PM Netanyahu must not prepare policy address in isolation

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
Weekly Commentary
22 April '11



In the era of giants, then-minister of education Zalman Aran swore that he would follow David Ben-Gurion with his eyes closed. "But I peek every once in a while to make sure Ben-Gurion has his eyes open," he sagely added.
Yoel Marcus  Haaretz
13 March 2007

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is preparing now what may possibly turn out to be not only the most important policy address in his life but also the most critical policy presentation since the founding of the Jewish State.

It is therefore most critical that this important policy address not be prepared in isolation.

It is certainly possible that, due to the sensitive nature of the policy address, that it cannot be shared with the entire cabinet before presentation (someone stepping out to the bathroom in the middle of the meeting would probably leak the details to a reporter so that the information would be out in the media before the meeting even ended).

But Mr. Netanyahu has the advantage of having already developed his special team of seven ministers for discussing strategic matters.

Unfortunately, some Septet members, including Min. Begin, have indicated to the press that they are not privy to what Prime Minister Netanyahu is preparing.

Sure, in the absence of the Septet Mr. Netanyahu has some people working with him who might be let in on the secrets, but there is a fundamental difference between employees and ministers.

National Security Advisor, Yaakov Amidror, is hardly a yes man. But if he is involved in the preparation of the policy address and objects to what is being developed there is nothing he can do, as an employee rather than independent national leader, if his views are ignored.

In sharp contrast, pulling the same stunt on Begin or others in the Septet could have serious and immediate political ramifications.

The sooner that the Septet or other top flight forum of ministers becomes actively involved in the preparation of this important policy address, the greater the possibility that potentially serious mistakes are avoided.

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