Since the political revolution 45 years ago, when for the first time since the founding of the State the Rightist parties rose to power and leaving the Labor Party hysterically in the Opposition, it became apparent to all that the Right does not know how to rule.
Menachem Begin, the first Rightist Prime Minister, boasted the victory, with his Jabotinsky-like pride. However, instead of dissolving the strongholds of the Left in government pivotal positions, and especially in the legal and communication systems, he left them all untouched, as per his democratic credo.
During those days, when the Leftist camp was defeated, it would have been so easy to do so. In fact, the Left actually anticipated a comprehensive detoxification which would have evicted all Leftists in key positions, replacing them in the new government with people from the Rightist camp. This is the natural procedure in major democratic governments like in the U.S. where in a new government the old guard is forced to seek new jobs.
And this continued for years. Prime ministers came and went: Shamir, Sharon and Netanyahu for the first round, and yet the Leftist strongholds held out and even became more entrenched, with no effort whatsoever made to oust them and destroy their hegemony.
When Netanyahu came to power for the second time, it appeared as if he would be the one to do the dirty work and eject them. But as great as were the expectations, so were the disappointments. Netanyahu didn't touch those power bastions. The only thing he did, or rather, supported, was to establish the free paper, "Israel Today" which became an almost private voice piece. This was the only way he was able to balance the power of the opposite camp ruling the communication media. He didn't touch the government offices nor the judicial system which he himself was its watchman until he was attacked through many investigations.
After the recent elections he now has the golden opportunity to finally affect a revolution. He has the full backing of his Coalition. He cannot blame satellite parties for torpedoing his acts.
He can curtail the power of the judicial advisors and change the process of appointing judges so that no situation can arise of a majority of judges representing a minority of the voting public. He can also indicate to the judicial system through legislation that it is subordinate to the Knesset laws and not vice versa.
But at Netanyahu's advanced age, he finds it difficult to change. If the coalition parties thought that the path to change would be easier and that they would have Netanyahu's backing, they have yet to discover that he is still afraid of his own shadow, afraid of making radical changes. As absurd as it may be, Netanyahu is the very person upon whom the Leftists pinned their hopes to torpedo any major changes in the judicial system.
One newspaper columnist recently published a book called The Netanyahu Code in which she attempts to analyze the personality of the one who is about to become our prime minister for the sixth time. But who knows if his mind can be fathomed even then. The enigma is what he is afraid of, even after he promised his supporters of this expected change.
