For four years, day after day, journalists and tycoons have prattled on and on about how Israel's best citizens stay away from entering politics. They have cited reasons such as the overly harsh criticism of public officials, as well as the invasion of privacy and the intrusive supervision of the finances of public servants. They have claimed that politicians are just schlemiels seeking publicity, who would enter the high-tech sector if only they could. However, the 100 days of election-campaign propaganda have arrived and this premise has been proven false. Many of those same chatterers now want to join the politicians who they demonized daily. They are seeking to join the privileged political circle, with a guaranteed ministerial post and personal security guards, which everyone mocks until they find themselves in that position. Almost every day, Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich emerges from her office in southern Tel Aviv with a new political partner. The political rage displayed by social protest leaders Itzik Shmuli and Stav Shaffir was warmly received in the Labor party. And even though Yachimovich wants to emphasize social issues, former high-ranking Israel Defense Forces officer Omer Bar-Lev was welcomed to the party with a salute. Bar-Lev once commanded the elite Sayeret Matkal special forces unit. Now Yachimovich will have her own prince from that covert unit, which has also contributed Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, Avi Dichter, Shaul Mofaz, Yohanan Plesner and Naftali Bennett to the Israeli political scene. Zevulun Orlev, of the Jewish Home party, has a Medal of Distinguished Service from the Yom Kippur War, so it is fitting that his new asset, Bennett, is from the distinguished Sayeret Matkal. Political candidates are emerging from all walks of life. Former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Yaakov Perry is an Israeli economic success story, although he may be detrimental to Yair Lapid's efforts to erase the image of his Yesh Atid party as the representative of the capitalist establishment. Nearly all candidates who have so far presented themselves are reasonable, except perhaps for Merav Michaeli, who, according to articles she has written in Haaretz, holds views closer to the Israeli-Arab Balad party than the Labor party that carries on the legacy of David Ben-Gurion. There is no Zionist gene to be found in Michaeli's world view. Old-school voters thinking about voting for Labor will certainly not do so if they see Michaeli on the party's list of candidates. Michaeli is smart and also a good columnist, but such voters will not consider the possibility of helping her get elected to the Knesset. The conclusion drawn from the first crop of new political candidates (and the public has still not seen which new figures will join Likud or the remnants of Kadima) is that many reasonable people are seeking to join politics. The claim that Israel's best citizens have turned their backs on the Knesset is unfounded. Rather, they are drawn to it. Perhaps even too much.
