Zionist Union leader Tzipi Livni dictated the general tone and style of the recent election, which ended with another defeat for her and her colleagues. No one will soon forget how she referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "trash" when in an unprecedented display of vitriol she told television audiences that she and Zionist Union co-leader Isaac Herzog would "take out the trash" together. It turns out that the people were not willing to buy into Livni's and Herzog's campaign slogan -- "Anyone but Bibi" -- and voted otherwise in the polls. Ultimately it was "anyone but Herzog" and "definitely anyone but Livni." Excluding the people in the Tel Aviv bubble (and the media that feeds off this bubble), a majority of the public did not fall for the character assassinations of Netanyahu and his wife. The way things turned out, contrary to the bad vibes and condescension coming out of the aforementioned bubble, it was this majority that decided the election, and in a big way. Moreover, the people instinctively understood that Netanyahu has a good crew of ministers, a group that can be trusted. Over the last six years, in two Netanyahu-led governments, there have been a good number of achievements (more than 60, if you're counting) that have improved the lives of Israelis and lowered the cost of living for each and every citizen. So why are there so many bad vibes? Mainly because the Netanyahu governments' most notable achievement was the fortification and protection of Israel, which created a strong sense of personal security among its citizens. This allowed the people to focus their attention on other issues that need to be addressed in a more serious fashion, and I have no doubt that they will in fact be properly addressed during Netanyahu's next term. But a small minority of people, under the leadership of one publisher of one newspaper (worried about losing his slipping media monopoly) and one advertising guru (who, in the past, managed to effect a withdrawal from Gaza and to exile thousands of citizens just so former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would not be indicted for corruption) took advantage of this situation. This group made sure to force-feed a daily dose of poison to the public during the election campaign instead of focusing on the real issues. This strategy proved ineffective because the people of Israel fundamentally feel that their personal security is in good hands. This is manifested by the minimal number of terrorist attacks and a general sense of security even when the enemy is trying to obliterate Israeli cities with thousands of rockets. The public knows that when the delusion of peace was being marketed by Herzog's and Livni's predecessors, under the orchestration of the exact same group of string pullers, terror attacks took the lives of 1,500 Israelis, tens of thousands were wounded and the economy suffered tens of billions of shekels in losses. The public knows very well that this sense of security is not a coincidence. It is the product of careful planning and execution carried out by an experienced and wise leadership. It was only thanks to the prime minister's initiative to divert massive budgets away from social endeavors and pour them into enhancing Israelis' security, knowing that doing this would hurt his electoral attractiveness in future elections, that Israelis have such a strong sense of security today. Another reason for this feeling is the successful implementation of the government decision to block illegal African labor migrants from entering Israel. The influx of migrants had threatened to drown the Zionist dream in a sea of insurmountable problems and threats. But that is in the past, again, thanks to a government decision, supported by a huge budget designed to get the job done. All this is not to say that the average Israeli citizen is without problems. These problems need to be addressed with more vigor now. My grandfather, after whom I was named, was the first person in the Western world to define the minimal conditions required for the individual security of every citizen (food, housing, clothing, education, health). He was a champion of capitalism but realized that competition, on which capitalism is based, creates both winners and people whose livelihood is harmed by being dependent on the losers in this competition. He demanded the installment of a safety net of these basic requirements for a dignified existence. To his five, I would add a sixth -- information. The next government needs to make sure to implement my grandfather's vision, and I have no doubt that it will.
