Spin doctors, those officials employed to interpret events for the media favorably, have many arrows in their quiver. One of the most effective in Israel has been dubbed “bigger elsewhere.”
The “bigger elsewhere” strategy is simple. When one’s client is in the midst of a crisis, redirect, divert, and distract the public’s attention to something bigger, preferably better, happening elsewhere.
Undeniably, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government find themselves embroiled in a deep domestic crisis.
The judicial overhaul plan has overtaken Netanyahu’s political and diplomatic agenda. Except for the occasional security incident or flare-up, this has dominated the headlines for the eight months Netanyahu has been back in power. It is what people are talking about, protesting about, and the reason reservists are declaring they will not show up for duty, hi-tech firms are spiriting money out of the country, and now doctors are threatening to lay down their Israeli-issued stethoscopes and look for the ill to treat abroad.
In this atmosphere, little good that the government does can seep in through all the noise. For those in charge of media relations for Netanyahu and this government, what is desperately needed is something “bigger elsewhere.”
One such possibility has, in recent weeks, been peeping through the lattice: a US-Saudi agreement that would include normalization of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which could have a transformative impact on the region.
Under the broad contours of the agreement that have leaked out, Israel and the Saudis would sign a NATO-like defense treaty; the US would sell state-of-the-art weaponry to the Saudis and assist in its development of a civilian nuclear program; the Saudis would normalize ties with Israel, help end the war in Yemen and provide massive financial assistance to the Palestinians; and Israel would put a cap on settlement activity and pledge not to annex Judea and Samaria.
Those broad strokes reveal the interests of all parties: The Saudis get US military protection from Iran; the US pushes China, which has been making inroads through the Saudis into the Mideast, out the door, and US President Joe Biden gets a major diplomatic triumph on the eve of a US election; and Israel gets normalized ties with the most influential state in the Islamic world.
Were that to come together, it would definitely be an example of “bigger elsewhere” which would make any talk of a possible next phase of judicial reform – altering the way judges are selected or reducing the power of the ministerial legal advisers – pale in comparison.
THE PROBLEM from Netanyahu’s point of view – he would like to see some, but not all, of that plan come to fruition – is that there are numerous moving parts, and it is not dependent on him. He cannot rely on this “bigger elsewhere” happening anytime soon to relieve his current political woes.
But that does not mean that there is not something else out there – though admittedly of a smaller scale – that could serve a similar purpose.
Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hinted at what it may be last week in the much-ridiculed statement they put out after Moody’s issued a warning about the economy as a result of the Knesset passing limitations to the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government decisions using the reasonableness standard.
How can natural gas help Israel diplomatically amid a judicial reform crisis?
“The economy is very strong,” the duo said in a statement mocked because, at that moment, the shekel had tanked, and the stock exchange was plummeting. As one of the proofs of the robustness of the economy, the statement read, “The gas industry is increasing exports to Europe, and seven companies are now competing for tenders to explore for gas in Israel at an investment worth billions.”
Energy Minister Israel Katz hammered the point home on Wednesday during a visit to the Leviathan gas field platform – one of three of Israel’s functioning gas fields – some 130 km. off the coast of Haifa.
“Today, the most potent card in Israel’s diplomatic arsenal is natural gas. We are a land flowing with milk, honey, and gas,” he said. “Everyone in the region and the world wants to be connected with Israel because of natural gas. Our ability to export natural gas is a tremendous strategic asset that strengthens Israel’s position in the region and the world.”
In other words, Netanyahu and this government’s “bigger elsewhere” may be found in a decision that is expected shortly: whether Israel should significantly increase the amount of natural gas that it exports…
Read More: Could natural gas exports change the Israeli government’s trajectory?