Somebody should send flowers to Lieberman, Elkin, Saar, and of course to Bennett and Shaked. Not only has their daring initiative finished earlier than expected with Yair Lapid in Balfour and Benny Gantz in the Kirya. They have also left the Lapid bloc the gift of its main line of messaging for their election campaign against the Right.
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A new phraseology has emerged in Israel: A "poison machine." It is the fruit of the imagination of the bureau of the outgoing prime minister Naftali Bennett in his hour of distress. It was spontaneous and not at all mechanical because only Bibi supporters have machines. Already, you can hear it in a chorus resounding from every corner of the land, from the head of the transitional government and his confidantes, through to journalists and pundits.
A machine is a wonderful thing. Why make do with the evil Gargamel, "Bibi" when one can strike into the hearts of the public fear of an elaborate but mysterious machine, a malfeasant contraption operated from a basement in Caesarea in a dark conspiracy to poison the pure souls of our innocent citizens. In a few years, somebody will no doubt will find a copy of the Protocols of the Elders of the Likud.
On the other side, of course, there aren't and there never were machines. Everything is authentic and free from manipulation. And without a doubt, free of poison, except of course terminology such as for example during the coronavirus pandemic, "an unelected government declares to its citizens that they are prohibited from leaving their homes;" or, during a military operation, "Why does fire break precisely when it's convenient for the Prime Minister?" It is doubtful that in the entire history of Israel such poisonous and dangerous statements were ever made in times of emergency. We are fortunate that police sent to enforce lockdowns and soldiers, called up for reserve duty showed national responsibility at a time when the chairman of the opposition hinted to them recklessly that they were risking their lives for a political whim.
Bennett and Lapid need to have things put into perspective for them: They haven't yet experienced anything near the poison machine that operated with the synchronicity of a Swiss clock against Netanyahu. "He doesn't have a high school matriculation certificate," "He didn't do combat service, he was a reporter in the IDF magazine." You call that poison. Try living with daily comparison to bloodthirsty dictators like Louis the 14th and Nicolae Ceausescu; being compared to Erdogan; your government described as being on the brink of fascism or introducing Hitlerian processes. And none of that was from marginal Facebook activists but straight from the mouth of the most prominent and legitimate speakers in Israeli public life.
Try having the leaders of protests against you get positive coverage in the weekend papers despite pearls, such as "Let's throw a Molotov cocktail into Balfour" or "the violence will come." And what about when "Netanyahu is a danger to Israel" becomes standard rhetoric among former defense establishment officials, or when there are demonstrations under your window where curses and insults are shouted out against you, not to mention all sorts of vulgar performances that are better forgotten.
This, Lapid and Bennett, is what a real poison machine looks like. We know very well just how coordinated it was and just how synchronized it was with the centers of power in luxury towers and mainstream media? The beauty of it is that you, Lapid, are the one to enjoy its tailwind which has taken you all the way to the Prime Minister's Office.
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