Israel Hayom..
18 March '15..
The people, in all their chutzpah, decided for the fourth time on Tuesday that Benjamin Netanyahu will lead the Israeli government. How could the people have dared vote this way, despite the pundits, journalists, pollsters, party representatives, former groundskeepers and friends from the Prime Minister's Residence -- who all painted Netanyahu in black? How did this nation dare prove wrong the experts, who predicted a revolution and continued yesterday evening to prophesy and concoct coalitions? The only thing they did manage to prove, again, was that they chose the wrong profession.
The expertise of the press in recent months has been to delegitimize the prime minister, his party, the Israeli economy, the education system and the health system. I must admit that a certain website -- Ynet -- even made me miss my days in Mauritania, an extremely poor country where I lived for four years, because I believed for a moment I was actually living somewhere worse.
But the people are not stupid. For years, efforts have been made to propagate the notion of a warmongering, peace-hating Right. They did it with Menachem Begin and with Yitzhak Shamir. And we have not forgotten that Ariel Sharon was spared by the establishment only after deciding to give away land.
Suffice it to say, those who brazenly insisted in recent months that Israel would become an apartheid state if no change is made and if no concessions are granted to the Palestinians, will lambast these results because democracy is only good and successful when the left wins. When the right wins it is a little bit tougher to accept the results. We were already in this movie with Begin in 1977.
There is no question this nation deserves more. It deserves more vacations, and a higher quality of life, and more leisure time and money in its wallet, and a smaller mortgage and more assets to pass down. But the people are not stupid and understand very well that Israel is not a normal country -- and that, with all due respect to the price of a chocolate pudding dessert, the word "security" carries significance.
Just last summer, during yet another round of fighting in Gaza, 70 mothers and fathers buried their children. No country in the world would accept such a reality. The people are not stupid. They understand exceedingly well that another round of fighting is more likely than a peace agreement.
Just this month, world powers are expected to sign an awful nuclear deal with Iran, which the prime minister is unwilling to accept. The people are not stupid. They understand, quite well actually, that with all due respect to the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Netanyahu is more trustworthy.
But most importantly, and this is something everyone needs to remember, even if someone held a senior position in the past or was a really high-ranking officer in the army, and even if they have a microphone or access to a television studio, or even if they own a newspaper and a website and have a multitude of interests -- the people in Israel are sovereign.
And this nation does not appreciate it when others try making its decisions.
These past few months proved to me yet again how fun it is to live in this country, where it is impossible to fool the voter. They thought the voter was dumb enough to vote in relation to some pistachio ice cream and a few recyclable bottles.
Commentators, reporters, pollsters, party heads, former groundskeepers and some old friend, you wanted a revolution. We got one. The polls predicted a left-wing government and we got a right-wing government instead. That's how it goes when you live in a democracy rather than a mediacracy. Apologies to everyone, and to you, too, President Barack Obama -- we have forced you to continue working with Netanyahu, who luckily for us does not see the world the way you do.
Good luck, Mr. Prime Minister.
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=11971
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