Israeli pundits have contracted a disease known as Netanyahu Hatred Syndrome. It has been rapidly metastasizing and they are now terminally ill. As a result, they no longer have sound judgment and no way of properly analyzing the reality they live in. Their arguments have become delusional.
This syndrome was very much on display this week, when the pundits opined on the recent coalition crisis over the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men and the threat of early elections. These fake news pundits posited that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided in favor of calling an early election when he was at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference earlier this month. According to the pundits, Netanyahu had concluded that winning another election would influence the attorney general before he decides on a possible indictment against the prime minister in the current corruption investigations. The pundits insisted that Netanyahu was motivated by personal interests.
This just showed how shallow their punditry is. They forgot that elections do not give immunity from prosecution, and they forgot that attorneys general do things their own way.
The pundits even added another dimension to this delusional conspiracy theory. They said Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman were coordinating their moves to force the ultra-Orthodox parties to bolt out of the coalition and thus precipitate early elections. They said Netanyahu wanted to prolong the coalition crisis because making Israelis endure another pointless and costly election would serve his agenda.
The national religious party Habayit Hayehudi fell for this conspiratorial analysis, with Chairman Naftali Bennett warning that he would challenge Netanyahu for the premiership if turned out that "Netanyahu was using the toy and calling an early election that would serve his own personal gain."
Over at the opposition, Labor Chairman Avi Gabbay and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid got cold feet over the prospect of an early election. Their bad poll numbers finally dawned on them, and they realized that only a fraction of Israelis society views them as potential leaders.
Netanyahu is sophisticated and knows how to defuse crises by keeping his cool. That is what helped him fend off an early election.
But even though the crisis is over, the cognitive dissonance among the pundits has continued. They now tell us that Netanyahu has emerged as the biggest loser in the wake of the crisis. First they say only Netanyahu can stop an early vote, but now that he has managed to do so, he is a loser. Go figure.
The leftist media outlets have since run splashing headlines such as "Trapped within his own government," "Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman – the biggest winner," "Education Minister Naftali Bennett is the adult in the room," and "Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon manages to pass another budget."
The pundits cannot own up to their own mistakes because they are blinded by their hatred for Netanyahu.
The biggest winners from the latest saga are Israelis, who are ranked among the happiest people in the world thanks to the fine leadership they have and the impressive accomplishments of the state. Another winner is Netanyahu himself, who will now have a stable government he can use to advance the goals and vision for which he was elected.
Even his most bitter rivals now accept that they stand no chance against him in an election, and they were very happy that their prayers to avert the voting were answered.
The anti-Netanyahu pundits at Yedioth Ahronoth would be well advised to learn another lesson from the past few days. It would more worthwhile to help and support right-wing candidates if they want to replace the prime minister. It turns out that the center-left has run out of viable challengers to Netanyahu.
