Netanyahu revealed his true face - and voters loved it
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.647653
Benjamin Netanyahu won the election because he delivered a crystal-clear sharp message to his voters: I am the true right and I am committed to the values of the “national camp,” topped by hatred of Arabs and opposition to withdrawal from territories conquered by Israel in 1967. This is what his voters wanted to hear and they rewarded him generously at the polling stations. Netanyahu convinced them that he was as much of a nationalist as Habayit Hayehud’s Naftali Bennett and as much of a racist as Yisrael Beiteinu’s Avigdor Lieberman – voters believed him and abandoned the satellite parties in favor of the original.
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This result is due to the campaign waged in the final days by Netanyahu, who returned to the deep roots of his political base, abandoning any attempt to portray himself as a moderate centrist. In the last two election campaigns Netanyahu tried to blur his right-wing positions and included parties from the left and center in his coalition. This time he veered sharply to the right, portraying his rivals and critics as anti-Zionist traitors who will erect an Islamic State right outside Tel Aviv. He capped it with a knock-out blow on Elections Day, warning that “hordes of Arabs are now on their way to the polling stations.” The coalition he will form will be right-wing and ultra-Orthodox, without fig leaves and cover-up in the form of Ehud Barak, Dan Meridor or Tzipi Livni.
Netanyahu was right. The Israeli-Arab conflict was, is and will remain the main item on Israel’s agenda. Not the cost of housing or banking fees, not even Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone would like cheaper housing, likeable banks and a friendly Iran. However, the Israeli voter does not define his or her identity and place on the political spectrum according to his attitude to Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach or to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but according to his attitude towards Palestinians, the Arab minority in Israel and the settlements. This is the dividing line between left and right, between liberals and conservatives and to a large extent between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews and between secular and traditional and religious Jews.
