By LAWRENCE SOLOMON
“Two years from now, Obama will be gone, to be remembered
as the worst president in American memory”
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s triumph in Israel’s election
this week, so shocking and appalling to the Western press, is many other
things, too.
It is a recognition by Israelis of Netanyahu as the
Churchill of our times, a statesman who stands apart from virtually all other
Western leaders who, whether out of cravenness or wilful blindedness, downplay
the gathering storm from Iran.
It is a repudiation by Israelis of those same Western
leaders, who funded the “anyone-but-Netanyahu” campaign that tried to install
in his place a compliant Jew to endorse their policies of appeasement.
And it is a back of the hand to monopolies and other
special interests that oppose Netanyahu’s march to freer markets. At root,
Israelis understand that they’re better off with Bibi.
Israel under the rule of socialist parties, which
dominated the country’s first half century of existence, was a country of heavy
handed state control and of Big Labour — the Histradrut labour federation represented 85 percent of
all wage earners in the 1980s. Under Netanyahu’s influence, starting in the
late 1990s with his first term as prime minister, Israel systematically began
dismantling the welfare state, tackling both the social safety net and the
vested corporate interests.
He sold off Israel’s interests in state enterprises,
abolished foreign exchange controls and otherwise liberalized the economy,
attracting foreign capital and turning Israel into an entrepreneurial marvel
that, according to The Economist, has the world’s highest density of
startups and, next to Silicon Valley, the largest number of startups. High tech
companies now beat a path to this Start-Up Nation’s door — an astonishing 250
from the U.S. alone have made Israel home to their R&D centres.
2014 set records for Israeli high-tech and biotech
startups — 52 Israeli startups sold to the tune of some $15-billion plus 18
IPOs worth another $10-billion — according to end-of-year reports by accounting
firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ethosia Human Resources, who expect 2015 to be
even bigger. This January alone saw foreign giants such as Microsoft and Amazon
shell out $900-million for companies rich in Israel’s only abundant renewable
resource: ingenuity.
The Western press, operating as it does from its echo
chamber, likes to describe Israel as increasingly isolated in the world due to
its supposed failure to make peace with the Palestinians. Israel has never been
less isolated, never been more embraced. In its immediate neighbourhood, Israel
for the first time has de facto allies in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the
leaders of the Arab Sunni world.
In black Africa, Israel now is tight with countries such
as Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. In Asia, Israel is becoming tight with India, the
world’s largest democracy, and with China, the world’s second largest economy,
both of which are establishing free trade deals with Israel. Israel has been
expanding trade with Japan, the world’s third largest economy. And Israel has
close relations with countries of the former East Bloc, including Russia, once
a Cold War adversary, now a partner in countering Islamic terrorism
The watchful Arab press knows exactly why Israel has
become so welcome around the world, even if the blinkered Western press
doesn’t. As explained earlier this year in Al-Araby al-Jadid, a
London-based Qatari daily, “Israel’s advanced technology developments have
become its most prominent soft power tool for boosting diplomatic ties and
improving its position in the world, enhancing its own security in the
process.”
Because of Israel’s prowess in both military and civilian
fields, it explained, China is cozying up to Israel, India is relying on
Israeli instead of U.S. weaponry, and African countries are supporting Israel
at the United Nations. Also because of this prowess, Al-Araby al-Jadid expects
to see countries that once diplomatically sided with the Palestinians to flip
and take pro-Israeli positions.
The
re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu means the United States and
Israel are now diametrically opposed on two vital international security
issues, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday
Israel’s technological prowess, and thus the welcome mat
it now enjoys in ever-growing regions of the world, comes as a byproduct of
Netanyahu’s dismantling of the welfare state. That dismantling may now
accelerate because in this week’s election another dismantler shone — Moshe
Kahlon, the Kulanu party leader who ran on an unabashedly pro-business,
pro-competition “economic freedom” platform predicated on downsizing government
while breaking up Israel’s remaining public monopolies and private oligopolies.
The Western press may be surprised to learn that Kahlon, who is widely expected
to become Netanyahu’s next finance minister, is considered centrist in Israeli
politics.
Israel, once the darling of the Socialist Internationale,
is fast becoming the darling of all but Socialist-leaning Europe, Iran and the
ISIS wannabe set. Australia is stalwartly in Israel’s corner; Canada’s
commitment to Israel is at an all-time high; America’s remains as strong as
ever, President Obama and the American left notwithstanding.
Two years from now, Obama will be gone, to be remembered
as the worst American president in memory. Prime Minister Netanyahu will remain
in power and on the world stage, to be seen as one of Israel’s greatest prime
ministers and one of the world’s few true statesmen.
Lawrence Solomon is a policy analyst with Probe
International and a fellow of the Canadian Institute for Jewish
Research.
