The deception of public adoration

It took Finance Minister Yair Lapid one year to learn just how much of a pretense public adoration really is. It's so easy to become the "country's darling" with slogans like "where's the money-" It's just as easy to ride on the back of urban social protests.

Losing that indulged status, however, happens much more easily, and unintentionally. Lapid learned this on Wednesday night, when Channel 2 news released a poll which showed him that a majority of Israelis do not think he is doing his job well. Up to a quarter of Yesh Atid's voters told pollsters that they regretted their decision to vote for the party.

During campaign season, Lapid promised not to level taxes on the middle class. He already knew then that any recovery plan for the Israeli economy would involve forcing the middle class to suffer a part of the burden.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised not to raise taxes, despite knowing that his government was frightened by the intensity of the protests two years ago into allowing the economy to deteriorate to a 40 billion shekel ($11 billion) deficit. Netanyahu and Lapid, with former Finance Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz by their sides, came to the 33rd government with different perspectives, but they bear responsibility for a baseless election campaign, which the media is holding up for them now to see.

Lapid is not too comfortable in his new situation, but there is no reason for him to be frightened. He has plenty of time to right his wrongs and mend fences with the prime minister. The finance and prime ministers have become the Siamese twins of the economy, and they will either sink or swim together. Netanyahu won't be able to make any sort of gain if Lapid gets lost on the sidelines. And Lapid won't make headway if he blames the country's economic woes on Netanyahu.

At his press conference Wednesday, Lapid barricaded himself in fiery verbal rhetoric. He defensively explained that he was indeed causing hardship to the middle class, but this time it would not suffer alone. The middle class will have to bear the burden, he said, but it will do so along with the indolent, the haredim (ultra-Orthodox), tycoons, corporations, and those who have shirked their responsibilities. We must all strive together to keep our market robust, unlike in Greece or Cyprus.

So far, the government's solutions seem to indicate that it is lost when it comes to the economy. Raising the budget deficit is unnecessary because the Israeli economy is strong, especially compared to so many countries crashing in the eurozone. Aggressive policies are necessary, and Netanyahu and Lapid need to ride the warhorse together.

The two have some serious trials ahead of them. They will have to make sure that the worst of the burden falls first and foremost on the shoulders of the economically strong and the evaders. The middle class comes next. Netanyahu and Lapid need to demand that all schools teach the core curriculum, and do so through legislation in the Economic Arrangements Law, because that was one of the justifications for the establishment of the current government. They need to wrap up haredi enlistment reform. They need to come to an agreement with the Histadrut labor federation and the larger unions.

But if Lapid signed an agreement with Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini on Wednesday, maybe he should go back to what he said earlier this week (he said it and then he flinched), that if it is necessary to go to war, "there will be war."

The credit rating, rising and falling, soaring and slumping. If Netanyahu and Lapid stick to unpopular but necessary policies, they will ultimately see positive results in the polls.

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