Likud chose loyalists for Netanyahu - but the elections will be decided elsewhere | Lilach Sigan
The revenge against those with independent opinions in the Likud primaries may deter potential candidates, especially those who could actually appeal to disappointed voters.
With all due respect to the Likud primaries, the upcoming elections will not be decided by campaign slogans, but by sanity versus extremism. For quite a few Israelis, the election question will be: which party will succeed in bringing back a little quiet to our lives, spreading more tolerance and reducing hate rhetoric?
The answer to this question is not found in a right-wing or left-wing worldview, but in style. In the basic recognition that Israel has changed fundamentally in the last four years. Benjamin Netanyahu also noticed the changes, and therefore, instead of talking about a "full-right government," he moved to a "broad national government" — a vague definition that may confuse those who seek unity — and is currently working on the list's image.
The aspiration for unity is actually a cure for the extremism that occurred as a result of the polarization in the networks and also as a result of the post-traumatic phenomena of the events we experienced. Some of us turned to extremism as a kind of defense mechanism against a reality that became more extreme, because they thought that a difficult reality would be solved by hardening positions and style. But the extremism and the raging madness phenomena around are exhausting, and they do not speak to everyone at all. Far from it. Therefore, these elections will be decided by the soft right segment, which will ultimately choose between statesmanship and returning sanity to daily life, and between a finger in the eye and anger towards anyone who is not your base.
Extremism happened everywhere. Take, for example, "The Democrats" — Naama Lazimi's shouting speech often overshadows the content of her words, and Moshe Radman's crazy statements made people forget that the man was just mainstream three years ago.
Therefore, with all due respect to the primaries — the Likud list that satisfies Benjamin Netanyahu's desires is not necessarily the list that satisfies the desires of the voters who will make the difference — those who are disappointed with the coalition. It is enough to take a quick look at the list and understand that Benjamin Netanyahu's success in rewarding his loyalists and punishing his opponents is good for the convinced but is not necessarily a good formula for the disappointed. Absolute loyalty to the chairman will effectively authorize everything he asks for — a concession to the ultra-Orthodox on conscription, revenge on those who do not please him, or tolerance for extremism if that is what is required.
In the top ten, one can find Miri Regev, about whom there is no need to elaborate, and Yariv Levin and Amir Ohana, representatives of the judicial reform in the style of a ramming attack, rather than a proper reform of changes by consensus. Eli Cohen is the only statesmanlike figure, but in terms of achievements and credentials, he is not impressive enough.
In addition, it is hard not to see how Likud is swapping Knesset members with "Otzma Yehudit" — whether it is Almog Cohen who started with Itamar Ben Gvir and made it to a realistic spot in Likud, or May Golan who is being pushed out of Likud, but may find her place with Itamar Ben Gvir. For those who forgot, four years ago "Otzma Yehudit" was a radical and ostracized party of Kahanists who did not pass the electoral threshold. Today they are mixing with the ruling party and receiving automatic backing from it as if they were the heart of the mainstream. This may serve the bloc, but not necessarily the disappointed.
The emerging list of Gilad Erdan, on the other hand, boasts names that speak to right-wingers who are looking for statesmanship, professionalism, and personality. Yuli Edelstein, Hezi Nechama, Oren Smadja, and Aliza Bloch are such people — people with credentials of action for the public and for the country.
The question is what other reserved spots we will see in Likud in the next two weeks, because it is a difficult challenge: will impressive and capable people want a reserved spot on a list where they will pay a heavy price for an independent opinion? After all, we see very well what happened to everyone who dared to think a little differently, whether it is Yoav Gallant, Yuli Edelstein, Sharren Haskel, Dan Illouz, Nir Barkat, and even David Bitan.
