Among the many items that MK Zvi Hauser has on his desk is a written note from someone who used to be his boss for many years: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Hauser served as the cabinet secretary under Netanyahu after he returned to power in 2009, but their relationship goes back to the 1990s, when he worked as his spokesperson and close adviser. They know each other like the palms of their hands.
Perhaps that is why even today, as a senior Blue and White lawmaker, despite being member of an alliance whose only goal is to unseat Netanyahu, Hauser refuses to go all out against the prime minister.
Yes, of course, he wants him to go and has heavily criticized him, but Hauser has always taken the high road, unlike so many other politicians in Israel.
Q: So what do you feel toward Netanyahu today?
"Netanyahu's policies are destroying Israeli society. In this era, we do not need more divisions and infighting. It is unforgivable, but this is what may be at the opening paragraph of his Wikipedia entry. Netanyahu's worldview is all about preserving political power, and sowing divisions. Over the long run, this could cast a shadow over his accomplishments as prime minister.
Q: I never really understood this position. You – Blue and White – are the ones who have been boycotting a PM-designate, Netanyahu, even though half of the electorate supports him. You have maligned the nationalist-haredi sector in a recent ad, and you keep calling people extremists. Blue and White MK Yair Lapid has made a career out of hatred and more hatred. So why is Netanyahu the only one who should be accused of sowing hatred?
"Netanyahu is leading Israel toward a Lebanonization of society, toward a rift like the one between Sunnis vs. Shiites. Rather than create a big tent for national unity and reconciliation, he is pursuing a policy of division by pitting us against one another. This is a destructive approach.
"Netanyahu has led a strategy that wants to erode the trust in the state institutions that have been built over the past seventy years through sweat and toil. We were a people without sovereignty that had realized a dream of many generations, and we managed to create a responsible sovereign entity with an exemplary society and matching institutions. However, he has deliberately undermined our national security systems, our academia, our cultural institutions, as well as our legal and media institutions, and brought about a situation that has threatened the resilience of Israeli society. He has done that while ignoring the challenges that lay ahead. He needed to prepare us for the 200,000 missiles that are aimed at northern Israel, for the Iranian threat, and the challenges from the Gaza Strip. He needed to show unity, but instead, he has shirked his duty. This is almost a crime against history."
Hauser says the peace plan US President Donald Trump put out several weeks ago can serve as a basis for national reconciliation.
He also insists that Blue and White's boycott of Netanyahu is "not personal." Rather, it is "a principled stand in line with the precedent Netanyahu himself applied to his predecessor Ehud Olmert when he was facing major corruption allegations."
Olmert was deemed unfit to serve [by Netanyahu] back in the day, because of his criminal behavior. "So perhaps Netanyahu should ask for his forgiveness now," Hauser quips.
"You can't have an exemplary society if you apply a double standard," Hauser explains. "If we let that happen, this will be a low point that will make Israel more like other countries in the region, in the bad sense of the word. This behavior is very similar to what you see in Arab states, but this is not what should happen in the Jewish state. You cannot turn a blind eye just because Netanyahu is the alleged offender."
Q: So what you are saying is that there is a conflict between your desire for national reconciliation and your attempt to make Israeli society exemplary, and you prefer the latter. But you can't have it both ways.
"This is the essence of the tragedy of Israeli politics. The criminal proceedings of a certain individual – Netanyahu – have become the be-all and end-all of Israeli politics. I am very sorry to see Netanyahu muddling the distinction between his personal future and the nation's future. He would have not dared doing this a decade ago. He has subordinated everything to his personal battle to get himself acquitted.
"Netanyahu has done a lot of good things, and he has been prime minister 14 years out of the 72 years of independence. I am not saying this just because I have to. But a person who is on trial for alleged criminal conduct cannot be at the nation's helm, just like you would not put a person who had just been indicted in charge of a school or a hospital."
Q: But even without the criminal charges, you will not sit with him in a government.
"True, but the criminal charges were the correct reason to boycott Olmert and they should also be the reason to do so with Netanyahu and anyone else. I am not saying he does not have the presumption of innocence, but only the courts can determine that for sure. If he is acquitted, he will have the full legitimacy to return to power."
Several months ago, Hauser provided helpful input to the Trump administration by making the case for demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. When he met with the peace team at the White House, he repeated what he has been saying in recent years: "Gaza is the only place on this planet where all the military capabilities are directed against citizens. It is a case study of what can happen in the north."
Hauser considers demilitarization as a matter of principle, and an over-arching theme that would be the main focus of the national security strategy for the next 25 years, not just in the Gaza Strip.
He believes it is important for the free world to make demilitarization a key component of the plan. From what was ultimately rolled out in the East Room, it is clear the Trump administration was convinced as well. Now Hauser wants to leverage the Vision for Peace into a national reconciliation plan, and that is why he agreed to this interview.
"The future of Judea and Samaria has fragmented our nation for generations. Trump's plan created a national consensus. The gaps between Blue and White and Likud are very small, smaller than what they were between Labor and Likud during the unity government of the 1980s. And now, for the first time in history, a US administration says the underlying premise of a deal does not have to involve the uprooting of civilians from their homes. The fact that our political establishment has accepted this is a great big step forward in this journey toward national reconciliation, which is critical, as far as I am concerned."
Q: Gantz said he will apply Israeli sovereignty together with the international community and that he has misgivings about the Trump plan. So will Blue and White accept the plan?
"The answer is yes."
Q: As detailed in the plan?
"That is the intention, if the conditions are ripe. Listen, Netanyahu also tried to apply it immediately after it was rolled out but that didn't happen."
Q: So you don't believe Netanyahu will actually extend Israeli sovereignty.
"He has had 11 years, including three under Trump, to do so. These three years could have been used for more settlement activity, but they were squandered. Not only were no sovereignty moves taken, even strategic areas saw no settlement activity. For example, several miles from where we are right now, in the Har Homa neighborhood in Jerusalem, construction has been frozen [several days after the interview, Netanyahu announced new housing tenders]. For Netanyahu, everything revolves around his struggle in the courts, nothing is about the country's future.
"By the way, the Trump plan taught us that facts on the ground ultimately determine borders; political plans have to eventually take them into account. Netanyahu failed to enhance key Israeli interests by not building in Har Homa, and he failed to bolster the settlement blocs, which enjoy consensus. The bipartisan support for the Trump plan proves that Blue and White and Likud don't really have disagreements regarding Israel's foreign affairs. That's why I believe that a unity government is within reach. The gaps are only rhetorical."
Q: Does that mean that Blue and White will not uproot any settlement?
"Blue and White accepts the plan and its principle that Israel would not have to uproot settlements. On top of that, our platform is based on several key points: a united Jerusalem that is under Israeli sovereignty; the Jordan Valley remains our eastern border; developing the settlement blocs, and no moratorium on construction; no to another unilateral pullout like the 2005 Disengagement Plan, and above all, holding a referendum on any peace plan we pursue."
Q: On the one hand you are proposing a unity government based on the Trump plan, but on the other hand you have ruled out sitting with Netanyahu. So how do you square that circle? It looks impossible.
"You are wrong. The political situation after the third election will be different because Netanyahu no longer has the option of getting immunity from prosecution. That is why the Likud's flexibility will be bigger."
Q: What does immunity have to do with this? His allies in the Knesset said they will not throw him under the bus.
"There are countless of statements by Netanyahu and others in Likud in which they explained that seeking immunity was necessary so that he can run the country. You can't run a country like Israel when you are holding a cabinet meeting on Sunday and then the next day you have to appear in court."
Q: But the law allows a prime minister to stay on the job until his trial and sentencing are over.
"As someone who served as cabinet secretary, I know what the prime minister's work schedule looks like. I can tell you that you cannot run a country from the defendant's bench."
Q: So how are these elections going to end differently?
"In the March elections, Netanyahu and his allies got 60 seats. In the September election, he got 55 seats with his allies, and 300,000 Likud voters did not turn out. In these elections, there are going to be many more Likud supporters who are not going vote. The results will be much more definitive and therefore the entire discussion on the blocs and the unity government will be completely different."
Q: Will Blue and White form a minority government that will be propped up by the Arab parties?
"The government of Israel must cater to all citizens, Arab and Jews alike; those who voted for it and those who did not. The Joint Arab List has support from some of the Israeli Arabs, but it does not accept the central rationale of the state of Israel: creating a Jewish democracy. Therefore, it is not a political partner, not in the government and not from the outside."
Q: Is Benny Gantz qualified to serve as Prime Minister? Considering his flustered appearance in TV interviews, it looks like he will not be able to withstand the pressure.
"Criticizing him on how he talks is a cheap shot. Just look at the mistakes Netanyahu has made over the past several years. Gantz's actions pale in comparison. Suggesting that the way he speaks disqualifies him is not only ridiculous, it is also unfair and ignores what is unfolding on Netanyahu's side.
"I served as cabinet secretary when Gantz was the Israel Defense Forces chief, during a difficult time, and I saw him up close as an observer in the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet meetings. He is much more qualified than what Netanyahu was when he first assumed office. Of course, Netanyahu has had the experience of being prime minister for 14 years, but I could not disagree more with the claim that Gantz is unfit to serve. Doing a good interview does not tell you whether someone has what it takes to be prime minister. Yitzhak Shamir, who was one of the most important premiers we have ever had, would have also flustered in an interview with Dana Weiss."
