The prevailing view ahead of the April elections to elect members of the 21st Knesset was that the main, if not only, obstacle to a sweeping right-wing victory of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party were the various corruption scandals dogging the prime minister. The assessment-hope among his opponents, from the extreme left to the liberal right, was that the virtually daily revelations about the Netanyahu family’s allegedly corrupt conduct would determine the election outcome.
The results disabused them of their assumption. When counting Yisrael Beitenu as part of the right-wing camp, Netanyahu’s camp indeed received enough Knesset seats to compose a coalition. And it is safe to assume that most of the Israelis who voted Yisrael Beitenu wanted it to join a Netanyahu-led government. As it happened, Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman refused to join a Netanyahu-led government, snatching victory from Netanyahu’s jaws.
The fact that with the Sept. 17 elections the personal and family corruption has dropped to a lower level on the campaign agenda is no coincidence. It turns out that the possibility of Netanyahu standing trial, being convicted and going to jail not only does not distance his fans, it strengthens them — somewhat like members of a mystic cult sticking by their guru, even when he is discovered to be a conman living at their expense, and coming to his aid. They view Netanyahu as a unique leader of his generation, a super-statesman, Mr. Security, a top-notch economist, a defense chief who has turned Israel into an empire.
His supporters, just like his opponents, understand that obtaining a 61-seat majority in the next Knesset is designed to provide Netanyahu with immunity from indictment on charges of corruption, by passing legislation that would protect him. However, the various corruption affairs have become a double-edged political sword. On the one hand, they alienate Israeli citizens, men and women, disgusted by Netanyahu’s greed and his abuse of the country’s gatekeepers. On the other hand, his devotees will flock to the polling stations to save the irreplaceable leader from the hands of the leftists and Israeli Arabs. According to Netanyahu and his associates, these are all trying to manipulate the election results and are threatening to annihilate the state and its people.
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