In the past two weeks, the Israeli government has seemed to increasing numbers of citizens to be unequal to the task of handling the public-health and economic dangers stemming from the coronavirus. A widely criticized plan to hand out government subsidies willy-nilly, then a hasty order—just as hastily reversed—to close restaurants, and then the public defection of a previously loyal member of the prime minister’s Likud party have all contributed to this impression. David Horovitz explains this crisis of confidence, and how it might be reversed:
Israelis are capable and perceptive. We saw with the arrival of COVID-19 that the government—particularly Prime Minister Netanyahu—recognized the danger of the pandemic, and was keenly focused on thwarting it. Policy wasn’t perfect—the airport wasn’t properly sealed to arrivals from virus epicenters; communication with the ultra-Orthodox community was poor. But, overall, decision-making was effective, and therefore the public did what it was asked to do.
Not so now. The incompetence is plain for all to see. Ministers and coalition members are openly bickering, with a low point earlier this week when the finance minister (Israel Katz) and the coalition chairman (Miki Zohar), both Likud members, began leveling personal insults at each other during a committee meeting. Medical professionals have been resigning from key operational and advisory positions, complaining that they are not being heeded.
[The government] must make a concerted effort to explain its decisions to the public. And if it doesn’t have the necessary information, it should recognize that this points to deeper problems in the handling of the pandemic—problems that the newly appointed coronavirus coordinator will hopefully address right away. The government needs to be sure that it knows what it’s doing. Right now, the public, understandably, doubts that this is the case.
Israel is currently led by a self-styled emergency coalition, established with the specific imperative to battle COVID-19. But the government cannot rule by fiat—even amid a pandemic. Or rather, least of all amid a pandemic, when public trust, and consequent public willingness to cooperate, are vital to protect the nation’s economy, its health, and its resilience.
Read more on Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-government-has-lost-the-publics-trust-just-when-its-most-needed/