Middle Israel: How Benjamin Netanyahu transformed Israeli politics in 30 years - opinion

Benjamin Netanyahu's ascent to power 30 years ago marked a new era in Israeli politics, dethroning statesman Shimon Peres. This period, often called the "Bibi era," has profoundly shaped the Jewish state, with its benefits, costs, and approaching end now under scrutiny.

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the world-renowned statesman who had served in multiple governments for an aggregate 24 years, was dethroned by a political novice nearly three decades his junior, the woefully inexperienced Benjamin Netanyahu, who had not been a minister for one day.

Netanyahu's tenure as finance minister between his first and second premierships is highlighted as a period of significant achievement. He implemented substantial cuts in social spending, sharp tax reductions, privatizations, and financial reforms that contributed to Israel's international economic standing. This phase demonstrated his conviction and ability to enact change.

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massive cuts in social spending, sharp tax cuts, a set of privatizations, and a package of financial reforms – helped lead the Israeli economy to international stardom. It also showed that Netanyahu, unlike most politicians, had convictions.

However, the article contends that while Netanyahu's economic reforms accelerated Israel's transition from socialism to capitalism, they did not initiate it. Furthermore, as prime minister, his focus often shifted from complex structural problems to more visible infrastructure projects, like the fast train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Issues such as the education system, healthcare shortages, political system deformities, and crime in the Arab sector were, according to the author, accepted fatalistically.

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Yes, his open-skies policy cut flight prices, but more urgent issues, like the quality of the school system, the shortage of hospitals and doctors, the political system’s deformities, and the crime crisis in the Arab sector, were accepted fatalistically as fixtures of Israeli life.

By the time of his later premierships, Netanyahu appeared to have "lost his own reformist drive." His significant attempt to reform the judiciary is framed not as civic reformism but as "political conquest." Diplomatically, the Abraham Accords are acknowledged as a key achievement, building on earlier groundwork laid by Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, but demonstrating Netanyahu's ability to mature the process.

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strategic passivity is not what characterized the Bibi era