To secure his Let It Be position, Netanyahu demanded that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Their inevitable refusal strengthened his shev ve’al ta’aseh position.
But when the PA and Hamas recently signed their unity pact, bringing the peace talks to a complete halt, our prime minister was caught off guard, and began exhibiting poor leadership qualities.
At the annual Herzliya Conference on security, where political speeches are the call of the day, senior coalition partner Yair Lapid performed a leftist “Lu Yehi,” saying, in effect, that Israel must now make a unilateral decision to withdraw from chosen territories to give our sworn enemies a state of their own.
Junior coalition partner Naftali Bennett took the podium and did an opposing rightist version of “Lu Yehi,” essentially declaring that Israel must begin annexing territories loaded with Jewish settlers, “Gush Etzion first.”
Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu’s partner in the merged Likud-Beiteinu ruling party, described the prime minister as a person who is failing to lead.
Does anyone still wonder why Netanyahu did not endorse Ruby Rivlin – the presidential candidate of his own party – until the last minute? It’s because a “Let It Be” man always feels threatened by a “Lu Yehi” man.
We can only hope that our prime minister understands the days of “Let It Be” are over and the victory of Ruby Rivlin is a victory for “Lu Yehi” – and that the realization will give him the strength and fortitude to finally become a “Lu Yehi” leader.
