The Netanyahu trap
Opinion: The prime minister has managed to turn the tables on the media and make himself the focal point of the upcoming Knesset elections in place of any substantive debate; but that does not mean he is wrong when he says that he has been the victim of a witch hunt propelled in part by the press
Benjamin Netanyahu has successfully spun the coming Knesset elections in his favor.
He wanted his "incitement against the media" to be the top story on all the current affairs programs, he wanted the condemnations from his colleagues, he wanted to become the talk of the town with two weeks to go until the elections, and he achieved his goal.
Again no one is talking about the important issues, not about the possibility of a dangerous right-wing government led by Yaakov Litzman, Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin.
They are not talking about the possibility that this government would grant immunity to Netanyahu and others under serious criminal suspicion.
They are not talking about the damage this government would do to our relationship with U.S. Jews, or about how this government would erode the sense of shared responsibility for national security, or about the pre-ordained surrender to the ultra-Orthodox population that will only serve to drive them further away from the workforce and harm the economy.
There is silence surrounding all issues of import, for when Netanyahu slammed Channel 12, he saw to it that all we talk about is him.
Netanyahu's trick worked because he's right - not about the call for a boycott and not about the call for sedition against Guy Peleg, but about the way he has been vilified in the media.
Peleg was given a scoop stuff any journalist wishes they could get their hands on, and any other news reporter would have published it as well.
Leaks are the bread and butter of the free press after all. Historical events like Watergate or the Pentagon files indicating the redundancy of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam would never have come to light if it weren't for leaks.
For years Netanyahu has claimed that the press was after him in a never-ending witch hunt, and the recent leaks act are proof of this.
Someone is trying to convict Netanyahu without trial with the help of the media.
It's a recurring ritual - each evening Israelis are treated to a select few quotes from the minutes of the investigations into the prime minister.
Could there be other parts of these notes that work in favor of Netanyahu? We don't know. Granted, it is easy to lash out at the media, but that doesn’t mean Netanyahu's ravings have no merit.
It's not important whether the recent leaks came into Peleg's possession recently, or if someone had them prior to that and decided to publish them only now.
Both the recent leaks and those from two years ago act as solid proof of Netanyahu's claims. Does anybody really believes there's no political agenda behind the scenes?
Even if 95% of what was published amid the latest storm was harmful to Netanyahu, it still only ends up serving his purpose.
His fanbase will only become more enthusiastic. And that's exactly what he wants and that's exactly what he gets.
Israelis have been here before, on the eve of the 2003 elections when details were leaked of an investigation into then-prime minister Ariel Sharon by someone who said she didn't want to see him elected. But the leaker didn't help the rule of law in Israel, she hurt it; she didn’t hinder Sharon, she helped him.
This scenario might well happen again.
The leaks don’t make Netanyahu more corrupt in the eyes of the public; no one is falling out of their chair in astonishment. The recent leaks only hurt the credibility of the prosecution as claims of a political agenda gain traction.
What about the Likud plan to petition the Supreme Court about the leaks? It's nothing but a ruse.
It's obvious there's no judge that would prevent the leaks from going public, and now we have further "proof" that everyone is against the Likud.
The main difference between 2003 and today is that then-attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein ordered an inquiry to find the source of the leak. He even wanted the Shin Bet domestic security service to get involved.
But today, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit reserves his right to remain silent even though someone is committing a crime on his own turf - the State Prosecutor's Office. From Mandelblit's silence, it could very well be happening on Mars.
If in two weeks Netanyahu wins the majority of votes, it won't be because most people want a Litzman-Smotrich government, or a government that's bent on annexing territory, or capitulating to the ultra-Orthodox population.
It would be because the mainstream media, with incredibly poor timing, sprung the trap that Netanyahu set for them.
