Israeli duo looks to recreate Biden-Harris dynamic to pull off win

Dec 17, 2020

Seven months ago, it looked as if Knesset member Yifat Shasha-Biton’s political career might be behind her. When the new coronavirus government formed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed her that he was forced to move her from her post as housing minister — a position she had been appointed to the year before — to the seemingly insignificant position of chair of the Knesset’s Coronavirus Committee. It appeared to signal an abrupt end to her brief political career. At just 47 years old, she was pushed to the back benches of the Likud. From there, it seemed like she was on her way out of politics.

But then, something remarkable happened. Shasha-Biton, who has a doctorate in education (just like Jill Biden), took the lemon and made lemonade. It was the end of the first coronavirus lockdown. People were tired, frustrated and depressed, after living under so many restrictions. The economy was suffering. The anti-Netanyahu protests were gaining momentum because of the prime minister’s mismanagement of the crisis. His rivals accused him of intentionally locking people in their homes, just so that they wouldn’t take to the streets and demonstrate against him. They said the closure was “political.”

Shasha-Biton was able to use this sentiment to jump-start her career and send it soaring. Every day she moderated debates in her committee, which ran counter to the positions of the government and its leader. She invited experts, citizens, and physicians to address them, and followed an approach that called the government’s official positions into question. This reached a high point when she was able to overturn a government decision and reopen gyms and swimming pools. Netanyahu was furious. He tried to haul her back into line only to discover a little too late that the anonymous member of Knesset whom he had appointed to this role was actually quite the contrarian, and that she was causing him serious electoral damage.

By standing up to Netanyahu from within the Likud, Shasha-Biton became a hot political and public brand of her own. A restaurant in the town of Holon even named a fish dish after her. This was its way of thanking her for preventing the government from locking down the restaurants. Before long, people were talking about her as the next big thing in politics. Polls even predicted that if she founded her own party, it would win six seats. Inevitably, she was courted by the leaders of the other parties. Yamina party Chairman Naftali Bennett was already in advanced negotiations with her to have her join his list.

But Shasha-Biton had other plans. On Dec. 14, it was revealed that she would fill the No. 2 slot in Gideon Saar’s new party, which had just taken off. Saar had quit the Likud just a week earlier. He went on to announce that if he is elected prime minister, Shasha-Biton would be appointed deputy prime minister. More importantly, perhaps, he also announced that the two of them would lead the new party as partners. They would decide together who would be on their Knesset list, and all their decisions would be made by consensus.

By choosing Shasha-Biton to be his No. 2, Saar found a winning combination. She is a woman and the daughter of immigrants from Morocco and Iraq. That alone is a winning combination for Likud supporters. Campaign photos, which began appearing on social networks, left no room for doubt. They showed Saar and Shasha-Biton all fresh and smiling, announcing that they were “on their way.”

Within just a few hours, this surprising announcement kicked the new party into high gear. A poll conducted by Channel 12 released that same night found Saar’s party, together with Shasha-Biton, would be the second-largest party in the country if the election were held today, and that the gap between it and the Likud was dwindling.  The new party, known as “New Hope,” polled at 21 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, compared with 27 for the Likud. While Saar and Shasha-Biton may be unable to contest Netanyahu’s ultimate hegemony as leader of the right, they consider themselves to be a new home for voters from the center-left.

Even if the new party hasn’t yet drawn in large numbers of voters from the Likud or the right, it still poses a big problem for Netanyahu. Based on the current scenario, the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc would win 56 seats, while the “Anyone but Netanyahu” bloc would get 64 seats. True, this is not some homogeneous bloc, but Saar announced that he would not sit with Netanyahu under any circumstances, repeating the mantra of Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman. If the breakdown of seats is anything like it is now, these two men could finally bring an end to Netanyahu’s long rule. The real question is whether Saar and Shasha-Biton will be able to maintain their momentum.

It’s impossible to ignore the similarity between them and another political duo, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who will be entering the White House on Jan. 20. President-elect Biden also proved that he can think outside the box by choosing a woman from two minorities — African American and Asian American — as his running mate. Their “Anyone but Trump” campaign, together with the president’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, is what ultimately won Biden-Harris the election. In Israel, the Saar/Shasha-Biton party is riding the wave of the “Anyone but Netanyahu” electorate, a tough and unyielding bunch, while accusing Netanyahu of mismanaging the coronavirus crisis because of political considerations and the legal proceedings facing him.

Now that Shasha-Biton has burst through the veil of relative anonymity and emerged at the center of the political stage, she will have to explain what has prepared her to be deputy prime minister and to make major decisions on the most pressing political and security affairs. By yesterday, she was already forced to issue a clarification after coming under intense public scrutiny about a statement she made that called the safety of the vaccines into question.

On Dec. 20, Israel will see the launch of its own mass vaccination campaign. Netanyahu, more than anyone, is credited with this major achievement, because he had the foresight to acquire the vaccine in time, despite a very tight timetable. His opponents realize that this is an important victory lap for him (the night of Dec. 19 he is expected to be the first Israeli to receive the vaccine), so they are trying to throw a monkey wrench into the mix. In this particular instance, Shasha-Biton acted almost robotically (arguing that all of Netanyahu’s decisions regarding the coronavirus are political). She did not take into account that large groups of Israelis actually want to get the vaccine. As a result, people are starting to ask questions about her judgment in general and her suitability for such a lofty position in particular.

This is just the beginning. Soon, Shasha-Biton will be expected to provide a detailed account of her political and security positions. What makes her fit to be deputy prime minister, particularly given her lack of experience in national policy? Saar has experience. Not only was he a member of the government for many years, but as Cabinet secretary to both Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Saar got to witness the decision-making process from up close. If, however, if it turns out that the person he selected to be his right hand woman is not suited to fill such a lofty position, his judgment will be called into question.

Nevertheless, the Saar/Shasha-Biton party is the most intriguing political platform today, and it will remain so even if it drops a few seats in the polls. The whole concept of joint leadership, with a man and a woman at the helm, at a time when the major political blocs are crumbling and the country is divided into pro- and anti-Netanyahu forces, is a breath of fresh air. It all points to deep changes in Israel’s political structure, even if they originate in yet another effort to push Netanyahu out of office.