THE HUNDRED DAYS WAR

The initial period in office of a newly elected government has become the criterion for measuring good governance, or the lack of it.

This gauge of governance began after Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered office amid the tumult of the Great Depression. With banks caving in and jobs vanishing, FDR set to work passing laws and establishing new government bureaus to curb the economic suffering.

He swore in his entire Cabinet at once, signed 76 bills into law, and began rolling out the New Deal in his first 100 days in office – a frenzy of activity that, ever since, all presidents have been matched against.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider used the same yardstick in her analysis of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

In an op-ed she wrote for the Times of Israel Ms. Schneider chose the title,

“The Hundred Days War: Chronicles of a government in chaos and a nation at the brink,” adding “In democracies around the globe, governments are often granted a 100-day period of grace. But this norm doesn’t generally hold true for deeply divided nations, and certainly not this one.

It has taken barely three months for Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to upend the country.” Tal Schneider continued by describing in detail how the government’s frenetic bid to overhaul the judiciary spiralled into a nightmarish crisis.

Netanyahu, was was seen as someone who didn’t need a 100-day period of grace; he had been in power for most of the past 15 years. He has new ministers, but any period of grace they may have enjoyed evaporated during the formation of the government as Netanyahu struggled to rein in his volatile coalition partners, while trying to convince everyone that he was  in full control of the situation

Immediately after the government entered office the country plunged into a state of upheaval the likes of which have not been seen for decades.

The self-proclaimed “fully fledged” right-wing government claimed it would stand as a pillar of stability, with a unified voice and shared goals; instead, those voices and goals are fracturing the nation.

A few days after the government was sworn in, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Temple Mount, despite repeated warnings not to do so. The unannounced early morning visit was just brief enough for a photo-op. No riots took place, though the visit triggered a wave of angry condemnation from across the Arab world. The United Arab Emirates, for example, cancelled its invitation for Netanyahu to visit Abu Dhabi.

More recently clashes inside the al Aksa Mosque have aggravated an already tense situation. It began when Israeli police entered the mosque following reports that Palestinian youths had barricaded themselves inside in response to rumours that an extremist Jewish group planned to sacrifice a goat during Passover. on the Temple Mount.

The Times of Israel reported that, according to a senior Israeli official, police "went too far" in their treatment of the Palestinians, that it lent weight to claims that al-Aqsa is in danger, encouraged Israel’s enemies and damaged Israel's reputation. The official said that the conduct of officers should be reviewed as they had been ordered to act with restraint. Additionally, he stated that the police were compelled to enter the mosque after receiving intelligence that numerous Palestinians had stored weapons there with the intention to attack security personnel and Israeli civilians. In the past similar flareups were dealt with effectively by the Waqf (the organisation responsible for controlling and managing Islamic edifices on the Temple Mount). However, during the current crisis the Waqf made no attempt to intercede.

Surprisingly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Tuesday afternoon to close  the Temple Mount to Jewish visitors until the end of the month of Ramadan, which is due to end next week,

The decision was made despite the situation on the Temple Mount remaining relatively calm in recent days and despite the opposition of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Bureau, the decision was reached based on the unanimous recommendation of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai.

 A poll published this week by TV Channel 13 indicates that if elections were held today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud would plummet from its current 32 seats in the Knesset to just 20, falling well behind Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, which would jump to 29 seats from its current 12 and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, which would fall from its current 24 seats to 21.

This seems to indicate the degree of public dissatisfaction with the Netanyahu government’s performance over the past three-plus months.

Just the same, I want to conclude on a festive note. I can do no better than mention the Mimouna festival. Originally it was celebrated by Moroccan Jews. However, over time it has spread into more mainstream Israeli culture. Falling each year at the end of Passover, Mimouna in Israel is something of a feast following the Passover period when so many foods are prohibited.

 

Take care.

 

Beni,                          12^th of April, 2023.