worse than occasional discomfort. Indeed, Bennett has many partners both inside and outside the Knesset.

Let us not forget how effortlessly Bennett teamed up with Yair Lapid and forced upon Netanyahu a coalition free of the ultra-Orthodox parties, thus leaving two major ministries – the Ministry of Construction and Housing, and the Ministry of Economy – in the hands of the settlers, who are fast becoming the mainstay of Netanyahu’s government. In an interview with the New York Times (May 19), Lapid expressed opposition to freezing settlement construction, claiming that it’s not certain Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is a “partner for peace.” The idea that the conflict is unsolvable is accepted by a majority starting from the right wing coalition and ending at the Labor Party, and this has indeed made the Palestinians mere shrapnel in Israel’s behind.

Since Obama’s visit, US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to kick-start negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. So far, Israel has made no reply to all his visits and entreaties to enter serious talks. Bennett announces that the Palestinian issue is not on the agenda and Lapid backs him up, while Tzipi Livni fumes on the sidelines declaring she refuses to be a fig-leaf for an extreme rightwing government. However, that’s exactly what she is. Since the conflict is unsolvable, we can finish the business and build under every tree and on every hilltop, until the two-state solution becomes a forgotten dream.

The settlers’ victory

The settlers’ victory is so sweeping that they’re willing to bring up the issue themselves while the opposition mumbles and stutters, devoid of any alternative program. Buoyed by the knowledge that retaining the “settlements blocs” and the city of Ariel has become part of the consensus, the settlers continue their settlement efforts, supported by Netanyahu and Likud-Beiteinu. According to their vision, the settlement blocs will be swallowed up by settlement throughout Area C, and the Palestinians will receive nothing but the enclaves under Palestinian Authority control. While those on Israel’s Left gave up grappling with the issue, the settlers continue marching forward, sure in the knowledge that those who now agree to the settlement blocs will eventually agree to annexation.

Of course, this sliver of shrapnel will hurt more than Bennett lets on. Just recently Bennett was compelled to denounce the work of his wayward followers who sprayed “Arabs out” in the Arab town of Abu Ghosh, a town close to Jerusalem within the Green Line and thus Israeli. This was the work of a loosely united group who sign themselves off as “price tag,” which is a reference to the price Palestinians will pay each time the settlers are hurt. Last week something similar happened in Jaffa’s cemetery. Who knows where it will happen next? Interestingly, the omnipotent General Security Services (Shin Bet) haven’t been able to locate a single suspect. The reason is clear: when all settlers hate Arabs and wish only for their “disappearance,” “price tag” is a general term for any act which satisfies a person’s racial urges without obliging him to be part of a formal organization. Moreover, “they haven’t killed anyone yet,” as Netanyahu put it as he explained his opposition to branding “price tag” a terror organization.

Warped fantasy of annexation

Those on the Left who welcomed Ariel Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip are now stuck with the tragic consequences of their support. Sharon got out of Gaza in order to keep hold of the West Bank. When Hamas took over the Strip, the Palestinian Authority ceased representing all Palestinians, and the “Palestinian partner” disappeared. Gaza will become a Palestinian state if the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt opens the Rafah crossing for its Hamas brethren. Then, when the Palestinian question has been “solved”, the settlers will be able to annex the West Bank.

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Yair Lapid had hardly settled into his Knesset seat before the Finance Ministry declared war on the ultra-Orthodox, on the Histadrut, on the monopolies – in short, a world war. What the father Tommy began with Netanyahu in 2003, the well-disciplined son is completing ten years later, fulfilling his father’s directives. Tommy Lapid has passed away, but Netanyahu has received renewed strength to continue the process he began as finance minister in Ariel Sharon’s government. Netanyahu paid a heavy price when he lost the general elections to Ehud Olmert, but a man like Bibi doesn’t despair – especially when another Lapid arrives to restore his self-confidence.

The “open skies” agreement (increasing foreign competition in the airlines industry) was the real test. Ynet and Army Radio, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, Avigdor Lieberman’s trial, Nochi Dankner’s tribulations – they are all troublesome and cause us to despair. But Netanyahu and Lapid are promising us a break from such things via cheap flights abroad. They also promise cheap electricity, cheap phone calls, and cheap cars. When their world war ends, everything will be cheaper. All we need to do is privatize the Israeli economy and open it up to competition, and all will be smooth and efficient.

Cheap things cost a fortune

The problem is, cheap things are expensive. Netanyahu privatized the pension funds, and workers’ payments now flow straight into Dankner’s hands. He privatized the health services, and now reasonable health care and medicines are impossible to get without some kind of “complementary” private health insurance. He privatized welfare, and the number of those living in poverty grew. He privatized the dairy concern Tnuva and the price of cottage cheese rose. He also privatized Israel’s national shipping company Zim and handed it to the Ofer brothers, and since then it’s been suffering losses. Ten years have passed, and social inequality rates in Israel are now among the highest in the western world – but Bibi and Lapid continue their self-appointed task as if nothing has changed and the Israeli public is stupid.

Cheap things cost a fortune because behind every privatization and every move to open the market to competition lies the principle of “efficiency”, which means reduction of personnel, which means unemployment. For example, in El Al, like other airlines, some 82% of expenditures are fixed costs such as fuel and ground services. The remaining 18%, the cost of wages, is where cost-cutting measures can be implemented. Competition is between those who manage to get more out of fewer workers for lower wages. Thus El Al will cut back on its workforce by one third, and – in simple terms – some 2000 workers will be sent home.

The aim is to obtain cheaper workers, and competition between workers is a cruel game. Nobody can compete with Chinese workers. China is becoming an economic superpower because it hires its workers at slave wages. In this way, entire industries have been wiped out around the globe, particularly in the US but also in Israel. And when it is impossible to “relocate” factories outside the national borders, foreign labor is imported to replace local workers. This is what has occurred in the construction industry, agriculture and homecare, under the pretext that Israelis don’t want to do this kind of work.

It is clear that the first step after privatization is dismissal of workers, and new firms make certain that their workers have no union support. Thus the minimum wage has become, in practice, the maximum. One must work in one and a half full-time positions to earn the average wage. Industrial workers labor 12-hour shifts at minimum wage just to reach NIS 8,000 a month ($2200). And to complete the picture we need to add contract labor, free-lancers, and those with “personal” contracts – all lack employment security and protection of their rights. This is the sorry situation in which some two million workers in Israel find themselves.

Who isn’t good at management?

The Finance Ministry asserts that the government isn’t good at management, so we need professionals with initiative who are willing to take risks in order to lead the economy. It also asserts that dismissing workers creates new jobs elsewhere. For example, the “open skies” agreement will lead to the dismissal of some 2000 El Al workers, but also to an increase in tourists, which will create thousands of jobs in the tourist industry. The textile industry was also wiped out by the removal of import duties, backed by the claim that this would lead to growth in the industry within a decade. But the truth is, growth benefited only a few and the vast majority does not benefit at all. Meanwhile thousands of women in the peripheral regions, in the south and in the Arab towns in particular, became unemployed.

After years of trial, it’s worth asking how the tycoons have proved they know how to manage the economy better than the state. Zim is sinking under debt and is requesting a write-off; Dankner is facing bankruptcy after taking control of an empire of some 40,000 workers; Tshuva, Leviev, Zisser, Ben Dov and others took risks with public money and refuse to pay for losses out of their own pockets. Teva, meanwhile, makes profits of billions, yet pays zero tax. But when they are nevertheless asked to pay something for the sake of the homeland they take umbrage and move to London, the favorite tax haven.

Lapid tells us there are three factors responsible for the harsh social situation: the ultra-Orthodox, the Arabs, and Alon Hassan, chairperson of the Ashdod Port workers’ committee. Yes, apparently Alon Hassan is the real villain, and Bibi and Lapid have declared war on him too. Hassan likes to eat steak, he employs his own family at the port, he earns NIS 30,000 per month, and he, it seems, is the main cause of the high cost of living. Hassan and the other large workers’ committees are public enemies, which justifies a policy of “targeted liquidation.” Hassan and his ilk must agree to streamlining, viz. privatization, the transfer of the port to some tycoon or other. He must also agree to the employment of contract workers instead of regular workers. Thus, instead of Hassan and his friends earning NIS 30,000 per month, some capitalist will pocket millions – after all, the capitalist deserves it, he took the risk at the expense of the public.

The principle is clear: all those earning NIS 30,000 must be wiped out to make jobs for those who earn NIS 5000. The profits from Ashdod Port, the Electricity Corporation, the gas and Dead Sea industries will flow into the pockets of a few individuals while the status of workers continues to decline. At least in one area workers and tycoons are equal: neither pays tax – the former because they don’t earn enough; the latter because they “earn” too much. The results are clear – the state loses revenue, public services are retrenched and privatized, poverty increases, and no social safety net remains to shore up the less fortunate.

Despite the huge social protest of summer 2011, the tycoons, settlers and their representatives in the government continue to scorn the public. The economic system is bankrupt. It is built upon lies, fraud, and the destruction of the democratic process.

Lapid’s war is not the struggle of working people but the war of the tycoons. Ishay Davidi, the tycoon preparing to take over El Al and send so many workers home, is a significant contributor to Lapid’s political party. So when Lapid breaks El Al workers and declares war against them, who is he really acting for? For the workers? Or for those who funded his path to the Knesset?

– Translated from the Hebrew by Yonatan Preminger

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